The drama begins... When?

[Bookworm45]

Writing a script and I'm about 29 pages in and nothing really big has happened yet apart from stuff like an intro that sets up the script like a flashback, people warning the main character to beware of another (because she acts like she's "possessed") and two characters talking to each other, hinting at the thing that's going to happen in a few pages. It's a drama (I suppose. Don't think it can fit into any other genre)... Just worried if it's talking too long to set up or if I should just write it and then mention it when (or if, depending on whether people will) I get it critiqued.
I read online tha if nothing has really happened in the first 25 pages then the agents and exec's will throw it away.
:/

 

[Sweetie]

Depends on the exec I suppose. 5 pages or 10 pages is what I hear. If you haven't gripped your audience by then, you've lost them.

 

[FantasySciFi]

How much of a movie or a TV show do you watch before deciding it's boring? Five minutes? Ten minutes? In a properly formatted script, one page is roughly one minute of screen time. So if you make a decision about continuing to watch a program, say, after six minutes, then your script has to catch someone's attention by page six.

I find that by page 10, if a writer hasn't caught my interest, the script is passed on.

 

[DDK]

First page.

Inciting incidents are the most misunderstood thing about scripts in my opinion. People seem to think they have to be big and flashy and grab attention which is pretty much the antithesis of what an inciting incident is or should be. And if you're not somehow inferring or referencing the inciting incident on the first page then I think you're pretty much done for.

By inferring or referencing, I'm talking about being subtle but giving the audience the clue that something is going to happen. There will be story. This isn't just an indulgent melodrama that will detail the inanity of the writer's innermost turmoils. If you can't tell your audience that there is something worth sticking around to enjoy within the first page/minute, then why should they stick around?

Also, I should point out that flash-backs are... ugh. Not that they can't be used effectively or done well, but for the most part 'flashback' spells 'bin' to a producer. Well, unless you're going for the 90 IQ or lower demographic. This is mainly because people use them as a story-telling sledgehammer rather than an artful technique to further characterisation or the story. If your sole purpose for a flashback is exposition, personally, I say dump it and find a better, more subtle and skilful way.