SSO-Method | *40-Steps-Method

Premise: the script is the film on paper. It tells a story that’s adapted for an audiovisual medium. It unfolds with drama and excitement, and as visually as possible.

Does that seem self-explanatory, and even banal? But around 80% of the international scripts destined for the market that we have reviewed either lacked a fully narrated story or were poorly adapted for film – usually both. And here we’re only talking about the film scripts, which have already got over some obstacles. They are being represented already on the international market by a sales company and are looking for distributors and investors.

Our solution: 97% success rate with professional analysis

We were inspired to develop and refine this extraordinary method through

  • the practical experience of our team in film production, world sales and domestic film distribution
  • as well as extensive training with František “Frank” Daniel,
  • studies of the theories and experiences of Aristotle, Lajos Egri, Eugene Vale, Ben Hecht, Joseph Campbell, William Goldman, Robert McKee, Jean-Paul Torok and many others
  • and the manner in which Paul Schrader wrote his early film scripts (TAXI DRIVER | RAGING BULL | THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST | AMERICAN GIGOLO).

Our research and our experience show: a fully developed story for cinema consists of around 40 Steps in a 90 to 120 minute film. This is as true for classics as it is for current films:

  • SOME LIKE IT HOT | 121’ | 40 Steps
  • THELMA & LOUISE | 130’ | 42 Steps
  • AMADEUS | 153’ | 45 Steps
  • AMERICAN BEAUTY | 122’ | 41 Steps
  • TITANIC | 194’ | 54 Steps | based on the analysis of the 156-page original screenplay dated 07.05.1996. During editing, James Cameron cut down two fully developed sub-stories that were fully told in the script. Had he not, TITANIC would have become even longer. About the quality of the story itself one can debate, but the its adaption into a film script and then into a visually gripping film was evident and simply perfect on paper.

Put your script "on the couch"

With the SSO-Method | *40-Steps-Method we get an overview about the story. We can ascertain whether it has been allowed to mature fully and what/how much has been left out or has been forgotten.

Authors, producers, distributors, investors, world sales companies come to us when they have the feeling that something about a script or story doesn’t add up. To come to an objective and reliable evaluation and to be able to give constructive feedback upon which further developments can be made, the SSO-Method | *40-Steps-Method is the basis for the analysis. It helps us to gain perspective and to keep our views, opinions, preferences and feelings out of the analysis. You can think of our method as a truncated form of psychoanalysis. The tastes, preferences, opinions, world view and values of an analyst may only appear in a serious analysis of a script, if at all, on the condition that they are clearly identified.

Our method is time consuming and intensive. The results come in 3 parts

  • Story-Step-Outline
  • Questions and commentaries
  • Analysis

It is unforgiving, but has a 97% success rate re. the market success or the failure of the film based on this script. It shows what parts of the story have been told fitly in the script in question and what is missing. Stories and scripts can be further developed on the basis of our analysis. They are a rock-solid foundation for script doctoring or rewrites.