Portfolio Center Blog Portfolio Center Blog: Professional Screenwriting: Rewrites, Log-Lines, Los Angeles
According to one of the most celebrated screenwriters in the business, William Goldman (Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid; All the President's Men; The Princess Bride), when it comes to producers, directors, and agents who think they have figured out the formula for making a film that will achieve critical and commercial success "nobody knows anything." And that sentiment applies to the advice I'm about to give as well. There is no one way or right way to become a paid screenwriter but there are several tactics that seem to be common to many successful writer's experiences.
Rewrite, Rewrite, Rewrite
If you are developing ideas, creating step outlines, crafting treatments and writing scripts on a regular basis, you are already a screenwriter. And nobody has a career in screenwriting without first having written several scripts.
While writing scripts first drafts, that is might be a great start, it just isn?t enough. I have never known of a film that's been made in which the script hasn't gone through several drafts. The key to being a good writer, therefore, is to become a good rewriter. Nobody I've known gets it right the first time out. My friend, Karyn Kusama, wrote and directed the film, Girlfight, which shared the prize for Best Film at the 2001 Sundance Festival. Her script was rewritten and revised and polished over ten times before going into production and, as far as I know, this is par for the course.
Make connections now
You must have dedication to your craft. You have to love what you're doing. And if you do, chances are good that all of your hard work and passion will yield some high quality scripts. But that?s still not enough! As important as all of that is, it is as important, if not more important, that you start building a community of peers in the film world by fostering relationships with other students and teachers who you are instinctually drawn to and whose sensibilities align with yours. Start putting your work into the hands of people who can give you constructive criticism and help you improve upon what you?ve already done, people who can get to know your work and better understand your style, people that soon might want to film your work or someone else who might. In fact, the experience of seeing your work actually produced is something that you are much more likely to have happen at this stage of your burgeoning career. So while you are still in school, equipment is more readily available, and people are more willing to help out, try to get something you've written a short script, maybe produced. Not only will you learn from the experience of seeing your work go through the production process and along the way develop relationships with directors and other people who may provide you work in the future, but if the film turns out well, you will be able to show people your name in the credits and prove to them that you are serious about what you do.
Film is a collaborative medium, and it is through connecting to others that you are likely to get work. So start making those connections now. The people sitting next to you in class, the people that you work with on your earliest class productions could and often will - be the same people who will hire you in the years to come.
You do have a Portfolio...
For a screenwriter, a portfolio is primarily a script hopefully, one that has gone through several drafts and is incredibly well written with memorably good characters and a compelling storyline. Sure, it would be wonderful if you had two really great scripts. Or maybe even three! But, for now, I recommend getting at least one of your scripts into the best shape it can possibly be in.
I always make the analogy to the cars on display at car shows. Car companies produce several types of cars in the course of a year, but the one they choose to show the world at a car show is always their sleekest and most beautifully designed. It?s the one that represents the best they have to offer. This is how you should think about what script you are giving people to read. Make sure it's your best: the one that wonderfully represents your voice, your style, and your understanding of your craft.
But before someone in the film business will read that one great script, they will most likely want to know what it is about. So you should also be prepared to pitch your idea either in person or over the phone. And, in terms of written material, you should have the following:
And of course you should have an updated resume that details the various things you've written, as well as all of the film-related work you've done and classes you've taken. Although most agents and producers won't give you a job writing for them based on your resume (this will only happen because they like your scripts), you might end up getting hired in some other capacity as a script reader doing coverage or maybe as a script supervisor.
Research, Research, Research
Some of the first people in the film business you will most likely send your material to will be people you've been referred to by other people (teachers or fellow students or others you've worked with). But you will still want to get your script(s) into the hands of as many people as you can. The best way to hone your search is to be smart about understanding the film business and where the sort of writing you do will best fit into it. For example, if you specialize in writing incredibly dark, violent action thrillers, you won?t want to waste your time sending out a query letter to a company whose last five produced films were rated G.
If you don?t want to waste your time sending out scripts to people who won't be interested in reading them, you can hone your search and start targeting agents, producers and production companies that will welcome your particular style of writing. I often suggest that students or recent graduates buy a copy of the Hollywood Creative Directory or subscribe to advanced services offered by either the Internet Movie Database website (imdb.com) or the industry standard newspaper Variety (online at variety.com). These sites usually offer free trial periods during which you can spend your time gathering the names and current contact information for agents and production companies that look at unsolicited scripts.
In general, if you are interested in a career in film, you should be seeing as many films (old ones as well as new ones) as you can and not just for the purposes of being entertained. You should start understanding how the business of film works, become familiar with the names of the producers and companies in the credits, and figure out which ones you would personally like to send out query letters to.
Query letters
As I previously mentioned, the best way to be introduced to someone in the film business is through a mutual friend or through someone you've worked with who knows and respects you and what you do. But you will also have to contact people at agencies and companies that you have no familiarity with whatsoever. And you will most likely be told to send a query letter briefly introducing yourself and offering a few words detailing what your script is about and asking if it would be possible for you to send the entire work for consideration.
I'm sure everybody has a different idea about what makes a good query letter. I recommend that you keep it short and sweet. Think for a moment about how many of these sorts of letters the people in these offices receive every day. What could you write that will set yourself apart? I try to introduce myself in a way that will put a smile on the face of the person who opens my letter. Everybody wants to laugh, and if I can make someone laugh, that person might be more inclined to want to read my entire script.
Equally important is the way I describe my screenplay. This should initially be done in a sentence or two a couple of lines that hopefully evoke the feeling and story and major theme of my work and will whet the appetites of those reading to want to read more. Not an easy task, believe me! But the more you do it, the better you will become at it. And if you are serious, you will become a master at telling others what your script is about with just a few carefully chosen words.
Move to Los Angeles?
If you're interested in not just being a screenwriter but in making a living as a screenwriter, at some point you will have to move to Los Angeles. It's unavoidable. Even if you end up returning to the Midwest, you will have to go to Hollywood to hustle your scripts and be social and take meetings. In fact, everybody I know who has a career in the film industry and never forget, it is a major industry whose epicenter is L.A. - has had to spend a significant amount of time living on the west coast.
Although it will ultimately be the originality of your voice and the overall quality of your writing that will get you work, you won't be hired over the phone and most of the people who like your work will want to meet with you before giving you a job. In fact, taking meetings is one of the things people in the film business like to do most in L.A. You will have to be prepared to sell yourself and your work before you are able to get an agent who will do it for you.
Again, it comes down to creating a community, and that will be much easier to do when you are living in the town where the people you will want to be working for live as well. Many of the screenwriters I know made names for themselves in other cities writing plays or became finalists in respected screenwriting competitions (more on that later). But several more moved to L.A. and got jobs working in production companies or even just waiting tables but they kept writing at night, honing their craft, and making their scripts better and better. After years of writing and getting to know more people in the industry and yes, after years of being rejected, they finally sold their scripts or, based on the quality of the writing they'd done, got hired to write new scripts.
Good luck!
Dan is a professional screenwriter / script consultant, and a portfolio advisor, available to meet students by appointment, and consult them on their screenwriting materials. To learn more about Dan's background and expertise, read his biography.