Ten-minutes is hardly enough time to do anything in depth. Thus the short simply highlights the screenwriter's creative role in the process by which his (no 'her') original idea or adaptation reaches the screen. The various hands through which the first draft passes is outlined in rather mechanical fashion. Nonetheless, for folks wishing to inform themselves, the outline can be very informative. Interestingly, specific individuals, mainly directors of top movies, are referred to but never by name. (Instead, actors appear as stand-ins.) That way, it's the various levels of approval and not personalities that remain uppermost. Of course, each level can have a hand in shaping the final product. Thus the draft that finally reaches the screen is usually a collective rather than an individual product, while many scripts are the result of several writers, hopefully in collaboration. It should also be noted that the short was made in 1950 when movie studios still monopolized film production. Since then, the nature of the industry has changed drastically. Consequently, an update to reflect these changes would be doubly informative.
Review of The Screen Writer
