Thank you for this video, i followed your advice and wrote the academy award winning classic Sophie's Choice and wouldnt be where i am today without you
Looking at what is being said in this video it's no wonder that screenwriters are treated with so little regard by producers and directors ultimately. The definition of success in this video is getting a writing ASSIGNMENT, where you as the writer get hired to write THEIR story and not your own. A mere hired hand rather than a creator. The script you sweated over ultimately doesn't matter as it is a mere calling card - a resume and is tossed aside once it has served its purpose in making you an employee. This doesn't sound like my idea of success no matter how well you might get paid (which usually will not be anywhere close to that of the director and lead actors). This video is good advice for those who have little regard for the success of their own visions and only want a paycheck.
Well... this is reality. The folks that get their spec scripts produced are often established screenwriters who have paid their dues and are given an opportunity by a producer or studio because they've proven they can do the work. Have you ever applied for a job, gotten it, and the company immediately follows your direction for the organization? I didn't think so.
Storyboard Artist here - yes, this is an industry and yes, people have jobs. And those jobs entail performing tasks that are somewhat rigid and restrictive. If you’re out here trying to produce *YOUR* vision - go indie and work with a small group you can trust. Otherwise- yes, this is like any other paid profession, and if you don’t have the stomach to recognize that then don’t scream into the endless void. You have control over your life. You have control over how you select types of work that are available to you. You have control over how you want to spend your creative energy. Everyone has a different set of options so try to find what looks like a healthy balance for you and ride that as long as it continues to work for you. 👍
@@nickwalker7850 What I am asking is does every screenwriter interaction with a production company have to be about seeking an assignment? When producers purchase the rights to a book or play is this putting the author of such a work into an employment contract? I feel like a screenplay, like a book or a play, is a property under the ownership of the screenwriter and if it is being presented to the production company as a property to buy, rather than a mere calling card, it should be treated as such. The screenwriter should not only make this clear but the production company should make it clear what they are seeking - to buy a screenplay or to hire a writer to write THEIR story. Not every screenwriter has the resources to produce what they write as an indie production, especially if it requires a big budget, and trying to badly wear other hats takes away from attention to your craft and results in mediocrity all around. It's easy to sit back and say all you've got to do is produce it yourself. Too many indie productions end up with a few film festival screenings until the money runs out and then vanish from the face of the earth.
@@myNarrator Employees. Not full above-the-line creative partners. Because of this work for hire arrangement it ends up being directors with "film by" credits getting credit by reviewers for things the writer actually did and the writer being barred from sets and treated as second class citizens. Well, it doesn't matter anyway. The Hollywood system is on the way to collapse and the vacuum left behind will be filled by others, just like the stranglehold by the Edison Trust was finally broken by what became Hollywood.
@@daveindezmenez A few things to unpack: 1. Copyright your work if you want it to be protected. 2. Hire a lawyer if you ever end up in a negotiation or the "interview" Jacob speaks of. 3. Hollywood and Independents filmmakers are not looking for you. You are approaching them. They have plenty of ideas and established writers to choose from. 4. Your feelings about an industry, whether justified or not, won't change anything. If you want to play the game, learn the rules and roll the dice. Otherwise, choose another, more lucrative path. I know you're disgruntled about the reality of the situation, but sometimes we have to compromise on our ideals to pursue our dreams. Good luck!
We have the entire world wide knowledge at you fingertips. The internet. Platforms, forums, sharing sites, free programs. Do we need Hollywood or studios? No! Make it yourself, put it out yourself. Or (crazy thought here) collaborate together and share the reward. Or not care about a reward and just do it because theres nothing good. Or just because you want to, or want to be a part of it. Thats the problem with Hollywood, its all about money, not the movie, which is why they suck. Just make our own screw them. We dont need them anymore. Theyre obsolete!
That’s what i’ve been doing. Got tired of waiting so I took matters into my own hands! I’ve got a great family of filmmakers here in Fort Worth, we all feel the same way about the biz
@HuddyTaylor awesome! Thats what im talking about! Been worki g on my own animation. Still learning though. I wanna make like a hub for artist to collab.
Great stuff as always! I've self produced all of my screenplays to this point but I plan to reach out to producers in my genre with my next one (before I likely just end up self producing it.) I don't expect anyone to buy it, but hopefully I can successfully audition for a job like you outline here.
This discussion reminds me of gaining admission to a college and then to the major. The first person who looks at your application is the student reader checking to see if your application is complete. If it is not complete, then they have to send an email requesting you to complete it, i.e., send in official transcripts, etc. Nice job. New subscriber.
Write an episode of an existing show, or a sequel to a real movie, subscribe to screenplay contests around everywhere, get it read and evaluated that way.
Send them a stack of 1,000 pages that read "PLEASE HIRE ME OR I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN" over and over again on the front and back of each page. That should do the trick.
