Auto-BioPics Specs Sells More?

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  • Auto-BioPics Specs Sells More?

    I was talking during a spec screenwriting group and learned writers who make screenplays based on their life tend sell more than the imaginary scripts you create for fiction
    Last edited by kdmccaskill; 11-28-2019, 08:04 AM.

  • #2
    Re: Auto-BioPics Specs Sells More?

    I think this is a bit of an oversimplification and implies that all a writer has to do is write stories based on their own lives/their true life experiences to have a better chance of making it. It doesn't really work that way. Far too many aspiring writers think their lives are interesting and write mediocre to bad scripts, and nothing ever happens.

    If you happen to have a terrific story you "went through" and write a great script for it, then wonderful. It might sell or have a slightly better chance of selling or being optioned. But the operative word is might.

    In the last year, we listed 267 drama deals, 126 comedy deals and 105 action deals, for example. We listed "97 "true story" deals, 51 bios and 13 inspired by deals. Granted there is overlap with these last three categories along with overlap with the drama deals in general. But still more than enough deals were made for fictional stories. Along with the aforementioned comedies and action deals, these also include 135 thrillers, 79 horror, 55 adventure, 45 sci-fi, and 24 supernatural projects.

    As it has been for a long time, based on existing IP is as big as ever and will surely be so for years to come. It's almost always been popular, of course, to some degree or another. That IP though is generally novels, popular nonfiction books, comic books, fascinating articles, etc. Higher profile stuff than most writers' lives.

    Now if one is writing for TV there have been and will continue to be deals for pilots based on the writer's life/experiences. TV particularly loves that since it's fuel for a series.

    In film or TV, it helps if there is a connection for the writer to their story; particularly an emotional and very personal one. Sure. It plays nicely in pitch meetings. It can help even in queries sometimes. Though it will still depend on how well-written the logline and ultimately script is.

    But I wouldn't suggest thinking, "Oh, my life is so interesting" and write a script simply because of that and expect it to sell better or get set up faster. Again, it might, but a really well-written fictional script will probably beat it out every time, if the "personal" script is poorly conceived & written.
    Last edited by Done Deal Pro; 12-01-2019, 09:29 AM. Reason: Clarification
    Will
    Done Deal Pro
    www.donedealpro.com

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    • #3
      Re: Auto-BioPics Specs Sells More?

      Originally posted by kdmccaskill View Post
      I was talking during a spec screenwriting group and learned writers who make screenplays based on their life tend to sell more than the imaginary scripts you create for fiction
      Beware these groups; often, some members spew forth all manner of purported guru truisms the way a mother bird regurgitates food for her young. In the bird’s case, the diet is a healthy one. Aside from the risk of being struck with gross misinformation from other neophyte writers, writing truly is a solitary endeavor.

      There may indeed be something interesting about a screenwriter’s life experiences that qualifies it as an excellent premise for a story. Pull that out and examine it with a bright light and a jeweler’s loupe. Compare it to other diamonds once in the rough and how they were cut to now shine with brilliance.

      After you have examined the many facets of your life experience as a premise and have determined the multi-faceted ways to execute its cuts, by all means, proceed to fictionalize it and chip away using all of the writer’s tools available to you until you have exposed the diamond that you knew was there all along.
      Last edited by Clint Hill; 11-30-2019, 04:33 AM.
      “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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      • #4
        Re: Auto-BioPics Specs Sells More?

        Being concerned with sale price would seemingly be a high class problem.

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