“Good isn’t good enough. You have to be great.”

If you’ve been paying attention to the business of Hollywood, you’re probably aware that Skydance is taking over Paramount.

David Ellison‘s Skydance Media has announced Sunday night that it and its backers will invest $8 billion in a takeover of Paramount Global, capping a seven-month quest.

The company had received approval earlier Sunday from a special committee of Paramount’s board of directors. The full board then OK’d the plan for a two-step transaction: first the acquisition of National Amusements Inc., the entity run by Shari Redstone that had controlled almost 80% of Paramount voting shares. That transaction will be followed by a full merger.

Considering there was an apparent alternate offer brewing which would have ended up selling the Paramount lot — does Hollywood really need more condos? — I think most folks in the business breathed a sigh of relief when this deal was announced. I was gratified even further by comments Ellison made in an interview on Monday with Matt Belloni on his The Town podcast. A few excerpts:

“Our viewpoint has always been that, you’re living in a world where an A-minus is failing. You have to be an A, you have to have a creative culture that believes quality is the best business plan, that will actually encourage everybody to aim high and not stop working until they get there.

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We’re big believers in original storytelling, especially in the theatrical space. The quality has to be there. Quality has genuinely never been more important than it is right now. Good isn’t good enough. You have to be great.”

Ellison talked about the importance of supporting relationships with Hollywood storytellers. He said Paramount was going to increase the number of theatrical releases, including original stories.

Great! But there’s that attitude: A-minus is failing. You have to be an A. Good isn’t good enough. You have to be great.

Setting it aside as a business aphorism, this echoes what I tell my screenwriting students. When they graduate and head out into the world, if they ever write a script they think is wort my attention, I encourage them to contact me with the logline. If I like the logline, I may request the script, but only if…

The script is great.

I’m happy to pass along scripts to managers I know, as I’ve done in the past. But I cannot recommend a script if it’s just good. It has to be stellar.

Strong concept.
Emotional resonance.
Engaging characters.
Compelling plot.
Memorable dialogue.
Unique voice.
Page turner.

Good is not good enough. It has to be great.

By the way, we all know the spec script market is depressed. Interesting to note that Paramount has acquired more specs this year than any other company. Maybe with Ellison taking charge, we’ll see even more of that.

Final note: I highly recommend The Town podcast. Typically two episodes per week. It’s a great way of following Hollywood business trends.