Westerns aren't typically big box office draws...And they're usually expensive to make if you want the film to look authentic. But yet we still see a handful or so get made each year. Most recently, this years Oscar winning Film "The Power of the Dog" starring Benedict Cumberbatch. To that point, I think of Hostiles (2017) starring Christian Bale, which in my opinion is one of the best Western films in recent history. Even with an extremely modest budget of a reported $39,000,000, it still failed to make any sort of revenue in the box office. Westerns are one of the oldest genres in hollywood, but considered the biggest risk for filmmakers. Meanwhile, television shows like West World and Yellowstone are thriving. What do studios & producers look for in a Western? What is the criteria and selection process to get financed? Are there people actively looking to finance western films? I've been told that westerns are the last thing you should ever mention in a pitch meeting. Would producers be more willing to produce a television series over a film for this genre?
Screenwriting : Are Westerns hard to get financed? by Ryan Evans
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Hi Ryan! Westerns have been steadily getting more popular in recent years. We've had a couple of execs tell us that they're looking for Westerns recently - we had an Open Writing Assignment for Westerns not too long ago, and Audrey Knox at The Cartel mentioned that Westerns were coming back into fashion during a Q&A we did with her on the Script Services Twitter a couple months ago.
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If you write a Western with a great hook, you could be able to get funding for it (or a producer or company might be interested in making it).
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Great to hear! I have a feature that I've been developing for years, but couldn't get any traction. So, I adapted the third act into a standalone short screenplay, which has received a lot of positive feedback, but it comes in waves. It's hard to know where to focus my efforts sometimes. Industry trends tend to change over night. Thanks for commenting!
I like the title, Ryan Evans.
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Everyone says “you can’t sell a western”. Yet there are some big series and films that are westerns. So soon people will start looking for them. depending on locations, they could be as cheap as dirt to make.
I like the sound of that!
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This lady went viral on Twitter managing to turn her logline tweet (I believe western) into Hollywood movie filming now...so there's interest of everything everywhere...all at once :)