ABSTRACT
Good producers don't need to be good scriptwriters. They just need to be able to recognize good scripts. Many producers believe anyone can write. It's just writing. The need for a script is so critical to a successful production that even outlying, maverick directors known for their so called script-less approach to filmmaking understand that eventually data has to be communicated to cast and crew. The smallest, most basic, unit of measurement in a script is often called the beat. Beats are simple actions like a facial expression or a gesture, individual lines of dialogue, pauses, breaks, or short transitional elements like an establishing shot of a building. Good producers recognize these differences and navigate the world of scripts and script versions knowing that different people are used to different ways of reading. And they know that, come production time, they want to be working with the director's version of the script, not the investor's one.
