Hi! I'm looking for input on something that I can't seem to solve. First some general info for you guys: The story in question is still in development (but almost done) and will be laid out as a screenplay. Thing is, I started to write just for my own. I never bothered to think about what "might sell" or what an audience at a film theatre might like or if anything in the story has been done before... I just wanted to put this down MY way. Writing a screenplay and creating unique characters in a setting to my liking has been a livelong dream. I had the outline of the story in my head for almost ten years before I wrote a single word, always tossing Ideas around during daydreams or sometimes a song would "trigger" a scene in my head which woulf fit perfectly. When I started out, I never thought that I might get SO invested in all this stuff. This story has become a huge part of me and I can literally see every scene in my imagination, feel the emotions and get caught by the soundtrack I put together.(By now I believe that almost all writers must feel like this about their stories, getting emotinally attached to something completely fictional is a really interesting process in my opinion.) As written earlier, I never had any "rules" in mind, except for the proper screenplay-specific format. That led to the screenplay actually being almost as long as two standart screenplays. Again, I never thought about getting this produced because later on the setting gets REAL complex and I always knew what that would cost and...well, let's be honest: I'm not a known name in the industry and just because the story is so great for me doesn't mean it is actually great to other in terms of being saleable or even entertaining... You see, I am rather realistic on this. But after getting so caught up in all this and spending so much of my time and energy, I would really somehow like to see this come to life. Now, there are two options I currently considere: Making it a true two-part story and self-produce the first part. (Setting changes later on, the first part could be pulled off without too many expenses.) and see if people like it. This way I could enter competitions or go the route of self-publishsing and see if it actually leads somewhere. There MIGHT be a chance for part two, as I would have some references when trying to get part two produced by someone more professional. Worst case here would be no one except me likes it, but I would still make some experiences which would still mean a lot to me. The other option would be cutting it to be one single screenplay and try to get that one produced by someone else. Advantage would be that the story is all complete, which most producers seem to prefer. I read somewhere the doing multiple-part stories without any references is a big no-no in the industry but well, didn't think about that until now. By now it would take more work to cut it down than to extend it into two full screenplays which would make sense individually or connected. Worse case here would be that no one cares or IF I hit the lottery the producer/director would change so much that everything ends up being way different from what I had in mind. Looking forward to your thoughts on which way to go!
Cutting out into two would only be a good idea if it can be cut in two. The setting changes, but would people walk away from the first part feeling as though they'd seen a complete, satisfying story? Hopefully they'd want to come back for the second part, but the best way to guarantee that they don't is to annoy then by putting on a story that builds and builds and builds and then ends, please buy a ticket and wait however long for the rest. Similarly, trimming it down can only work if there's enough fat there to be removed. You couldn't make ASOIAF much shorter without fundamentally changing the plot because there's just so much of it. Again, you don't want to leave your script hamstrung and not making sense because you cut out vital scenes. It's impossible to know more without being familiar with the script, honestly
