I started out writing scripts in 1996. Back then, I was very naive and thought of it as a way to win the lottery. Fortunately, I had a friend break in the following year and with his success came sage advice.
(An aside: He sold a script and a novel for 1 million in 1997 and his agent told him not to quit his job yet. Amazing.)
I asked him for his take on how hard one must work to get their craft to the point where it could garner a script that could sell. He thought about it and told me that the average unspoken "apprenticeship" that most aspiring screenwriters endure is 10 years before they are truly good enough to write saleable material.
Back then, I scoffed. Surely at the ripe age of 21, I was ready. After all, I had already written two terrific features (which sucked major a$$, but I didn't know that then). I would be the next Shane Black. Only time would tell.
And boy did it...
I wrote year after year, getting better with each spec, but still not up to what anybody thought would sell. My first big break came with my third script. I was referred to one of the big five and I got a fancy, custom-written letter (thank God it wasn't a form letter) that said I had real talent as a writer but the script's central idea was big enough to be a feature. So, back to the drawing board. But, at least they left the door open to read more of my work. I felt somewhat vindicated that I wasn't wasting my time.
My next spec (my fourth) did a little better. This time, an agent from the same big five agency called me and said "I had done a terrific job." He stated that they would work with me on developing the script before going out with it. Sadly, as the months passed I never really heard back from them as their money-making client roster was clearly their focus (as well it should have been).
So, I toiled onward, writing three more scripts. Now, I'm up to 8 years and going. I talked with my "pro writer" buddy who had since sold more novels and more scripts as well as being hired for major rewrites by various studios. I asked him how in the world did you ever manage to break in? It seems impossible. He told me that at the time he broke in (97'), the studios were hardly spendthrifts. They threw money around at any halfway decent concept (as evidenced by his admission that his own script was only mediocre at best). The money was there because the box office was overflowing. Times change. Just like the dot com burst, tough times made their way into Tinseltown. Suddenly, there was a huge "tightening of the belt." Studio fat cats had spent too much on too many flops. It was time to cut the fat and really strain out the gems from the zirconia. Studios got smart and reined in the amount of money and opportunities to cast around to fledgling wannabe's. Studios were now unofficially "penalizing" future screenwriters for their lavish days of yesteryear. I sighed. He said that now in order to break in, it takes pushing past the midnight hour, giving it one more go when everything within you tells you to hang it up. He told me that that is in fact the only real gate keeping most people out -- perseverance past total and complete exhaustion/frustration. So, I lumbered on.
I did make a pit stop on my ninth script to write an indie -- just in case I actually did want to ever see one of my scripts made as a movie. Who'dathunkit?
So, here I am in year 10 (96-06), just having polished my 10th spec. (I know, I know -- in 10 years I should have written like 20 scripts, but I'm married with a kid and work full time, so nyaaah!) The script having been read by others I'm told is my best ever and will probably be "the one." (How many times have I heard that before.) So, I brace to find out if my ten years and ten scripts can possibly shove me over that one foot high perverbial gate.
I now believe in the 10 year apprenticeship, fully. Not just because I've had to endure it, but because I do see the lessons it brings -- you have time to learn about life, to learn what didn't work in your older stuff, to learn about the entire filmmaking process, to learn about marketing and its pivotal role in your concept mining. Sure, there will be those who get lucky or are wunderkinds and skirt the 10 years of metamorphasis, but I'm willing to bet that more often than not, the 10 year gestation period is spot on.
When asked about their smash hit "There's Something About Mary," the Farrelly brothers replied, "It takes ten years of hard work to become an overnight success."
WM
(An aside: He sold a script and a novel for 1 million in 1997 and his agent told him not to quit his job yet. Amazing.)
I asked him for his take on how hard one must work to get their craft to the point where it could garner a script that could sell. He thought about it and told me that the average unspoken "apprenticeship" that most aspiring screenwriters endure is 10 years before they are truly good enough to write saleable material.
Back then, I scoffed. Surely at the ripe age of 21, I was ready. After all, I had already written two terrific features (which sucked major a$$, but I didn't know that then). I would be the next Shane Black. Only time would tell.
And boy did it...
I wrote year after year, getting better with each spec, but still not up to what anybody thought would sell. My first big break came with my third script. I was referred to one of the big five and I got a fancy, custom-written letter (thank God it wasn't a form letter) that said I had real talent as a writer but the script's central idea was big enough to be a feature. So, back to the drawing board. But, at least they left the door open to read more of my work. I felt somewhat vindicated that I wasn't wasting my time.
My next spec (my fourth) did a little better. This time, an agent from the same big five agency called me and said "I had done a terrific job." He stated that they would work with me on developing the script before going out with it. Sadly, as the months passed I never really heard back from them as their money-making client roster was clearly their focus (as well it should have been).
So, I toiled onward, writing three more scripts. Now, I'm up to 8 years and going. I talked with my "pro writer" buddy who had since sold more novels and more scripts as well as being hired for major rewrites by various studios. I asked him how in the world did you ever manage to break in? It seems impossible. He told me that at the time he broke in (97'), the studios were hardly spendthrifts. They threw money around at any halfway decent concept (as evidenced by his admission that his own script was only mediocre at best). The money was there because the box office was overflowing. Times change. Just like the dot com burst, tough times made their way into Tinseltown. Suddenly, there was a huge "tightening of the belt." Studio fat cats had spent too much on too many flops. It was time to cut the fat and really strain out the gems from the zirconia. Studios got smart and reined in the amount of money and opportunities to cast around to fledgling wannabe's. Studios were now unofficially "penalizing" future screenwriters for their lavish days of yesteryear. I sighed. He said that now in order to break in, it takes pushing past the midnight hour, giving it one more go when everything within you tells you to hang it up. He told me that that is in fact the only real gate keeping most people out -- perseverance past total and complete exhaustion/frustration. So, I lumbered on.
I did make a pit stop on my ninth script to write an indie -- just in case I actually did want to ever see one of my scripts made as a movie. Who'dathunkit?
So, here I am in year 10 (96-06), just having polished my 10th spec. (I know, I know -- in 10 years I should have written like 20 scripts, but I'm married with a kid and work full time, so nyaaah!) The script having been read by others I'm told is my best ever and will probably be "the one." (How many times have I heard that before.) So, I brace to find out if my ten years and ten scripts can possibly shove me over that one foot high perverbial gate.
I now believe in the 10 year apprenticeship, fully. Not just because I've had to endure it, but because I do see the lessons it brings -- you have time to learn about life, to learn what didn't work in your older stuff, to learn about the entire filmmaking process, to learn about marketing and its pivotal role in your concept mining. Sure, there will be those who get lucky or are wunderkinds and skirt the 10 years of metamorphasis, but I'm willing to bet that more often than not, the 10 year gestation period is spot on.
When asked about their smash hit "There's Something About Mary," the Farrelly brothers replied, "It takes ten years of hard work to become an overnight success."
WM
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