Getting the Script to the Screen...How long does it take?

One coul also ask .. How long is a piece of string, how many gallons of water in the Pacific ocean, where does eternity end ?
One is unlikely to get  an answer that nears the truth to any of those questions, the same goes for the length of time to get the hard worked ,well honed script from your comp to the silver screen.

Fifteen years ago my partner and I submitted a screenplay to a production company, they loved it, offered a nice cheque and we did a  deal, we thought. A few days later we were contacted by the companies NY lawyers saying they wanted to change the "agreed deal".

In order to bring the script to the screen we were asked to pay for all costs including Execs travel expenses, to distant and exotic locations, all first class of course and they wanted to drop the percentage of the "Back end deal". If the film was not started in one years time  we would be liable for ...get this one..ALL  OF THE COSTS INCURRED... in achieving this no show.
 Naturally the script was returned as was the cheque, and it still resides in a drawer in our office.

So that was fifteen years ago..nothing much has changed  One script I might be involved in the shooting of has been on the stocks for over six years now, a complete change of Producers, locations changed from the UK, Canada, a Pacific Island, South Africa, and is now heading back to Canada, the other side.
Several leading actors have been hired  and then they lost interest and left, the entire cast list has changed, the money is in and then out, we have had several "Imminent:|" green lit days.
It is now scheduled to start sometime this year, when the writer/ Director finishes his cuurrent project..It seems to be the way it goes..or does it.

One of the more pleasant aspects of my job as a Director of Photography is watching the work of other people doing my job and in that task I am aided by being a member of BAFTA which means I am sent copies of most of the major productions for the judging of the awards.

This year has been a particularly good year and there are some great movies out there, but in all honesty I have to admit there are some absolutely dreadful pieces of work that should never have seen the light of day, in almost every department .

How did they ever get made, what induced rich people to throw their money, millions of it, at such dire dross.In some cases one or two films might have been better off waiting for fifteen years, and then quietly forgotten.

So to answer my own question, How long does it take to get your film to the screen?  sorry, there is no answer, it will take as long as it takes... just keep plugging away, keep updating and polishing...  one day it will all be yours. Oh, and keep a sense of humour, you will need it.
Bon chance.