Fortunately, if you write a good script then the odds improve dramatically :).

Pretty much everyone wants to write features, but few people are any good at it: I've been trying for eight years now and think I'm finally close to figuring it out.

In the UK you'd probably be stuck with writing for TV. Which would pay decently, but I couldn't live with myself if I was writing 'Eastenders' or 'The Bill'.

Writing for TV wouldn't be so bad! You'd still get paid? Besides during it's 'dry spell' I had a pitch to revive Eastenders which would have been a winner! It involved relaunching the soap as 'Eastenders 3000' and although it was still set in Walford, it was a post-apocalyptic Walford where the characters were involved in a variety of 'Mad Max' like storylines. Who could turn that down!?

I agree no odds should put anyone off doing anything they really enjoy and love doing.
It is true if you have a great idea and write it really well your chances of being spotted or represented are, well pretty good.
I know too having written loads of short stories, short films then features how hard it is to break in. But I left school with bugger all and now have an agent.

So there you go......

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Originally posted by ironfist550

Does anyone else get really put off by the amount of 'odds stacked against you' stuff you always read about getting anywhere in the screenwriting world?

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Never tell me the odds.

Nope. Doesn't bother me at all. If was easy, everyone would be doing it.

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

How long did it take you to go from newbie to having an agent OllieB?

OllieG even...

The part thats tough about being a writer in hollywood that writes feature films is that it tends to be a one hit wonder buisness. By this i mean a screenwriter usually writes one major film then dissapears from the hollywood credit reels. Now, obviously there are some exceptions but there are very few exceptions. The best way to prove this is to ask anybody to name a famous screenwriter that has written more then three hugely famous feature films. Its very tough to come up with more then three names. Part of this is because most of the times a screenwriters piece will get changed by the director any way so this turns alot of screenwriters off to the buisness so they stop writing feature length screenplays. This is also why you see alot of people directing their own screenplays. It becomes very tough to keep being solely a screenwriter in hollywood because you tend to lose alot of your artisitic creativity due to the changes made by the actors, producers, or directors. However, as for writing tv series and HBO series and even plays you can become more well known which goes hand in hand with getting more jobs and becoming more succesful. So my suggestion would be that if you want to become a screen writer and you want to do it for a career focus on TV shows and plays.

Once again I am not a professional writer (just young and independent) so this is only what i have heard. I heard that if you want to continue to pump out scripts and not be a one hit wonder then stay with tv or plays. But then again you could be the next aaron sorkin or Charlie Kaufman. What ever you choose to do, do it and do it with a passion. Good Luck

"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick

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Originally posted by robi8886

The part thats tough about being a writer in hollywood that writes feature films is that it tends to be a one hit wonder buisness. By this i mean a screenwriter usually writes one major film then dissapears from the hollywood credit reels. Now, obviously there are some exceptions but there are very few exceptions. The best way to prove this is to ask anybody to name a famous screenwriter that has written more then three hugely famous feature films.

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In your opinion, can a writer be successful if they do not have more than three ?hugely famous feature films? on their resume?

Can a writer be a success if they sell many scripts that never become major Hollywood hits?

In your opinion are writers mostly judged by the criteria you pose in this post?

Robi8886, movies die in pre-production or production all the time and the writers get no credit for their work as far as moviegoers are concerned but they certainly got paid and go credit in the trades and such. Yeah Instigator, I know you know this.

Joe Esterhaz had a series of unproduced screenplays before Flashdance that earned him a lot of money and notice in Hollywood when nobody outside the industry had really any idea who he was. According to his book he got paid well for a lot of projects that fell through.

Like him or hate him he could sell screenplays. I've heard of other writers who have survived selling screenplays that never survived but who make a comfortable living anyway. Of course these stories could be bull but I tend to believe them.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

I did not mean that a screenwriter has to be "hugely famous" in order to be a great screenwriter. What i meant was that if your goal (and it shouldnt be) is to become widely famous then its tough to do that as strictly a film screenwiter. Of course there are tons of brillant men and women out there who people dont know or havent heard of because they havent made a movie with explosions and good looking women. However, in our society (unfortunatly) fame and success tend to go hand in hand. Then again it depends on what you determine as success. I'm not saying that this is what i believe but i know numerous good screenwriters who have made maybe one or two films but wont get their screenplays bought after that. So they have told me that when they then turned to tv and stage plays they were not only more successful but happier as well.

And yes i think writers are judged by what i describe in my post. Do i believe they should be or that its right? No and No. As a screenwriter i hate this idea. I think its crap. So thats why i stick to writing independent films which i believe tend to be more artistic and better then your average Hollywood blockbuster.

i was trying to say what rj said but it came out a little harsh. That even if you write a great screenplay it can then be squashed in pre-producion or production. And while you may get paid and credited you end up with a sour taste in your mouth because you screenplay (your creation and baby) has been destroyed.

Ironfist the odds are stacked against you. As they are in any part of the movie making buisness. This is why we have indpenedent filmmaking. To allow you and us (young and new filmmakers) grow and fight the odds. Hollywood tends to believe "popular = good quality". However, this by no means, means that you should not write screenplays and sell them. For if we gave up when the odds are stacked against us there would be no filmmakers. So don't be put off by it. Though the odds are stacked against you...there is still a chance. In the words of Llyod Christmas "1 in a million??? So your telling me theres a chance!!!" Write write and write. Screw the statistics and dont let them scare you.

i didnt mean to offend anybody. so I'm sorry if i did

"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick

Another thing I would say is don't rule out anything off the bat.

A lot of people look down on Television but a lot of good work is going on in Television these days with long-term character development and some pretty interesting plot and theme stuff depending upon the show.

Others look down on the big studios because there can be so much compromise that stories may be rewritten so often they are unrecognizable and the writer may still get the credit, or not depending upon arbitration. But the money is good.

Still others look down on independent cinema for whatever reasons. Actually I don't know the reasons but there must be some.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

There's nothing wrong with TV per se, but I still couldn't stomach writing for Eastenders :).