Screenwriting : Page Count by Joanne Malone

Some stories take time to tell - it's not a fixed in place law that 110 pages is a maximum. My scripts have gone up to 120, sometime 125 (which would be my absolute limit personally) - cut out what you don't need like superfluous characters and subplots that don't contribute to the main story, that's the first order of business for making a script more compact. :)

Hi, Joanne Malone. I don't think there's a 110-page recommendation for feature scripts. Page count depends on the story. I aim for 90-95 pages for my spec scripts. Sometimes they're shorter and sometimes they're longer.

Joanne Malone I identify with this post so much. 110 is likely long for a spec in 2024, maybe not for a competition entry. I am with Maurice, i.e. I aim for 90-95 now. I legitimately force myself to sharpen the action lines as I write, i.e. make them as concise (the least verbose) as possible. I don't know if you've attempted a Short yet, but writing one helped me get used to compacting large ideas, into a thirty-page script no less...

90-120 pages, and you’ll be fine!

Maurice - i was just going by what has been mentioned here at the site. 90-95?? Need an entire box of red pens for that to come true!! Thanks. Mike - you know you're correct. When I see the specs for the competitions they say no longer than 120. And I have not attempted a short yet. But it's on my agenda now. Thanks for the advice. Lindbergh you have given me a sigh of relief. Thanks!!

You're welcome, Joanne Malone. I agree with Lindbergh E Hollingsworth. You'll be fine with 90-120 pages.

Joanne Malone Even with the competitions whose max page count is over 120, e.g. Nicholl, there's usually a caveat somewhere stating '120 or less is recommended'. I'm on my second Short, and zero regrets. Also, for the generally verbose, novel-writing is a nice escape from screenwriting!

I also agree with Lindbergh E Hollingsworth and comedy screnplays are often shorter than that. The number of pages is not a rule.

Agree with what others have said here Joanne Malone, keep it under 120 as a sort of loose benchmark.

Don't believe the length aspect. Start with telling the story. Make sure you stick with proper formatting and use Final Draft.

Once you've accomplished that, they'll tell you what they want changed and do it. Don't get attached to the words. Get attached to the project.

The best practice for getting better at writing tighter is to find a couple of your favorite movie's scripts. Not auteur driven 150 pagers, but some good 90-110 page ones. Sit down in final draft and type out the entire script word for word. This practice alone will help you discern how to more efficiently craft your own work on the page. Do it a few times and you will be writing with better rhythm, pace, and cadence than ever before

110 pages doesn’t scare me. But if you think you might be overwriting, you probably are. Most writers do.

First thing to look at— does every scene serve a purpose? Does every character serve a purpose? There may be ways to cut and condense.

Then there’s the actual action lines. Write shorter sentences. Use less repetition. Use sentence fragments occasionally. Good for rhythm! (See what I did there?) Be declarative. Fewer adjectives and adverbs. Use action verbs. For example, instead of “he runs swiftly to the door,” try “he races to the door.”

The last pass I often do is looking for “widows and orphans,” the words that hang off the end of a line. See how many action blocks you can shorten by one line with a simple rewrite.

If you haven't already, make sure your action lines don't go over 3 lines per action. With dialogue, experiment with cutting back – it can be unnecessary words, but also entire exchanges.

Sometimes its not just a case of cutting down on description or dialogue, but asking yourself how many purposes each scene is serving. Some long scripts are long because each scene is just doing one thing, when ideally each scene will be doing 3: delivers information about a character(s), progresses some form of inter-character relationship development and does something to move the plot. If you have lots of scenes that only serve one purpose, not only will your script be longer but it will also feel long.

Pat Alexander, my first reaction honestly was to say "how tedious" but as I thought more it might be a helpful process for me.Thanks for the tip!

