It's also how you train yourself to become a professional screenwriter that's able to write a script within the general contract deadline of ten weeks for each first draft. You need to conceptualize, develop, and write a few screenplays within that time period. And this time is not for a single screenplay. When you begin your screenwriting journey, allow yourself one to two years of writing. But patience is one of the most important parts of your early screenwriting career. This advice is hard for a lot of new writers to hear. You need to make those basic mistakes, learn from them, grow, and write, write, and write some more. Because you'll learn very quickly that if you want to become a working screenwriter you have to be able to deliver - at a high level - under strict industry deadlines. Click To Tweetīefore you sell your first script, you need to develop your writing process. Show them something they didn't even know they wanted and you'll give them something worth buying. Don't take it to anyone or request them to consider it for acquisition. Don't try to market your first screenplay. The first step to selling your screenplay is to not try to sell your screenplay. 5 Tips to sell your first script Write something worth buying: Invest time in your screenplay Selling your screenplays can take months or years of hard work and significant networking. Now that you understand some of the nuts and bolts of who is buying most first-time screenplays, here are the five simple steps that beginning screenwriters can take to get the script marketing ball rolling. And you can always hold out hope that a big production company, producer, or studio will come calling one day. These markets may not offer the same big studio six and seven-figure paychecks for spec scripts, but it's more than enough to keep you writing. And then there's the indie market to fall back on as well. It's the industry that keeps aging action stars employed.īut don't worry, you can make a living writing and selling dramas and comedies to Lifetime, Hallmark, and other specialty channels and streaming services as well. This market includes Direct-to-Bluray/DVD, Direct-to-Streaming, and Video On Demand. Instead of only focusing on studio script sales, it's important to remember that hundreds of scripts sell to lower-tier companies that develop projects for international distributors - most of which seek out scripts for the still-breathing home entertainment global market.
And that's a result of packaging that entails the perfect timing and mixture of distributor, star, producer, and director. The majority of original script sales actually occur directly through production companies. Sure, it can happen, but you shouldn't plan on it. Major studios don't usually buy original scripts from unknown writers. How do most screenwriters sell their first script? Write something worth buying: Invest time in your screenplay.How do most screenwriters sell their first script?.