Girls, Girls, Girls

So it turns out that the major bump that you get from a Nicholl semifinalist placement is a lot of attention from manager/producers.

A lot of people have negative opinions of manager/producers, mostly because of the conflict of interest of someone who is supposed to be focused on your career as a manager also trying to boost their own career as a producer -- when push comes to shove, would they choose an offer better for them, or for the writer?

The problem is that most managers now work for management/production companies -- because they can.

So as I choose a reputable few to focus on (more on this process as it occurs), I find myself pondering the commerciality of my scripts.

I really don't aggressively think commercially as I write a script. I'm not writing uncommercially, but I'm not as focused as some people about things like writing scenes that would be great for the trailer, or lines of dialogue that can summarize the plot in a coming attraction, or trying to make my tale teen-friendly, or making sure stuff blows up real good.

Having said that, I find myself with three screenplays that are about to be in play:

My frozen-time script, my Nicholl script, and my almost-but-not-quite-done supernatural thriller.

All of them have female leads. Not only that, but the first two -- the only two that anyone are going to be reading, at this point -- both have 18-year-old female leads.

I'm not sure what the Freudian implications are of my writing so many female main characters. Ironically, none of my previous scripts, or even the two someday-I-have-to-finish scripts I've been noodling around with, have female leads. Just my three solid ones. So something must be working.

The problem is that I conceived both of these 18-year-old female lead scripts a number of years ago, and the actresses I always had in mind for them have all aged beyond it. Natalie Portman is too old now. Scarlett Johannsen always seems older than she is. Thora Birch, Anna Paquin, Jena Malone, Emmy Rossum, Rachel McAdams, Anne Hathaway, Keira Knightley... all would have been more age-appropriate a few years ago.

So, since I'm bound to be faced with the question of who I see in the part, and who can star in this, it's a question I should really start thinking about, if I want to try to raise a spark in someone's eyes.

Because the best option might be Lindsay Lohan, and even she's moving beyond teen roles.

So who else is out there? Who are the interesting young actresses that can carry a film, that you want to see? Evan Rachel Wood? Ellen Page? Or do I have to wait for Dakota Fanning or Abigail Breslin to grow into it?

Pontificate, please.