THE BIZ: Screenwriter John August asked data scientist Stephen Fellow to validate a big meme of the industry: 1 page of script=1 min of screen time. The results are not surprising, but still surprising. Despite the data, memes die hard ... I'm sure this one won't go anywhere anytime soon... like 3-act structure... we're stuck with it.
https://stephenfollows.com/is-the-page-per-minute-rule-correct/
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Love it! Thanks for posting, Jeff; confirms my thinking on this.
Stephen has a lot of great analyses - he has one on what drives script coverage scores (https://stephenfollows.com/analysis-of-12309-feature-film-script-reports) that I couldn't help spoofing
( https://youtu.be/XYFY3qqLQMQ)
into what drives rejection of cold query letters. :-)
Having just been asked to get my script into the 90 minute frame, this has some meaning. I would never use it to make an argument, but knowing it helps if making a film.
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Stephen Fellows is great ... love his stuff.
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It has always just been considered an estimate.
John August is such a geek he makes me look like a hippy. I remember he saying that the transcripts of Scriptnotes would make an excellent Machine Learning training set for natural language processing.
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The scriptwriter is not the only person involved in the filmmaking process. A worthy story has its own ebb & flow and it's up to a Director, DP, Editor and others to pull it together in a cohesive property. I've directed films in which I've worked a single script page to a 1.5 + min RT and I packed six pages of action into less than a minute of RT. It's generally a wild estimate until a breakdown, at best.