Triumph of the Underdog

That final FADE TO BLACK may be a screenwriter's only undiluted, unequivocal moment of triumph. Soon enough – and this is a best-case scenario – a studio exec, a producer, a script reader will be pissing all over your perfect product; worst-case scenario, the thing's going in the drawer, on top of an already fat stack of glorified kindling that you've poured blood, sweat, tears, and, yes, even years into.

The screenwriter is universally acknowledged to be the whipping boy of the industry, but then, who doesn't like an underdog? That's why my fellow Austin Chronicle Film critic Josh Rosenblatt and I, ever the contrarians, have chosen in our third Film Fight to uplift the downtrodden scriptwriter. And what better timing than on the eve of the Austin Film Festival, an event that originated with the express purpose of celebrating screenwriters? God bless 'em. Somebody's gotta do it.

Next Monday, Josh and I will battle-blog royale at austinchronicle.com/filmfight on all manners of writerly-ness – both about writers of film and writers as depicted in film. About writers writing and writers not writing. About writers selling out, flaming out, and finding inspiration in the bottom of a bottle. Of course, as in Film Fights past, Josh and I will probably be at each other's throats by day two, lobbing dirty bombs and calling into question the other's credentials as a critic (and, occasionally, as a human). But for the screenwriters? We got nothing but love.

Film Fight III: Writers in the Movies runs Oct. 13-17 at austinchronicle.com/filmfight. Comment on the blogs, and you could be eligible for prize giveaways. The post-fight Film Fight Happy Hour takes place Thursday, Oct. 23, 7:30pm at Spider House.