Mike Boas, purpose of scenes is a skill necessary for me to fully learn. I mean, I get the basic intent and I feel that I am able to apply this skill on some level. But my process when I start writing is to record what I see playing out in my imagination which includes enjoying the characters in all scenarios. Best way to describe is - watching your kids play, or your fave pet do silly antics... you want to keep watching as long as they are happy and forcing them to stop seems a tad disappointing. Great tip and I will go back to the drawing board and give it a go.

Christiana Lange I am very aware of my action lines and try my best to keep them precise and as abbreviated as possible. Great tip though!!

Ewan Dunbar, very interesting point. (refer to my reply to Mike Boas) considering what I previously mentioned, combining scene purpose is even a better idea. Funny though, (and this is intended to everyone who has offered help) does anyone agree that composing a "great" script is a delicate balance between "process" than "creation"? I feel as though (humbly speaking) I have the creative down pat... need to hone more of the process I suppose. Thanks Ewan!!

Scott C. Brown, I am a Final Draft super fan!! wouldn't use any other software!!

I once received notes for a sci-fi action script (119 pages) that mentioned, "110 pages is the sweet spot for scripts like this." Out of around 10 sets of notes that this has gotten over as much drafts, this was one caveat in one set. So perhaps some readers and execs use this as a requirement but it can't be everybody.

Rhetoric 101: "Know your audience". Even if you are able to pitch an executive whom you can look up guessing most spec stuff ends up before a professional reader (and assistant and [insert other job function here]) who might have the equivalent of Highway Hypnosis after barreling through thirty scripts that week before yours even reaches the top of the pile. There are plenty of anecdotal stories of readers groaning when they reach that 120-page sci fi Magnum Opus, so the key is way more likely to be to ensnare (early and often) the would-be readers whether your baby weighs in at 85 pgs or 119.5...

Just as a follow-up to my page count inquiry I decided to do a non-scientific check of the page count on some of my fave movies... interesting findings.

Above The Law 136

Absolute Power 134

Angel Eyes 130

Apocalypse Now 138

Bohemian-Rhapsody 152

Citizen Kane 140

Animal Kingdom 115

L.A. Confidential 122

Memento 156

Memory 121

Prometheus 118

The Hurt Locker 119

Mank 152

Pretty Woman 133

Bourne-Ultimatum 105

Oceans 11 166

Sixth Sense 114

Training Day 122

When Harry Met Sally 137

Se7en (Seven) 125

The Pelican Brief 137

First Snow 110

Hmmmm....

1) The acceptable page length tends to be 85-120 with the sweet spot being 95-100.

2) Of all those longer scripts you just mentioned, Very few of them started life as spec scripts. Nearly all of them were from hired guns.

Thanks Travis.

There's no recommended page count. People touting stuff like that don't know what they're talking about.

It is contextual to production/marketing demands. When I write scripts for the indie world, I am very wary of going over 90pp. Most sales agents have to work with 1hr 30min screening slots at festivals. The difference between 90pp and 120pp is 33% too, so that's a potential third more in terms budget needs and time to shoot the script.

With practice, you get a feel for how many pages a story needs. Those who are new to this need not worry too much. I keep trying to hammer home that producers see a spec script as something that can be adapted to their needs.

Something I can't recommend enough is writing short scripts over and over. I wrote dozens and dozens for a year or so. Few were longer than five pages. It was a brilliant boot camp and it led to a lot of those getting optioned and giving me experience with that.

Most of my feature film screenplays run between 85 and 105 pages, but the 'sweet spot' seems to be shrinking faster than my patience on a Monday morning. Honestly, I can’t wait until the magic number hits somewhere between 3 and 5 pages so I can stop wasting hours in front of my computer typing this stuff and get back to the truly important things in life—like catching up on TV. Who needs character arcs when I’ve got a perfectly good couch.

I got so obsessed with the 90 page count that it hindered my work. I was padding it out pointlessly to hit that, let's be honest, completely arbitrary page number. Shortening it is an improvement. It's still long enough to be 88 pages but it's paced better now.