The model screenwriter - a comedy case study?

Screenwriting is not an art form 'because screen-plays (sic) are not works of art' says screenwriter Paul Schrader, who describes himself as 'half a film-maker'; 'they are invitations to others to collaborate on a work of art, but they are not in themselves works of art' (Hamilton 1990, ix). His statement neatly articulates how the script functions in the filmmaking process, and also the act of screenwriting itself - that is, writing from a space between, as the medium between the story and its destined platform. Schrader's claim reinforces an interesting tension whereby, as Craig Batty (2012) pointed out, the creative writing aspect of screenwriting is often sidelined by dominant models favouring technical and industrial concerns. This paper, then, discusses the process of faithfully following one of these models in writing a treatment for a female-centred comedy screenplay, with a view to contributing to the broader discourse around screenwriting, specifically creative process versus structure. Using Keith Giglio's Writing the Comedy Blockbuster: The Inappropriate Goal (2012), this article presents a case study of how this practice has manifested within a feminist methodology, the outcomes for my quest to develop funny, female protagonists, and how dominant models might inform or diminish the creative act of screenwriting.