Screenwriting : Name A Screenwriter Who Sold The First Script They Ever Wrote by Peter Russell by Clare McGlinchey

This is such an important message. It doesn't happen overnight!!!

Patricia Did you get paid by your ExP?

@Patricia just curious, how many films does this producer have under their belt? How will funding be secured? I have zero interest in producing, but I am always interested in how others get involved in it.

Patricia. Putting assets together to make a movie is a good idea. Hope it goes well. I have four projects in development and in very stages of production and discovered I like producing more than I like writing screenplays.

Just curious..how did this producer find your screen play?

Patricia Dont mean to derail thread but I just think the ExP shouldve offered some $$$ upfront before you started writing 1 script or 5 scripts of your franchise. If he has 30 years in show business, he s gotta $$$ pay to play. He basically has a free option on 5 original spec scripts, your scripts. Content is King. And he has 5 free pieces in his "portfolio" to shop around. Anyways dont mean to be a "debbie downer", Hollywood is an open door. No one formula for sucess! Best of luck!

Dan M. He is not getting a free option since he is not purchasing anything. They are just doing a joint venture. Her contribution is her screenplay or screenplays and his is his expertise and contacts in the business. They both bring more than just their chairs to the table and are both sharing in the risk but will share in the profits if they are successful. Personally I would rather do that than option a screenplay to some producer just to sit back and watch it die in development hell. Most people here don't know that is what happens to the 9 out of 10 screenplays that do get optioned.

This is correct Patricia Zell

Sold means they paid you.

Hi Claire, Unless I'm mistaken, Tarantino sold two of his first scripts, Natural Born Killer and True Romance (based on My best Friend Birthday, an amateur movie he made before with a pal), which gave him the money to shoot Reservoir Dogs. In return, the success of Reservoir Dogs allowed the making of the two others. However, he was a movie buff, and in screenwriting and movie making for years: he began My best Friend's Birthday in 1984 and it took him 3 years to make it. He then made Reservoir Dogs in 1991. True Romance was released in 1993 and Natural Born Killers in 1994. Some seasoned novelists, playwright or reporters -already writers- are able to write and sold great first scrips. . This is the true subject of this video: it takes years to learn and polish your skills. Then the Tarantino example also shows that DanG and Patricia are right too: DIY is a great way to break through the gates. To finish with, it seems to me that "write for sold" is not a great way to succeed: If you don't love your story enough for wanting it absolutely shown on widescreen, you'll never have the guts to make it great.

"Write for sold" is succeeding. It means u got paid like a professional.

Watch the video. The point the screenwriter is saying "script writing" is hard like brain surgery." Talent and Luck and Timing helps. Feature film writing backed by a studio is considered "Rock Star" jobs. Just think of the music biz, for every Adele or John Legend, there are 1000s of contestants for America Idol or The Voice TV shows. There are also thousands of Singers working in Las Vegas singing cover songs. They re working, getting paid and they all have the same dreams like Adele or John Legend. Using Tarantino as an example is using a Unicorn, anomly. Hollywood Marketing loves to use Tarantino as success. It keeps the money machine rolling. Joe Public will continue to believe in fantasy. $$$$$. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous sells better than Lifestyles of the working WGA grinders and Nobodys."

Clare-- Every time. I mean every single time I read one of your links I learn. I get inspired and I get more confidence in my ability. It is all about writing a GREAT story. Patience matters. As long as I keep writing there is HOPE. You are one of Stage 32's beacons of light that help us all stay connected in this vibrant and creative community.

Great Post and link!! It's so good to hear everyone's feedback and positive comments. It's a hard nut to crack into but I've learned a lot here. Thank you to all your posts! Keep Writing!

