All I ever read is that this is extremely hard and it's getting harder by the minute. It's very discouraging to hear this and it seems like the hardest task ever. Do you think this will ever become a little easier now that the economy is recovering, or will this still be the stuff of dreams?
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Will it ever be easier to sell screenplays?
- Thread starter victortiti89
- Start date
Mmmh, interesting and heated discussion.
I think there is a clear answer: YES.
There are more and more super low budget productions and they will need a script. But most of them will be made with a restricted budget under 100k USD. As a screenwriter this will give you some thousand bucks for a half years work at best. More likely your sales will be in the range of some hundred dollars. So, the other answer, if your target is the big theatre film is:NO. As can be seen in this discussion, its hard to find ANY unknown writer who selled a script to "hollywood".
I think there is a clear answer: YES.There are more and more super low budget productions and they will need a script. But most of them will be made with a restricted budget under 100k USD. As a screenwriter this will give you some thousand bucks for a half years work at best. More likely your sales will be in the range of some hundred dollars. So, the other answer, if your target is the big theatre film is:NO. As can be seen in this discussion, its hard to find ANY unknown writer who selled a script to "hollywood".
Lucky, you are so spot on. The only problem, from my understanding, is quite often, once a book hits the/a bestseller list, those rights are often picked up by one of the studios.
It reminds me of a situation I was in a couple of months ago. An actor approached me, wanting to increase production value and continue putting together some fan fiction video of a piece that hadn't yet been turned into a Hollywood production, but a studio had already picked up the rights and was flailing as it had been pushed back into development at least twice. The fact that it had a fairly large fan base (7 figured I believe) and the story was interesting and the studio was in allowing fan material to be produced to help solidify their base. In the end she got cold feet after it was painfully obvious that we'd never acquire the rights to exploit the material and pulled out. She came back with another author who was more than happy to hand over his rights and have it turned into a web series/feature film/tv/anything really... It had the fan base in the hundreds (yes, 3 figures!). The material was ordinary and no fan base to boost its appeal, it was dead in the water.
Two more:
Warner Bros Buys Spec Script About Math Genius Alan Turing For Leonardo DiCaprio
http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/war...because-leonardo-di-caprio-chasing-lead-role/
Warner Bros Acquires Spec Script ‘Somacell’
http://www.deadline.com/2012/10/warner-bros-acquires-spec-script-somacell/
Omega Point — Cameron Alexander - CBS Films - April 2013
Section 6 — Aaron Berg - Universal Pictures - Oct. 2013
Time Tweaker - David Crabtree - Lionsgate - Dec. 2013
Deprivation — Jason Doty - Focus Features - July 2013
I dredge the mountains of e-books mining for undiscovered gold. I see a lot of pyrite (fool's gold). By approaching the authors that are self/e-publishing, I can score bargain basement prices before the studios/general public know anything about the books. Two of the e-books that I acquired are being prepared for physical publication (one historical fiction and one sci-fi). If the audience responds well, I will hash out first drafts of the adaptations and see what happens. The fact that these books are going to hard copy publication is a good thing. Studios are in the business of risk mitigation. By focusing on properties that have a built in fan base and have been vetted by others, they reduce the risk to their investment.
ETA: If you have seen The Wolf of Wall Street, I am wagering on the penny stocks.
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There is another option. Instead of trying to buy the rights to a franchise with a built in base, ...just exploit a "built in base" that already exist. I am exploiting the "Star Trek" base. Trekies are loyal followers of the S.S. Enterprise and her exploits. There is a certain motif found within that draws a loyal crowd. My screenplay is not Star Trek by any stretch based on its design, but anyone who likes Star Trek, Preditor and Kill Bill would probably like this movie.
True, Hollywood likes to go with something that has already been proven to work before. Just give them what they want, ...but with a different twist.
-Birdman
screenwriting is becoming ever increasing competitive and if you dont engage the producer's interest its highly likely you hard sweet and toil is going to go to waste, in the waste busket.Ask yourself this how would you feel being bombarded with thousands of scripts, so stop wasting your time and get good advice with this free report at this site
.www.screenplaywritingfordummies.info
.www.screenplaywritingfordummies.info
Some of us will remember this guy http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=43816
and this exact same free report.
Take a look at the 14th post by nandc. This is one of those "make money
on the internet!" come-ons. I'm tempted to ask SolidScript about this
free report, but I suspect he has never read it.
I agree with Directorik, this kind of website is a joke. They all look the same, and promise you all of the knowledge in the world, provided of course, you sign up and give them your email. Plus, it's a generated site by OptimizePress, which is a marketing company that specializes in creating websites like this that you see all over.
I see these kind of sites all the time in the recording/music forums I'm a part of. "Sign Up Today And Learn How To Sell Your Sound To A Label in 3 Easy Steps!"