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HAVING A WRTING CAREER
“HAVING A WRITING CAREER”
by
MICHELE WALLERSTEIN
A Screenplay and Novel Consultant
www.Novelconsultant.com
Are you playing at writing, or do you want a writing career? It sounds simple enough but this is a loaded question. Are you sitting in Albuquerque or Minneapolis and telling your friends and family that you are writing a screenplay? To what end? Do you have any idea what you should do if you really finish the script?
Writing a screenplay is only the first small step. It’s what you do next that really tells the tale.
Here are 10 things you need to know about having a writing career.
1. No one sells a screenplay……they “option” them. Don’t be misled by the articles in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, or by the verbiage you hear thrown about by people in and out of the Biz. Screenplays are optioned. The Production Company has the option whether to develop the property further or simply hold it for the option time allotted in the contract. Most scripts languish in this spot, sometimes for years.
2. If you set up a script, the Writers Guild protects you only so far as to guarantee that you do the first rewrite. After that event, you may be re-written by any number of other writers. The other “re-writes, polishes, etc., in your contract are optional and you may never get to do them.
3. Renewing the option is up to the producer or studio. If you have a six (6) month or perhaps a one (1) year option the production company has the right to drop the project after the initial option period has expired. At that time the material is usually considered old by industry standards.
4. There is no reality in “net profits”. This provision in your contract has little or no value. A Gross profits definition is only given to a handful of very, very successful writers. If you can get a net profit definition that is the same as the movie’s stars or producers, you may see some monies.
5. If you don’t live in the greater Los Angeles area, you won’t have a writing career. If you aren’t conveniently located for last minute meetings, you will be too easily forgotten and replaced with the writers who are here.
6. You must have “meet and greet” meetings. These meetings give you the chance to get writing assignments. They give you the opportunity to bond with development executives and producers who will need writers. They also give you the chance to pitch your original script ideas and that may lead to a development deal wherein you are paid to write your own project.
7. You must have original pitch ideas in the same genre as the script that you’ve set up. People in the industry like to know that you are not a “one-shot” writer. In other words if you’ve written a murder mystery and they need someone to do a re-write in the same genre, they’ll want to read another similar writing sample.
8. You must personally follow-up with every person that reads your material. Write those thank-you notes, email new ideas, call with questions, and ask the person to lunch or coffee. Keep up with those people.
9. If you socialize, you will work. Invite buyers out or over to your home for dinner.
Try to form friendships with those people that you like. Even informal get-togethers can be fun and bring your relationships closer. If they want to be around you, they will want to hire you.
10. Continue to write original screenplays as fast as you can. The larger your body of work, the better for you. You will also have more control if you have original screenplays. You will be sought out for new material and remembered.
There are lots of things you need to learn about the business of writing, please contact me with other questions and quandaries, or if you need a professional to review and to help with your screenplays. Email: novelconsult@sbcglobal.net
Comments
Thanks for the timely info.
Question -- if the scriipt is optioned -- is it popular for the PRODUCER to ask a seasoned or "older" writer to fine tune or fix the script?
Are producers just buying ideas and re-writes is not a big deal?
Regards,
ben
Hello Ben:
If you have written the original screenplay you will probably get the chance to do the first re-write. They are never small.
Thereafter, the producers quite often use other writers to do further re-writes and polishes.
Sorry, but I don't really understand your last question. Please re-word it and re-send to me.
Hello Michele
Thanks for the reply.
I heard producers are buying the rights to novels and screenplays.
And once they own the idea, they get their staff to do the writing and re-writes.
This is one way they can push their business vision.
So as a spec guy, should I worry only about making some form of sale via an option only and let the producers take full control after I sign?
I'm finding that producers don't like to be told what to!
Regards
Benjamin
OK, here's the scoop. Producers OPTION novels and screenplays. They don't PURCHASE the screenplay until they are about to go into PRODUCTION, which is very rare. The Writers Guild of America will protect you so that you must do the first re-write and get paid for it. After you turn that draft in to the PRODUCERS (studio) they have the right to hire anyone they want to do subsequent re-writes and polishes. There is no way that you can simply SELL your screenplay if the producer doesn't want to buy it UP FRONT. It doesn't make financial sense for them to buy the script prior to knowing if it will go to production or not.
Producers do not like to be told what to do and they will drop you and your project if you try. They are paying you the OPTION MONEY, so they get the control. It's the same in any business....he who has the $$$ gets control.
If you get a chance to OPTION a screenplay or novel to a bona fide production company, use an AGENT to make your deal. In any event, option the script or you won't get anywhere with your writing career. Best of luck.
Hey Michele,
You got an "Eagle" vision of this business. Respected. We look forward to your upcoming articles.
Regards
Ben
In regards to point 5 -
If I am unwilling to move to the Los Angeles area (but certainly willing to fly out when asked, and video conference) then there is no reason to spend time writing screenplays?
I ask because I write a variety of things (novels, comics, screenplays) and if the honest answer is that there is no point in taking the time to do it, I think I would be better served to spend my time writing prose.
Thanks for posting these informative articles,
Michael
Hi Michael:
I do stress that living in the L.A. area is the best thing to do. However, there is always a caveat. It is possible to sell scripts (OPTION them), have meetings and communicate from elsewhere. It will not give you the same career as it would if you lived here, but it's not impossible to have a modicum of success from elsewhere. Chances are that you might get a couple of things Optioned, but no writing assignments.
Not true! You do not have to live in L.A to have a sucessful writing carreer in Hollywood. You have an agent, and your agent can do the meetings that you cannot do, so don't be discouraged by some people who say, that you have to live in the same area. It helps tremendously, but isn't a set in stone requirement. If you write a great screenplay, you will get it "bought" or "Optioned". Please listen to your inner self and don't give up.
Kevin: I don't believe that you have had a chance to read my December 13th comment. By the way, if you don't go to meetings then you have no "personal"
connection to the people in Hollywood. Your agent already knows them and meets with them regularly. If you change agents or if your agent drops you, you are back to square one. I was an agent for a long time and I know how the "system" works.