The difference between an Oscar and a Razzie

Happy Friday!  Today is the day I usually talk about my own writing, but who cares, it’s OSCAR WEEKEND!  I’ve always enjoyed the Oscars though as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten more jaded about them and the fact that the nominations/wins often reward a person more for their career or their last project than their current project, but hey, whatever, it’s the OSCARS.

One good thing about being a little jaded now is that I’m pretty good with an Oscar ballot.  Not to toot my own horn too much, but in the past few years I’ve won several Oscar pools.  My secret?  Honestly, the thing that clinches it is usually the shorts, docs, and technical awards.  If you just look these up beforehand or go with who won the guild awards, you can usually pick correctly, otherwise pick the movie with the coolest name, that works too.

Anyway, I’m clearly excited to see the show.  Also, for the first time ever, I worked on a movie that was nominated for a couple things, so I've got people to root for (actually I’ve worked with people who were nominated in previous years because Hollywood is such a small world, but I feel closer this time).  On the downside, I will probably be less objective with my ballot picks, but on the upside, it’s a nice change to tell people you worked on an Oscar nominated movie instead of a Razzie nominated movie (yep, I worked on one of those, too).  The funny thing is, from my perspective, the people I work with are always working hard and doing excellent and professional jobs.  I’ve worked on a couple “bad” movies, and their sets and costumes totally blew me away.

Now, I’m not saying I couldn’t tell the difference between working on an Oscar movie and a Razzie movie...in hindsight there was definitely a difference.  But in what areas?  Well, I’d say the biggest differences were at the script level, followed by the higher ups level (Director, Producers, etc.).   Now, maybe that’s just me being biased as a writer, but it makes sense doesn’t it?  All other technical quality factors being fairly equal, a better script with a stronger vision/direction, equals a better movie.

And on that note, I'll leave you with this video that cracked my up and made me think of all us baby writers out there.  

While I wouldn't recommend copying Seinfeld word for word if you want to be a comedy writer like this little girl, I think watching shows you love or exposing yourself to anything written by a writer you like can only help you be a better writer (plus, you've gotta watch a bunch of shows anyway if you're planning to write a new TV spec this year).  Speaking of exposing yourself (ha) to good work, here is a link posted by ScriptShadow yesterday to all the 2011 Oscar nominated scripts.  Enjoy, and happy Oscar watching/happy writing (whether you're penning a future Oscar winner, or just your latest TV spec, like me).