One of the conventions of screenwriting is that of ‘notes’. These are the considered opinions of every peripheral person who glances at the script for whatever reason. They all consider themselves experts, no matter if their only qualification is in accountancy. The experienced writer grows very jaundiced in handling notes sessions. The art is to appear friendly, unthreatened, grateful and cooperative, no matter how much nonsense is being spouted. And to be fair, hidden amid the sludge is the odd diamond which might just sparkle with insight and wisdom. Writers need to have their filters in place. Notes are a necessary evil. No matter that the exec offering them spent 20 minutes while watching TV scanning your script, whereas you’ve been wrestling with it for years. Those with the money know best; or at least you need to let them think they do.

So, for your interest and edification, here’s some of the more interesting we received on The Insatiable Moon during development. No names, no pack drill.

“Where can an audience member point to and openly chuckle at the goings on of your characters? At present the tone is much darker than I presume you think it is.”

“The question of why would people come out of the theatre and smile to themselves asking the question – was Arthur mad? How do you come to this conclusion?”

“No film in which the hero dies before the end will work.” (let me count the films…)

“This story is too small – even though the themes it deals with are huge.”

“Who is the central character?”

“This film will never be made.”

Oh really? As the say, the best revenge is success…

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