Is this How to Write a Script for Netflix?

Not so long ago it was reported that Netflix was advising writers to “dumb down" their scripts. What does this mean exactly and why would the streamer want to do that? Let’s get into it. 

I was talking about trends in screenwriting with my TV writing students on the Pilot Ready program recently and this point came up. My students wondered if the rumours were true and if so, what repurcussions that might have for writers trying to break into the industry and potentially, somewhere along the line, write for Netflix?

The Second Screen

It’s now a recognized phenomenon that a lot of us are on our phones while we watch shows. Because we’re not actually seeing all the action happening on the screen, it can be difficult to understand what's going on. This is especially true if the plot involves something complicated, or if the characters are–quite rightly–not narrating the action. This isn’t audio drama.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck spoke about the issue when they were promoting their new film at the beginning of the year. There’s concern that, with our fractured attention spans, there’s a need for characters to repeatedly reiterate plot points verbally so the audience can more easily follow along while–ahem–looking down at their phones.

Does that mean chucking out all the rich subtext and nuance from your script? Ensuring there's an info dump every two pages? Even when everyone knows that exposition is kryptonite to a writer (or should be)?

No. There are two reasons for this.

1. Not all shows.

Not all writers on every project within Netflix have received this note. 

It’s a mammoth organization that's producing a wide variety of shows. Some of those need to capture as wide an audience as possible, sure. That might mean having to be a bit more heavy-handed or “on-the-nose” with dialogue–pointing out things that would have been obvious to the viewer had they been paying attention!

But there are also the prestige shows. The expectation with these kinds of high-end drama series is that they aspire to well-crafted storytelling. The writers shouldn't be spoon feeding the audience with superfluous information, so viewers need to be engaged enough to keep up.

The elegance of writing that requires an audience to figure things out, decipher subtext, glances between characters or half-formed sentences, is a critical factor behind these shows’ success. 

Exposition that takes us out of the story cannot exist within that context.

2. Your script has to be a good read.

Remember that the script you're writing now must first and foremost be read by a reader, exec or producer who will then decide whether to give it a recommend or a pass.

Repeating plot twists every few minutes to make sure the audience gets it? That’s not going to make a good read. 

Make sure your script is visual, but also make sure it's a page-turner.

Story Inkubator was founded by writer, scriptwriter and teacher, Kristina Jilly, an Australian living in Central Europe who's written for HBO Europe and RTL Television. She has an M.A. in Screenwriting and teaches at the University of Applied Sciences in Upper Austria. Kristina also writes online content about the art of storytelling and topics that inspire creativity. 

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