A secret of screenwriting success: powerful numbers


I'm not making this stuff up, people.

This is from Wikipedia (ever heard of it?):

A powerful number is a positive integer m such that for every prime number p dividing m, p2 also divides m.

The following is a list of all powerful numbers between 1 and 1000:

1, 4, 8, 9, 16, 25, 27, 32, 36, 49, 64, 72, 81, 100, 108, 121, 125, 128, 144, 169, 196, 200, 216, 225, 243, 256, 288, 289, 324, 343, 361, 392, 400, 432, 441, 484, 500, 512, 529, 576, 625, 648, 675, 676, 729, 784, 800, 841, 864, 900, 961, 968, 972, 1000.

Now, let's look at the length of some successful screenplays and their page counts.

Alice in Wonderland. 125 pages.

True Grit. 121 pages.

Gone with the Wind. 144 pages.

The King's Speech. 128 pages.

See a pattern?

One of the most heavily guarded secrets in Hollywood is that content is overrated.

It's all about the page count.

When your total number of pages is a powerful number, people may read your screenplay and think, "I feel this screenplay's power."

The above is true, even if the writing is not perfect. People will read your stuff and think, "Hmm, the writing is mediocre and yet, the power of this screenplay is undeniable."

Finally, consider skipping from page 12 to page 14, because page 13 brings bad luck.

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