Screenwriting : How Old is Too Old To Be A Screenwriter? by Jorge J Prieto

Saw this earlier, still a great article!

Thanks, Erik. Can't help myself. RB and you got me contagious with excitement every time I see a great content / article / video that motivates me, I gotta share it. This is what Stage 32 is all about and more.

I'm 117 years old and I just started.

I'm getting a late start. I've wanted to be a writer-director ever since I was a kid. I never thought it was a option for me though. I read about it. I studied it. I befriended filmmakers and picked their brains. I dreamed about it. In my mid-thirties, I finally decided to do something about it. It's cool though. It's keeping me young... Maybe my best days are still ahead of me.

you are too old when people stop calling, dont return emails, and you cant get any work... Or fire your Agent

I agree with Zachary. I am 73 and have two scripts in pre-production in China and I was hired and penned the screenplay adaptation of a recent novel. My scripts have won several contests and been finalists in quite a few others. While writing age never enters my mind and I don't think it enters the mind of a 21 year old writing whiz kid either. The great thing about writing is that you don't have to be able to do 100 pushups or possess 6 pack abs (though I do) and you can write even after your wife must duct tape you to your chair so you don't fall out. Drooling on the keyboard has been a bit of a problem though! LOL! Just let it rip! Write the words, let your imagination take you to faraway places to scale faraway summits and you will be forever 19. Cheers!

You're too old to be a screenwriter....... + When you remember paying 50 cents to see second-run films....at the Ramova Theater....on 35th and Halsted.....weekends and nights.... + When the last film you saw in a theater was Mr. Deeds Goes to Town... + When you think your IBM Selectric II is new-fangled...... + If you're still looking for the guy selling Bob White's in the theater aisles.... + If you're sending your scripts in a legal envelope to the Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company to the attention of Cecil B. Demille..... + If you call films "talkies"..... If any TWO of those apply to you.....YOU'RE TOO OLD!!!

Hey Bill, IBM has a Selectric?!! Wow! I still have a ROYAL manual.

Jack....that's only one disqualifier, and not the required two, so there's still hope for you. Course, if you know what Bob White's were....then....I don't know about you, Jack.....I don't know....

Hi Bill... I do remember paying 10 cents to see Lash LaRue flicks like LAW OF THE LASH and KING OF THE BULLWHIPS at the theater's Saturday matinee. Does that kick me over the top?

Crikey, Jack....Lash LaRue and a Royal? Under normal circumstances, I'd say you should refrain from writing immediately - and even with your current writing credits - but I think the aura from the Vacaville Fiesta Days helps to keep you ageless. You're still in the game, Jack, and good luck with your current projects!

You're never too old. HOWEVER, if you try and become a screenwriter in your mid 40's... you have kids, a spouse, a job, obligations. So the younger you are the more freedom you have to just pick up and go with the career.

Steven, you are an imputation to me. You know I loved your Hope Saves Manhattan and love you as well, brother. HOPE never quits.

@Josh: I am 41, married with a spouse who wants to move to CA as much as I do, write everyday or try to, no employment obligations as my wife has an oustanding career that allows me to pursue writing full time, and kids are in the future, just not now. Age doesn;t matter as long as you have the right plan in place with the right support. So age and all those items don't have to be a factor, they only are if you let it just like age.

Lol. Sorry Steven, lack of sleep. About the table read, just let me know. The acting job on the short has also been delayed. As you can see all filmmakers encounter problems. Discipline and commitment, Zachary, you are right.

Steven- If I lived by you- I'd do that table reading in a minute. Sounds like a blast. Had a couple of table readings for Eden's Outpost with our writers group- Some of them them are bringing people for episode two next week- When you hear those voices that you've only heard in your head become 'real'- it's an amazing experience. Recommend getting a recording of it.

Steven - sorry...I was there last month with family and pretty busy with family stuff. I did make it to the Carnegie, and of course had the Woody Allen. In my opinion, the sandwich tastes exactly the same as the one at the Carnegie deli at the Mirage, which is good for quality control and all. I have one at the Mirage store every few weeks or so. It is the best corned beef and pastrami in town, by far. The fries in the New York store are much tastier, though. Did you know that during the ten-month closure of the Carnegie Deli in New York....that the rest of the residents in the building were without gas? Man...those must have been some cold showers for those apartment dwellers above the deli during that gas line renovation.

From the original post, I had to chime in with some inspiration. One of our contest winners, Michael Madden, got staffed on ABC's Black Box and it was his writing that got him there, age doesn't matter...I hope this inspires: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP9dF6JedJ0&index=2&list=PL-ybo07O_wJ_IJ...

As a follow up to Amanda, here's another link that might encourage: https://www.stage32.com/blog/30-Years-Of-Chasing-The-Dream-Of-Being-A-Te...

Amanda & RB: Thank you both, for reinforcing the fact that age is not a factor. Like I said it on my op, I've improved so much as a screenwriter in my so call 'golden years ' and also since I joined this great community. My concern is running out of time before my stories, if ever, go out to the world, but in the next 3 weeks I will start my live pitching process here on S32, plus do more contest participation. BTW, I want to say that also thanks to this website, I joined my first ever screenwriting group, all with Stage 32 members, on Facebook another site that I finally joined this passed March, all thanks to my blog,"Outspoken" here on S32. So little by little I'm coming OUT of my isolated screenwriter's shell. Always GRATEFUL, RB, for creating this amazing vehicle for all of us. HOPE never quits.

You've got me all sorts of fired up, Jorge! What a terrific post! The common theme throughout: Forward, progressive momentum and no excuses. A fabulous mindset for any creative! Keep charging!

Thanks, RB, you are a TRUE LEADER, my friend. Always one of us, for us. #Grateful

Ah...You guys humble me...

This was an AWESOME read. Thanks for sharing with us Mr. Jorge, sir.

And yes, Richard RB Botto is BOSS!!!

Chiming in late but I'd like to add, someone said if you start late you might have to deal with the distractions of kids, spouse, mortgage, etc. On the flip side of that, starting older can also mean your kids are grown and you have a higher disposable income and potentially more time to write.

I'm with Jody!!

You are never "too old" to be creative. Creativity has no age. I think if you have a "calling" to write a script then write it. Ideas are ageless.

Amen, Talia...

Never too old

Richard G: Thanks for the kind words. I always have everyone in mind when I do these content share, as RB calls them. So the fact that so many of you stop by and have kept the conversation rolling, sticking to the topic, makes it all worth while. Jody, Talia (love that name for a movie) Michael, thanks for connecting, thanks guys /ladies. Okay, I'm writing my 8th screenplay, so if I don't report back here right away, please forgive me. This, like every other stories, is keeping me up. You guys, writers, know what I'm talking about. Peace. Oh, I posted two other ops, hope you stop by at your earliest convenience...:-)

Jody: Yes. Everything you said, right on girl!

Didn't Michael Madden win a screenplay contest? Just shows if you can't get in through the door, you might have to try the ceiling. As long as you get in the room.

...when the passion stops, you've stopped; otherwise, write until you're 100!

I just remember, wasn't an 80+ years old who won an Oscar for The Kings Speech? Write, write until our ideas run dry. Thanks Fiona, always love to hear from you here in the lounges, girl.

I think I'll be too old when I reach the ripe old age of dead.

I think we are never too old for anything as long as we are alive. You can be too young for a few things but even that depends... People told me for years I was too young for this or that and suddenly I was too old. I really missed the time when I was at the right age because it didn't exist. The right time is NOW. That's the only time you have for sure.

It is never too late to start living the life you want. I agree with my 'Fellow Writer' Elisabeth Meier. The right time is NOW.

So if it gets produced after I'm dead? So what.

Dan- Let's hope your keyboard never finds out!

as I've said before, I've yet to have any exec ask me how old I am. It simply doesn't come up in the conversation. Nor should it.