There are only about 900 scripts produced in the English speaking world a year. Well, not including short scripts. About half of those are adaptations from established writers, and from what's left a lot are written by hyphenates (including writer directors.) Yet, on many screenwriting networks, there are over ten times that many people claiming to be screenwriters.
About one in three thousand screenplays that the studio reads may end up getting produced. Most scripts never even get read.
Screenwriting is one of the most competitive jobs in the world, more competitive than most professional athletes.
What I find strange is, despite the fact that there's ideally only one screenwriter per film (when there's more than one, it's someone messing with your work), about 1/4 to 1/2 or more of people on filmmaking networks want to be screenwriters. (Another puzzling phenomenon is the high number of film festival organisers.)
Now, for those of us who enjoy writing, as a passtime, perhaps it's not strange. But, those who have never written a script, who have no idea how to tell a story, and still want to pursue this rather than a less competitive avenue, (or more lucrative one) I'd like to know, why?
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Because I can't act. I've also heard I can't write either. :-)
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Because I'm not handsome enough to be an actor. But I can sure tell some whoppers!!!
in some ways its just become the preferred writing form. On the other hand you could say that drama was the earliest writing form along with poetry. The novel didn't start until the mid 1700's. And also why is it the fault of the writer that the market is what it is? We're not the ones that decided to lose 100 mil on fill in the blank bad idea. We're the type of people that would remind the studio that they could make a hundred or more solid films at 1 million each for the same price as that adaption that was a focus group tested brand but not a very compelling story
The same reason why so many want to be actors, artists, models athletes and musicians the make money off their physical prowess or artistic talent. With most of these things it's about:
1) Possessing the requisite abilities
2) Having the discipline to put out work
3) Finding a way to stand out from the crowd
4) Have a myopic desire to accomplish the goal of success
5) Sucking up rejection and moving on
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I think it's just that creative people like to be creative. Some want the glory and fame, some just want to know that other people enjoyed their work. I simply like to write, so I've always pursued ways to do that full time. I don't care what form my writing takes. Screenwriting is just one avenue I've explored.
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It was that or watch daytime TV.
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I don't want to be a screenwriter. I want to be a filmmaker who writes.
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A painter does not look at the amount of painters in the world and decide not to paint. He paints because he must. There is no other choice.
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It's my destiny.
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I like to write. I like movies. Combining them creates the best of both worlds.
If there wasn't a risk where would the fun be?
Since I was small I’ve always been one to fabricate a story! Lol
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Almost everyone wants to tell a story. It’s the stand-up comic in the club, the novelist in literature, the teacher in school or Mom and Dad at home. And, in film, it’s the screenwriter. It’s all about storytelling story! Storytellers have been a huge part of man’s evolution since its beginning. Today, the theatre is the gathering place - no different than early homosapiens gathering around the fire. And the film? It’s an elevated version of the storyteller where a huge contributor is the screenwriter. Whether it be an adapted or an original work, it’s has the scrennwriter’s signature all over it. Screenwriters are fundamental to our cultural deleopment. Their stories entertain, yes? But, they also articulate important moments - slices of life if you will - which shine light on the human condition underpinning the best and the worst of humanity, therein building a better world for us today, a world we can pass on to those that will follow with some sense of pride.
Just visualize for a second that childhood moment sitting around a fire on the beach or at a campsite, surrounded by those older regaling all with colorful stories, you listening intently, holding them in awe and wanting to be just like them since they seemed so worldly. Do you feel it? The warmth? The yearning? The slight watering up in your eye? That moment when your horizon expanded? That’s the the reson d’etre for the screenwriter yet, for the most part unheralded, but none-the-less noble. With such opportunity to change the world, who would not want to be a screenwriter?
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I took up screenwriting because I want to sell one. I knew the odds were stacked against me and I was a shitty writer so I know I had to work twice as hard. I set my goal at writing 12 screenplays and if I didn't sell one by then I was going to quit. I wrote over 30 so obviously I reached my goal.
Congrats Dan! That’ what it’s all about! What’s the old saying? Ignorance is bliss! Ha!
Or just make your own film!
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Hamish. I agree but it does take a lot of money to make a feature film. I am currently producing two with Judy Norton and they are going to cost about a million each.
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After watching A LOT of movies. I kept saying to myself, I could do so much better. So now I've decided to put my money where my mouth is.
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Big step! Lotsa courage! I started in film at 57.
Dan: I wish I had that kind of budget for my projects! I'm in post on a feature length film at the moment that doesn't even have 1% of that budget!
Dan if you have any left over.......