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"Development hell" is media-industry jargon
Jargon

Jargon is terminology which has been especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, or group. In other words, the term covers the language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest....
 for a film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 screenplay
Screenplay

A screenplay or script is a written work especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing works....
, computer program
Computer program

Computer programs are Instruction for a computer. A computer requires programs to function. Moreover, a computer program does not run unless its instructions are executed by a Central processing unit; however, a program may communicate an Algorithm#Formalization of algorithms to people without running....
, concept
Concept

A concept is a cognition unit of meaning— an abstraction idea or a mental symbol sometimes defined as a "unit of knowledge," built from other units which act as a concept's characteristics....
, or idea
Idea

An idea is a form formed by consciousness through the process of Ideation . Human capability to contemplate ideas is associated with the ability of reasoning, human self-reflection, and of the ability to acquire and apply intellect, intuition, inspiration, etc.....
 becoming and remaining stuck in development and taking an especially long time to start production, if ever. The film industry buys rights to many popular novels, video games, and comics, but it may take years for such properties to be successfully brought to cinema (if at all), and often with considerable changes to the plot, characters, and general tone.

he case of a film or television screenplay, the screenwriter
Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scenarists are scriptwriters who write the screenplays from which films and television programs are made.Most screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation....
 may have successfully sold a screenplay to a certain set of producer
Film producer

A film producer is someone who creates the conditions for making film. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors....
s or studio executives, but then new executives assigned to the project may raise objections to all the scripts and casting decisions they oversee, mandating rewrites
Rewrite (programming)

A rewrite in computer programming is the act or result of re-implementing a large portion of existing functionality without re-use of its source code....
 and recasting.






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"Development hell" is media-industry jargon
Jargon

Jargon is terminology which has been especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, or group. In other words, the term covers the language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest....
 for a film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 screenplay
Screenplay

A screenplay or script is a written work especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing works....
, computer program
Computer program

Computer programs are Instruction for a computer. A computer requires programs to function. Moreover, a computer program does not run unless its instructions are executed by a Central processing unit; however, a program may communicate an Algorithm#Formalization of algorithms to people without running....
, concept
Concept

A concept is a cognition unit of meaning— an abstraction idea or a mental symbol sometimes defined as a "unit of knowledge," built from other units which act as a concept's characteristics....
, or idea
Idea

An idea is a form formed by consciousness through the process of Ideation . Human capability to contemplate ideas is associated with the ability of reasoning, human self-reflection, and of the ability to acquire and apply intellect, intuition, inspiration, etc.....
 becoming and remaining stuck in development and taking an especially long time to start production, if ever. The film industry buys rights to many popular novels, video games, and comics, but it may take years for such properties to be successfully brought to cinema (if at all), and often with considerable changes to the plot, characters, and general tone.

History

In the case of a film or television screenplay, the screenwriter
Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scenarists are scriptwriters who write the screenplays from which films and television programs are made.Most screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation....
 may have successfully sold a screenplay to a certain set of producer
Film producer

A film producer is someone who creates the conditions for making film. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors....
s or studio executives, but then new executives assigned to the project may raise objections to all the scripts and casting decisions they oversee, mandating rewrites
Rewrite (programming)

A rewrite in computer programming is the act or result of re-implementing a large portion of existing functionality without re-use of its source code....
 and recasting. As a director
Film director

A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
 and actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
s become "attached" to the project, further rewrites and recasting may be done, to accommodate the needs of the new talents involved in the project. Should the project fail to meet their needs, they might leave the project or simply refuse to complete it, causing further rewrites and recasting. At any point, a project may be forced to begin again from scratch.

This process can last for months or years. More often than not, a project trapped in this state will be abandoned by all interested parties or cancelled outright. Hollywood starts ten times as many projects as are released, so many scripts will, of necessity, languish. Many times, this "hell" is caused by the lack of foresight and competing visions of those involved. This revolving door in the film industry happens most commonly with projects that, to some, may have multiple interpretations and affect several points of view.

Related concepts


In software building, unreleased products that have been in long-term development are referred to as vaporware
Vaporware

Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product....
. One example is Duke Nukem Forever
Duke Nukem Forever

Duke Nukem Forever is the title of a first-person shooter currently being developed by 3D Realms. It follows Duke Nukem 3D as the next game in 3D Realms' Duke Nukem series and is being directed by one of the creators of the original Duke Nukem game, George Broussard....
, under development since at least 1997.

See also

  • List of films in development hell
    List of films in development hell

    This is a list of films in development hell....
  • List of development hell projects
    List of development hell projects

    This is a list of non-movie projects considered to be in development hell....
  • Shelved
    Shelved

    In the film industry, a film is considered shelved if it is not released for public viewing after filming has started, or even completed.A film can be shelved for a number of reasons:...
  • Film production


Sources