Audio Asylum Thread Printer

Get a view of an entire thread on one page

FAQ / News / Events

Films/DVD Asylum

Hollywood: where have all the writers gone?

67.160.130.12

Film after film, the production values are excellent, up to the old world-class standards, but the story lines are pathetic.
There is a singular lack of maturity, overall, as if kids fresh out of film school, with little or no real world experience, are running the show.
Remember the writers strike years ago that roughly was broken by the studio heads, leading to the exodus of skilled, experienced writers? It has become apparent that they never returned, that the tradition was broken.
That, plus the incestuous relationship between the billion-dollar special effects industry and studio financing. Add to that a large population of film goers that have been conditioned to accept game-boy quality stories and you have the current situation.
I know that excellence in Hollywood always was a small percentage of total output, but now it has all but disappeared. If you want innovative and excellent films, you must look to Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, ME, and S. America.
One would hope that, with all the money that Hollywood has, it could turn the situation around. But it goes deeper than just poor writing: the decision-making, the decision MAKERS, seem to be worthless.

Follow Ups:

To television, is where. - Poles Apart 14:48:29 03/09/11 (0)
Both cable and broadcast. Much better than the movies, and no CGI! (Well, hardly any...)

P.A.
Indie is where . . . - mr grits 17:04:31 03/08/11 (1)
Hollyweed is all about numbers. They got the formula (so it seems) and they use it as much as possible.

PLUS, (as discussed here before) all the plots are used up. At your age you've seen and imagined just about everything. That's why you see so many remakes. It's hard to be truly creative in a reality situation without resorting to fantasy.
- Bollocks to the view that all the good plots have been used up - Doug Flynn 03:32:31 03/09/11 (0)
  .
  
  Edits: 02/27/18
RE: Hollywood: where have all the writers gone? - Dave Mester 15:07:49 03/08/11 (0)
The success of Star Wars had something to do with it. The standards moved away from textured characters and depended more on technology to tell stories. I'm all for technological innovation, but I am more for great writing and real characters.

I'm blown away by the quality coming from Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, and S. America.
Peter Weir and Bruce Beresford recently commented on this phenomenon - Doug Flynn 14:29:27 03/08/11 (4)
.

Edits: 02/27/18
- I'd respectfully disagree. When Hollywood was ruled by big name actors, the writing could - tinear 14:54:50 03/08/11 (3)
  be superb. But then, Hollywood had writers who were successful novelists, playwrights. Now, they're all ex-tv schlock pen-jockeys. Sitcoms and commercials do not necessarily lead to writing or directorial excellence. I wish Hollywood producers would learn this.
  - RE: I'd respectfully disagree. When Hollywood was ruled by big name actors, the writing could - dancingseamonkey 10:39:54 03/14/11 (0)
    Right. And when today�s novels are written like a screen play (John Grisham, David Baldacci etc.) and then you dilute the story some more you end up with one dimensional characters and plots that explained through dialogue instead of a good narrative, plot and character development become after thoughts.
    
    "We're chained to the world and we all gotta pull." Waits
  - Er, you appear to be agreeing with me (nt) - Doug Flynn 16:55:38 03/08/11 (1)
    .
    - Sorry, poor communication on my part. I'm NOT agreeing. Today, we have lots of mega-stars - tinear 07:44:33 03/09/11 (0)
      and poor writing. In the past, we had lots of mega-stars and good writing.
      Something besides the stars is influencing the poor writing. I'd say it's trying to skimp, even with stars on-board. Or perhaps it's like representational painting, i.e. it takes hands-on mentoring. Whatever the reason, most scripts are juvenile. Perhaps the reason so many Americans don't notice is that they've never read anything but crap.
Replaced by 20 yo computer graphics "experts" - Victor Khomenko 12:24:53 03/08/11 (0)
How much do you think a new Wild Strawberries would earn?

Mindless fast moving images sell today, bring millions... so dumb images is what this world gets from this side of the Atlantic... north of border, that is.

I suppose the movie makers either partake in the race, or admit they have no chance and simply go and make good films, therefore there are generally good films from Canada and Australia, but no mega-bucks hits. Those who think they do have chance keep fighting like pitbulls.
Yes. It's sad. All about production and promotion - barryb 11:23:12 03/08/11 (1)
Plot and writing are a secondary consideration. You would think that they would want excellent writing, but not so much. Has creativity in our society faded that much?
- RE: Yes. It's sad. All about production and promotion - dancingseamonkey 10:16:12 03/14/11 (0)
  "Has creativity in our society faded that much?"
  Yas it has I'm sorry to say.
  
  "We're chained to the world and we all gotta pull." Waits

Post a Followup:

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?

Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
	Remember my Moniker & Password (What's this?) Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:

Message:	(Posts are subject to Content Rules)

Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:	Automagically notify you when someone responds.

To view your new posting or follow-up, click on the RELOAD or REFRESH button on your browser.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: