Screenwriting : Where’s the Catch? by Aleksandr Rozhnov

Winning contests proves it’s well written. Getting produced depends on timing, budget, and whether it fits what producers think they can sell as it , whether it matches what studios think people want to watch right now.

Getting it produced means a producer actually reading it. How do we get there?

Getting a script produced takes a million different things. As Rahul Balooni said: timing and budget is a huge factor. But also the writer profile. It depends on your network. Having the "award winning" in front of "screenwriter" in your CV just helps with that. But later on in your career, those wins become less and less important and the projects that made it over the finish line and are actually produced are more important. The first feature that got finished and released for me boosted my career much more than my early career contest wins. At the same time, occasionally winning something is good, because it gives you something to post about, something to write about to your friends/fans/followers/network. It can open doors when you say to a producer who maybe passed on your last script but aske dyou to reach out again in the future: Hey, remember the last one was not ideal for you, but this one just won Page or something similar.

What's important is the quality of contests. Nobody will blink an eye about a monthly online script thingy in the back arse end of nowhere (no offense to those festivals, I ran one of them...) but a big one like Austin, a big annual one here on S32, or Page, NY Script Awards etc... those will open doors not on their own, but as a conversation starter.

That is still 500000 miles away from actual production though.

I often say that it won't be a spec script that gets produced. It will be a spec script that gets YOU produced. Meaning: The spec script will show the producer that you can write, and then they will hire you to write THEIR thing.

The catch, as usual, is the budget. If you want to win, participate in contests. If you want to make a movie, find the money.

I agree with Arthur Charpentier and yes, when your rich its easier.

The Duffer Brothers never really took part in screenwriting contests, and their films weren’t circulating in festivals or anything like that. But they’re The Duffer Brothers. They had a contract with Netflix, and now they have a 4-year deal with Paramount.

Why is that?

William, the Duffer Brothers may be wealthy, but they don’t finance their films out of their own pockets. Netflix pays for their projects now, and soon it will be Paramount. I think it’s not about money at all. In this case, money doesn’t play any role.

It is all about connections. It is a small club; very hard to enter. If somehow you meet someone that has connections to money and influence, you will get some notice. Otherwise, you could be an incredible writer and no one will ever know. Also, many writers do not think about budget. Why not start small, shoot it yourself, build a slate of low budget full features? Also, try crowdfunding (read Richard Botto's book) and patreon to build that buzz. Just MHO.

Look at Yesica Ochoa, new on here, advertising to shoot short films submitted to her. No budget shorts. At least it is a start!

Agreed with Jon Shallit Start small. Write something you can shoot with what you have. Make short films or features. Each film will give you practice and add to your work. You can also use AI to make videos for your stories. I am also using AI to make video for my mini short films of 2–5 minutes.

Hi, Aleksandr Rozhnov. It's great to celebrate victories like winning a contest or a script getting recognition at a festival even if the script isn't made. There are different reasons a script could be considered good but no one is making it (the writer hasn't networked to get the script in front of the right producer/etc., the script could cost too much to make, the writer needs to pitch more, the writer needs to make their pitch better, or the timing isn't right).

the problem I have, when i mention horror people run for the hills, so i have trouble converting my script into film

In some cases a contest may hire the wrong persons as judges. With my background in no-budget filming, I have sometimes read scripts which were fun reading but filming would be problematical. With the wrong person as judge, such problems may not be noticed until it is time to look more closely at the winners.

where's that long comment I wrote? stupid phone. I hate it so much. we write kickass screenplays and Samsung gets away with junk. Women choose losers but reject winners for the thrill and the easiness of forceful extroverted men who never give soulfulness a thought but fake romance really well. You can be true to yourself or you can sell out to shallowness. Just keep writing and keep contacting those people who keep ignoring you. there are people working under them who want an opportunity and your script may be just that. try if you're lucky enough, to engage that person answering the phone. don't sell yourself out ever. it's better to suffer to be true to your voice because without it you've just shot yourself. i don't want any writer who's not a hack but someone with something real to say to eversell out for money. You'd be better washing cars . I hear

walking dogs s paying good if you get 10, 11 or 12 dogs on your multi leash. good exercise too ideas can flow from that

Screenwriting competitions have very little to do with selling scripts or making movies.

Networking, pitching, and luck get scripts made. The first two do require be very proactive (first online, then in person), and the third is… well, LUCK. No magic formula, but perhaps "timing" (as others here have said) is a better word.

Your passion project may be good, but no else really cares about it, or understands it as you do. You have to write for the readers and the producers will pay for it. Once they like it, they'll be convinced and audience will two and butts in seats means $$$, the ultimate goal of any investment.

Michael Dzurak your right Michael Dzurak, though not every producer, most of them actually, have their own funds. Investors will be paying with the help of financial people, and as you state their goal is a return.

because most screenwriters think they can just email a producer and they’ll throw money at them. I get hit up daily by screenwriters who desperately want me to read their script and I ask them, “what happens if I love your script, what then?” and they always say “well I’d like for you to help me make it.”

What they mean is, they want me to raise the money but they won’t put any money in. The best way to make a film is to first make a proof of concept and that has to be funded by either the screenwriter and/or an online campaign. no investor is going to want to invest of the filmmaker doesn’t have skin in the game and this is a huge thing most screenwriters don’t do.

Often, when a screenwriter points to the number of awards the script received, and yet there were no options or takers, it is considered a red flag.

Well, Christopher, maybe that’s why I recently read an article on Stage32 where someone wrote that film companies have started letting go of some producers and instead hiring more creative people and screenwriters, because they see more value in working with them.

Honestly, I’ve never heard anything more absurd. A screenwriter is expected to come in with their own money? That’s like saying an avionics engineer should show up at an airline with his own plane. Or a car designer should walk into an automotive company already having built his own cars.

A screenwriter comes to a film company with ideas and the ability to write. The film company is the one that invests money to make the film. If a screenwriter already has the funds—at least partially—to make a film, then why would they even need a production company? They could just make it themselves.

I get this all the time. "What funds are you prepared to invest?" Exactly WHO provides the IP? The writer. Without the writer, there is no product. And now the writer is supposed to be a social media genius, a networking genius, spend all their time schmoozing and making contacts, building a "brand'. 'Describe yourself in 60 seconds.' "What cubbyhole do you fit in?' "Work on your elevator pitch, your logline." ''You need to be a salesman. Sell yourself. "

Where in this mess is the time available to write? Do all the above and you have no time to live. And so much competition with everyone saying THEIR stuff is the best.

I like Aleksandr Rozhnov's comment.

Now with AI, experts in that field can write a script in a few hours; soon there will be complete AI- written and produced films and miniseries... so the writers will again be downgraded to a lower value.

AI has been shown to reduce brain function over time.

Brave new world. Just MHO.

I've turned to ghostwriting on demand. People like my work. I send a sample, and they ask me to write a novel on their idea, or a screenplay, or write a screenplay from their novel, ora novel from their screenplay.

Sometimes it is just 2 pages of notes.

Then they sometimes, or often, present that work entirely as their own. That's ok. It's honest work in the craft.

I just finished a video game script on a story by a Thailand-based, former US-based security driver, ex-military person. No AI in the writing.

Good luck and best wishes to all on here who have sold their work and seen it MADE into something people can enjoy. You are very rare birds in the aviary.

If I were you, as a screenwriter, I wouldn’t worry about artificial intelligence. It’s simply not capable of creating what a professional screenwriter can. I’ve tried giving it assignments, and it produced complete nonsense—things that would be nearly impossible to imagine on screen. So don’t worry. AI is still far from being able to replace a screenwriter anytime soon.

Aleksandr Rozhnov. You are correct. It's producing basically rehashed older scripts, BUT people turn them out and market them for 1 dollar in volume. On Ama... Just like AI novels. I have afriend who knows of a filmmaker using it for extreme low budget film scripts. Said friend says that he used to sell scripts to that filmmaker-was told that he isn't needed any more; the filmmaker can AI his own.

It hasn't moved up from that level yet.

Try it yourself. You can use perchance free text generator. This was a prompt:

Write the first scene of a bloody and violent action film script with two women and one man in an inescapable, maze-like building.

You will get the same result that I did, word for word. Every action film cliche, stupid dialogue, same descriptive words. Then you summarize scene 1 and ask for scene 2...

And on and on. There is someone on here who is turning them out already. I won't name names.

I won't use this tool. I need all my brains at my age and condition.

That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Yes, artificial intelligence can be used, but… it’s not capable of writing a script for good cinema. Honestly… I don’t know… Many screenwriters here on Stage32 say that… well, they write scripts for readers. And, for me… that’s just my opinion. Maybe I’m wrong. But ask yourself: what is a script? To me, a script is an instruction. An instruction for the director, for the cinematographer, for the composer. It tells them what needs to be done so that viewers can see a film on the screen.

If it’s written for readers, people read it like a novella, a novel, or a short story. But that’s not a script. A script shouldn’t be read… well, it should only be read by the professionals who will bring it to life on screen. Even regarding artificial intelligence—it can write “scripts,” but for readers, not for filmmakers. That’s why I think screenwriters need to understand: a script is something that is looked at, not read.

"A screenwriter is expected to come in with their own money?"

No, Aleksandr Rozhnov, but as a screenwriter you must convince a producer, via pitches and meetings, that they should put their money down on your script. And here, a good network helps. You may not have the money, but if you know people who do, and if these people like your writing, then you're already a step toward getting a script financed into a film project.

You know, I truly believe that producers are smart people too. When you bring them a script, they read it and understand whether it can make money, whether it’s good. Audiences will watch it, and producers and investors always calculate how much they can earn from the project.

So I don’t think you need to “prove” anything in the way some people say — as if the producer is clueless and you have to convince them that your project will make money. In my view, producers can see for themselves whether they can profit from a project or not.

And for them to see that, the project itself has to be written in such a way that it’s clear. In other words, I believe it’s not the screenwriter who should “speak,” but the project itself. The screenwriter only clarifies certain things — the rest should be said by the project.