You need to be established to a degree before an agent will even consider talking to you. Do the work yourself. Get creative. After all, it's a creative field you've entered.
Hollywood knows nothing about making movies in 2024 who cares what they think? who cant write a super hero movie? If they hate it odds are its good lol
Your GREAT.. Why do some production companies say they don't want a certain kind of script- ( Horror) then you see them on the big screen made by that exact people? I guess they are over saturated? or Maybe they have their own Horror writers?
That may have been in production for years. Or it's a pet project. Or they found financing for that one, but that's it. Lots of reasons. Most have to do with the fact that it's a business.
I'm a writer not a screenwriter but from what I know about the film industry this video is right on target . You can't think of writing for movies as a regular job but a freelance gig. Best model is to go with the TV writer model: 1) Write more than one script like maybe 3-4 scripts 2) Choose one script as your spec script 3) make sure you have a script that gets people interested in your spec because it's an outstanding to excellent model I would add find a decent agent that can get you meetings by touting your script. Example: What Alan Ball's Agent did for his American Beauty Script.
This! ...it gets lost on many who want instant gratification. No writer loses their voice or what they want to write by writing stuff for others. It's a proving ground to show you can. And then you get an opportunity to work on stuff that accentuates your talents and you will have the opportunities to tell the stories you want to tell.
@@BigRedStripe I mean, I'm glad I didn't see the trajectory of my own career at the beginning. I might have given up. But in the end, I think I learned the same lessons that even the most successful writers learn. The real joy isn't in the wins, but the work. I love writing, I love having written. I love rereading old work that I may never do anything with, because I love what I did. That's the best part. The rest is just chasing glory. And glory doesn't actually feel as good as people pretend.
some writers don’t want to spend 4 years writing a story someone else wants written! Bitcoin will change this process, but non of these boomers are talking bout that!
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Make sure your parents are actors.
Thank you for this video, i followed your advice and wrote the academy award winning classic Sophie's Choice and wouldnt be where i am today without you
Looking at what is being said in this video it's no wonder that screenwriters are treated with so little regard by producers and directors ultimately. The definition of success in this video is getting a writing ASSIGNMENT, where you as the writer get hired to write THEIR story and not your own. A mere hired hand rather than a creator. The script you sweated over ultimately doesn't matter as it is a mere calling card - a resume and is tossed aside once it has served its purpose in making you an employee. This doesn't sound like my idea of success no matter how well you might get paid (which usually will not be anywhere close to that of the director and lead actors). This video is good advice for those who have little regard for the success of their own visions and only want a paycheck.
Well... this is reality. The folks that get their spec scripts produced are often established screenwriters who have paid their dues and are given an opportunity by a producer or studio because they've proven they can do the work. Have you ever applied for a job, gotten it, and the company immediately follows your direction for the organization? I didn't think so.
Storyboard Artist here - yes, this is an industry and yes, people have jobs. And those jobs entail performing tasks that are somewhat rigid and restrictive. If you’re out here trying to produce *YOUR* vision - go indie and work with a small group you can trust. Otherwise- yes, this is like any other paid profession, and if you don’t have the stomach to recognize that then don’t scream into the endless void.
You have control over your life. You have control over how you select types of work that are available to you. You have control over how you want to spend your creative energy. Everyone has a different set of options so try to find what looks like a healthy balance for you and ride that as long as it continues to work for you. 👍
@@nickwalker7850 What I am asking is does every screenwriter interaction with a production company have to be about seeking an assignment?
When producers purchase the rights to a book or play is this putting the author of such a work into an employment contract? I feel like a screenplay, like a book or a play, is a property under the ownership of the screenwriter and if it is being presented to the production company as a property to buy, rather than a mere calling card, it should be treated as such.
The screenwriter should not only make this clear but the production company should make it clear what they are seeking - to buy a screenplay or to hire a writer to write THEIR story.
Not every screenwriter has the resources to produce what they write as an indie production, especially if it requires a big budget, and trying to badly wear other hats takes away from attention to your craft and results in mediocrity all around.
It's easy to sit back and say all you've got to do is produce it yourself. Too many indie productions end up with a few film festival screenings until the money runs out and then vanish from the face of the earth.
@@myNarrator Employees. Not full above-the-line creative partners. Because of this work for hire arrangement it ends up being directors with "film by" credits getting credit by reviewers for things the writer actually did and the writer being barred from sets and treated as second class citizens. Well, it doesn't matter anyway. The Hollywood system is on the way to collapse and the vacuum left behind will be filled by others, just like the stranglehold by the Edison Trust was finally broken by what became Hollywood.
