Your Story, Your judgement - trust it.

A producer or a screenwriter's greatest asset is the story that he or she conceptualizes and uses their creative flair to shape the story.

Then why on great Zeus' Olympus would they not trust their own judgement when it comes to the stories that they create and have to share? Why do they need to heavily rely on someone else to decide whether these some of the most amazing stories that are floating around are any good or worth the viewer's time? And why do some professional decision makers in the industry give up their power to these unqualified and sometimes inexperienced individuals? And why are professional producers and showrunners in the industry of today apprehensive when it comes to taking risks?

We can understand from a producing standpoint that a lot of money is being invested in making a blockbuster movie and that a lot of thought and design work goes in during the pre-production stages, and that a producer or a showrunner does expect a healthy return on their investments when all is said and done. However, the issue is the over reliance on critics and the giving away of too much of the power in the hopes that these critics may help the screenwriter, director, producer or the showrunner produce better quality content - but alas, they've been duped.

Let's begin our discussion with why on Earth would the professionals in the mainstream film industry not trust their own judgement when it comes to the stories that are told and or are produced for the viewing audience? After all, they are relentless when it comes to the proposals submitted by aspiring content creators. I would argue that because of the amount of money and time that needs to be invested in a movie or a spec script as the industry professionals would like to refer to it as. The producer or the showrunner's natural expectation of a healthy return on this through the sales and promotion of the movie once it is has undergone the production and post production stages, and the strain it places on the filmmaker plays a huge part in this equation. I would also theorize that the goal of saving on costs and having the content or movie produced has certainly not only entertained the minds of the producers, but they may have also made it a standard practice in the industry. It can be good when done right, but this particular hydra seems to have produced some new heads that makes it difficult to deal with.

For the purposes of this article, I want us to set aside these expectations and practices in the industry and ask ourselves this simple question: "Are producers incapable of trusting their own judgements? If the answer is a Yes, then they shouldn't continue with the project. If the answer is a solid No, then they shouldn't be needing to heavily rely on unqualified and inexperienced Joe Shmoes to determine the quality of their work. This goes for every other screenwriter and filmmaker on the planet. That's for your target audience to determine. They do not need to rely that heavily on anyone who is clearly not qualified or even under qualified for the job. It'll be like the hire manager of a company or a business hiring someone who doesn't even know what they're doing and expecting that person to deliver a quality product/service to their standards. It doesn't work like that.

Critics of today have positioned themselves as gods of the industry and they will lash out against anyone that challenges their power. The producers and showrunners, out of fear may have essentially given away their power to these (dare I call them) smart a$%es.

Another possible reason why professional producers and showrunners are heavily relying on unqualified and often inexperienced individuals is due to either plain laziness or in an attempt to save costs. I would argue both only because they don't do their due diligence in picking these questionable individuals, and or want to get to the production and the post production stages faster than a speeding Valkyrie. I've observed this happen one too many times with my classmates in film school: they were to eager to get to the production and post production stages and did not bother with the entire rewriting process of the project that we were assigned. This didn't surprise me as they were too impatient. I on the other side enjoyed the whole rewriting process every single time a project was assigned.

Why the article then? Why do I believe this is the biggest issue since the American civil rights movement? When you allow your story to be critiqued by questionable people or individuals, you are basically:

• Taking the easy way out
• You don't trust yourself when it comes to your own story, or your characters even.
• You are sacrificing the quality of your creations.

You need to set yourselves an affirmation every single time you engage in a new project or submit your work for critique. Believe in your characters and your story. And as part of that affirmation, tell yourself that this is your story - and you are the only one who is allowed to judge your own creations. If you feel you need a second opinion for whatever reason, find yourselves a well established critic who may or may not charge an arm and a leg for their services, but will provide you with constructive criticism. Only seek them out if you feel that your story is way too important for you to self critique.

If you strongly believe in your story and in your characters, you will find within yourself to be the judge automatically until you know that the story is perfect. To quote filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli: "Don't make films just for the money. Do it because you believe in your characters and your story". That is the key to producing or making quality films, TV shows or other content in the mainstream or independent cinema world.

Also remember this: No pain, no gain and No risk, no reward.