Hi Dan, I quoted Tarantino only to answer the question in the title, and then talked about him to illustrate the real purpose of the video. -- An other one is Kurt Luedke (https://pro-labs.imdb.com/name/nm0525104/?ref_=sch_int) who was totally unknown in the business before Sydney Pollack shot his screenplay "Absence Of Malice" (nominated for AA Best Original Screenplay). He then wrote two other scripts for Sydney Pollack: Out Of Africa (AA Best Adapted Screenplay), and Random Hearts. Nothing more at the moment. However, he was a journalist from a long time and an executive editor for the Detroit Free Press, which explains the choice of his first topic. I'm not sure he didn't write (or try to write) any other screenplay before Absence Of Malice... -- I agree with you about the abuse of examples, as making movies is a so varied stuff that everything and its contrary can be "demonstrated" based on a few examples (that's particularly true for writing rules). So please take it only as an "example" and not as a "rule". However, for now I don't know any screenwriter who popped up from nowhere with a great script and no writing experience... -- By writing "write for sold", I meant "in a such limited state of mind" of course. I think I couldn't find motivation to write something great just to have it stored on a shelf in return of some $... Lots of funny and easier things to do instead. IMO, succeeding is most likely to sold what you wrote hahaha... Unless you're hired to write something which means being already acknowledged.

Talent, luck and timing are lotto tickets. Every winner counted on one; every loser too! (BTW, Churchill's quote "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing our enthusiasm" also works in this case hahaha!)

maybe the closest newbie writer (not a writer/director) to sell an original spec script is Diablo Cody. 1st script. Oscar winner.

That's right for a first spec! However, when Cody wrote Juno, she had about 8 years of blogging and freelance journalism plus one book on her back, and a talent manager (Mason Novick): "Diablo Cody was first approached to write a screenplay by film producer Mason Novick, who had previously landed her a book deal for her memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper, after discovering her blog about stripping." from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(film) -- At least about talent and luck, it seems like she got a winning ticket... " I have never been an ambitious person, and my participation in this industry is a fluke" -- ... but she considers it with lucidity... "If this whole writing thing doesn't work out, I'll be getting right back on the pole." "Having your film made is the award. That alone is the miracle." -- ... and she doesn't only relay on it: "When you're in a competitive environment, always give out the impression that you don't care. It makes people want you more. If you act desperate, it's over. I think a passive attitude is helpful." "I really like writing. I always hear people using that old quote, 'I don't like writing. I like having written'. I don't feel that, like I'm sad when I'm done writing something. I think it's gotten harder. With something like 'Juno', I didn't think anybody was going to read it, whereas something like 'Paradise', I'm writing it thinking I might actually direct this and people are going to comment on it and watch it. It's really hard to do that kind of thing, especially when you're perceiving how the audience will react."

Blogging & freelance journalism is not scriptwriting. a book deal doesnt mean u can write a script. She crossed over from one craft to another. Its like BoJackson playing elite level at Football & baseball. Rare. Michael Jordan failed at baseball.

Just consider this: "Diablo Cody was first approached to write a screenplay by film producer Mason Novick, who had previously landed her a book deal for her memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper, after discovering her blog about stripping." 1. Actually, Cody unconsciously began her screenwriter's journey when she was a blogger, 2. The opportunity of her conversion is luck, but her success is all her merit.

Diablo Cody had an agent that showed her screenplay to a director he knew. I pretty darn she he would not have not taken her on as a client if that was her first and only screenplay. Don't believe everything you read about people in Hollywood.

i dont believe anything about people in Hollywood. But I do believe Diablo Cody knows how to work a room :)

Yes and so did her agent.

Diablo Cody had a film degree from University Of Iowa, and had worked in radio writing copy and proofing it. She had a media background before the blog. There's always a backstory that includes a ton of writing before every overnight success. She earned it.

Apologies if I'm replying too literally. The first guy who comes to mind (and for whom I have a cool podcast to post) is Wesley Strick, who sold his first script (FINAL ANALYSIS). It was produced by Warner Bros. But please note he was a paid music journalist before he was a paid screenwriter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cuff-podcast-screenwriter-wesley-s...

This is an awesome video, I love this guy. I think presenting the facts in an honest yet kind manner is an art form in itself and he has nailed it.

I was privileged enough to be in a workshop with Peter Russell in Cape Town, South Africa recently - what a great motivational speaker! While Peter doesn't sugar-coat the realities of the industry and is a straight-shooter, these hard truths are invaluable for an aspiring screen-writer - you are left in no doubt about the challenges faced, and can then embrace them accordingly, instead of being smothered with encouragement.