@@daveindezmenez A few things to unpack:
1. Copyright your work if you want it to be protected.
2. Hire a lawyer if you ever end up in a negotiation or the "interview" Jacob speaks of.
3. Hollywood and Independents filmmakers are not looking for you. You are approaching them. They have plenty of ideas and established writers to choose from.
4. Your feelings about an industry, whether justified or not, won't change anything. If you want to play the game, learn the rules and roll the dice. Otherwise, choose another, more lucrative path.
I know you're disgruntled about the reality of the situation, but sometimes we have to compromise on our ideals to pursue our dreams. Good luck!
We have the entire world wide knowledge at you fingertips. The internet. Platforms, forums, sharing sites, free programs. Do we need Hollywood or studios? No! Make it yourself, put it out yourself. Or (crazy thought here) collaborate together and share the reward. Or not care about a reward and just do it because theres nothing good. Or just because you want to, or want to be a part of it. Thats the problem with Hollywood, its all about money, not the movie, which is why they suck. Just make our own screw them. We dont need them anymore. Theyre obsolete!
This. Make your own stuff.
That’s what i’ve been doing. Got tired of waiting so I took matters into my own hands! I’ve got a great family of filmmakers here in Fort Worth, we all feel the same way about the biz
@HuddyTaylor awesome! Thats what im talking about! Been worki g on my own animation. Still learning though. I wanna make like a hub for artist to collab.
Great stuff as always!
I've self produced all of my screenplays to this point but I plan to reach out to producers in my genre with my next one (before I likely just end up self producing it.)
I don't expect anyone to buy it, but hopefully I can successfully audition for a job like you outline here.
This discussion reminds me of gaining admission to a college and then to the major. The first person who looks at your application is the student reader checking to see if your application is complete. If it is not complete, then they have to send an email requesting you to complete it, i.e., send in official transcripts, etc. Nice job. New subscriber.
I’ve been writing spec screenplays for over ten years now. This was definitely advice I’ve heard before from my friends in the industry.
Write an episode of an existing show, or a sequel to a real movie, subscribe to screenplay contests around everywhere, get it read and evaluated that way.
Just found you. Appreciate the vids. Thanks man.
Welcome to the party.
Send them a stack of 1,000 pages that read "PLEASE HIRE ME OR I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN" over and over again on the front and back of each page. That should do the trick.
BTW I've met a reader who worked for a production company years ago.
I wasn't impressed .
I won't say anymore.
This is where agents come in. They know who would want your material and would actually read it.
You need to be established to a degree before an agent will even consider talking to you. Do the work yourself. Get creative. After all, it's a creative field you've entered.
Most credible production companies don't accept unsolicited material.
But some indies do. And no one's stopping you from sending them anyway.
"Nobody knows anything."
--William Goldman
Hollywood knows nothing about making movies in 2024 who cares what they think? who cant write a super hero movie? If they hate it odds are its good lol
Your GREAT.. Why do some production companies say they don't want a certain kind of script- ( Horror) then you see them on the big screen made by that exact people? I guess they are over saturated? or Maybe they have their own Horror writers?
That may have been in production for years. Or it's a pet project. Or they found financing for that one, but that's it. Lots of reasons. Most have to do with the fact that it's a business.
@@BigRedStripe Interesting.. Thank you very much-- Merry Christmas. God Bless.
Calling card script❤❤❤
Thank you
I'm a writer not a screenwriter but from what I know about the film industry this video is right on target .
You can't think of writing for movies as a regular job but a freelance gig.
Best model is to go with the TV writer model:
1) Write more than one script like maybe 3-4 scripts
2) Choose one script as your spec script
3) make sure you have a script that gets people interested in your spec because it's an outstanding to excellent model
I would add find a decent agent that can get you meetings by touting your script.
Example: What Alan Ball's Agent did for his American Beauty Script.
You write the script to build the career, you build the career to get your scripts produced.
This! ...it gets lost on many who want instant gratification. No writer loses their voice or what they want to write by writing stuff for others. It's a proving ground to show you can. And then you get an opportunity to work on stuff that accentuates your talents and you will have the opportunities to tell the stories you want to tell.
@@BigRedStripe I mean, I'm glad I didn't see the trajectory of my own career at the beginning. I might have given up. But in the end, I think I learned the same lessons that even the most successful writers learn. The real joy isn't in the wins, but the work. I love writing, I love having written. I love rereading old work that I may never do anything with, because I love what I did. That's the best part. The rest is just chasing glory. And glory doesn't actually feel as good as people pretend.
"Fit the mold" and you end up---mouldy.
This advice makes me very sad for all of us..
some writers don’t want to spend 4 years writing a story someone else wants written! Bitcoin will change this process, but non of these boomers are talking bout that!
Write a Woke script and your in.
Basically lol.
@ThisGuy-d2f It's all over the internet. Dumbest comment.
😂
Facts!!
Maybe not anymore.