A lot of screenwriting seminars and books and various other resources hardly every talk about the best way to get your screenplay out there and get it sold. This article helps to address some of the issues involved in selling a script, so, if you’re interested and that is your main objective, read on!
Selling a screenplay is never easy and will take a lot of hard work and persistence, but for those of you who are willing to put in the hard yards—you have a great shot of someday seeing your finished product up there on the silver screen!
There is no easy way or fast way to selling a screenplay, unless you are one of the lucky few. It is also true that nobody but you can sell your screenplay as it is a product developed and devised by you and you, at this moment, are your screenplays greatest advocate. However, the fact that you are reading this article and willing to educate yourself in this area already shows tremendous promise. So well done, this is a great first step.
When we look at all the different screenwriters out there you will see a thousand different ways in which they found success. There is no right or wrong way to catch a break in this business. This is excellent news because it means that there are many opportunities for exposure when attempting to sell a screenplay.
Here you will find a couple of effective ways to sell your screenplay to Hollywood. You don’t necessarily need to do only one thing on this list, but trying different sales approaches will be more effective in ensuring your screenplay gets into the right hands. The list of things you can do are as follows:
• utilize Facebook and Twitter and various other social media sites to your advantage. These sites can be especially useful when trying to get in touch with agents, directors, managers, and other producers and filmmakers.
• Try entering your screenplay into some well known screenwriting competitions as these can lead to nice exposure and ultimately end in getting your screenplay into the right hands. (well known screenwriting competitions are: Nicholl Fellowships Official Site, The Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters Lab, The Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship).
• Check out various online resources like Craig’s List to see if you can connect with producers, directors and actors who are looking for screenwriting material.
• Try calling some of the film studios, agents, producers and production companies to pitch your material directly.
• A query letter, if done correctly, is a great way to sell your screenplay, also regular mail can be just as effective, although a lot slower!
Now this list is just for starters. If you’re serious about selling your screenplay then it’s a great idea to think about some other long-term approaches. The items in the list below will increase your chances of selling your screenplay by placing you in a highly advantageous position. This advantage comes from the fact that you will be better prepared and connected than almost anyone else attempting to break into Hollywood. So, without further adieu here is our second list of things to work the odds in your favour:
• Try to get some experience in the film industry, either on film-sets, working on movies for free or getting involved in some independent movies.
• Relocate yourself and your screenplay to Los Angeles—this will make networking all the more easier.
• Try to get a job working as an intern for one of the studios or filmmaking companies. Also, getting a job as a reader can help hone your skills and put you in direct contact with people who can read your screenplay.
• Enrol in screenwriting classes, courses, programs to increase you skills and provide you with more networking opportunities.
• Look at developing a short film from one of your screenplays in order to meet key people and have something you can show to producers.
• Try joining a local film club or film society where you can get actively involved with a filmmaking community.
• Go to screenings at film festivals like Sundance—this will provide you with a wonderful opportunity to network with prominent people in the movie industry.
You should be able to do most of the items in the first list from just about anywhere in the world. However, you should, in the long term, aim to do the items on the second list in order to boost your chances of breaking into the industry.
Now let’s move on to the actual nuts and bolts of selling a screenplay. This incredible journey starts with one simple feat: that you write a great screenplay. If you are able to achieve this one feat, then everything else will be that much easier. It is not that hard to get opportunities, to meet and network with new people and get your screenplay read. It is, however, that much harder to write a screenplay that people will want to read, let alone turn into a movie.
They say that in order to write a really great screenplay you need to have a bunch of really bad screenplays behind you. Get the junk out of your system so you’re left with more control over the nuts and bolts of your craft. With each script that you write you will improve your writing technique and be able to develop tighter, more gripping screenplays.
Don’t just settle on one great screenplay. Have a couple ready so when somebody asks to see your work you are able to show them not just one, but two or more screenplays. This lets people know that you are serious about your craft and worth investing in. This is also useful in case they reject your first script; you are then able to produce a second or third script, which they might find more appealing. Writing a great screenplay takes time, although some will pick this skill up faster than others, there are many tools and resources that can help you on your way. A good place to start is by reading some excellent books on screenwriting. These include: Story by Robert McKee, Black Snyder’s Save The Cat, Screenplay by Syd Field and The Art Of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri for starters.
In order to check that your screenplay meets a good enough standard, it is important to liaise with other screenwriters and film industry professionals to gauge their reaction to your work. Try to get your script read by as many people as possible and, in turn, read as many professional scripts as possible to see how your screenplay measures up next to the pros. This will give you a good idea of how good you actually are and tell you what areas you need to improve.
Before you send you screenplay out to be read, ensure that you have copyright protected your work. You can copyright your work through the WGA or the US copyright office. For a small fee, you will be able to copyright your script online.
In order to sell your screenplay you will need to find someone who wants to buy it from you. This might seem obvious, but it is important to keep this in mind because someone will only buy your screenplay if they think they can make money from it. That, fortunately or unfortunately, is the way of any business. And who are the people in Hollywood who have the power to greenlight a movie and buy scripts? That’s right, it’s the producers. Therefore, your ultimate goal if you wish to sell a screenplay directly is to get your script into the hands of a producer who can then take your material and get it made.
Although it is not always possible to get your script into the hands of a big-shot producer, you can also use an agent as a means of getting your screenplay to people in the know. There are lots of industry publications such as The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and Backstage West that will run advertisements by producers and filmmakers looking for screenplays in addition to lots of ads on Craig’s List that are also reputable and worth checking out.
Sending query letters to agents and producers can also be a very effective method in getting your screenplay sold. In order to send your query letter out to different agents, you will need to put some time and effort into developing your query letter. When sending out your query letter you will need to send it to as many people as possible in order to have the greatest chance of success. If, however, your screenplay and query letter are excellent, the process of selling your screenplay shouldn’t be too difficult. But, as you know, developing a great screenplay is no easy task!
As a final note, if you are currently a writer of fiction or non-fiction books and you would like to turn your novel into a screenplay, be aware that writing books and writing screenplays are two very different literary forms. Novels encapsulate thoughts and feelings, whereas screenplays are purely action and dialog driven forms of writing. In summary, there are many ways to break into this intensely competitive industry. But, if you follow even just half of the tips you have just read, then you will be well on your way to selling your first screenplay!
Good luck and keep writing!
*Jennifer Sloane has worked as a screenplay agent in Los Angeles and Nashville for the last five years. Jennifer loves good movies, music and animals. A former television and movie executive, Jennifer currently heads business development at Script Mailer (a company that connects screenwriters with agents and producers in Hollywood).