Screenwriting : Working on Spec by Lu Marin

Meaning writing a script and trying to sell it? Or someone wants to "hire" you to write something unpaid?

I should clarify. I mean deferred pay for writing a script. But unfortunately deferred pay from something that never gets picked up or made can end up being unpaid. thanks for your comment.

Yeah, tricky business. I've definitely had the experience of people telling me from on high not to enter into a certain kind of deal because it wasn't sufficiently professional, but the fact is, when you're starting out you sometimes have to take seriously the kind of deal you (hope you) will be able to scoff at in five or ten years. So, do a real cost benefit analysis. Look with jaundiced eyes at who these people are and whether they'll be able to get a movie made and whether it will ever be seen. But realize there are upsides: obviously the possibility that something real comes of the project, but also that writing ANY script is good experience, and writing for someone else is its own particular kind of experience... not a bad idea to do it once in the minor leagues before you're doing it for Scott Rudin next year. Then: own what you write. Get a rock solid contract and make sure it says: you're not paying me, this is not a work for hire, I own this. I grant you a generous option, but once the option expires, it's mine. They, or their lawyers, may balk at that, but speaking for myself: if I owned the results of my unpaid efforts, I'd weigh the pros and cons. If they expected me to write something that they'd own forever even if they never produced it, I would say no.

Great advice from Kerry. You might also consider how much you connect with the story idea. Whether it goes anywhere or not, you're going to sink a good chunk of your life force into writing it, so it should challenge or excite you in some way that makes it worthwhile--independent of whether it goes anywhere once it's done. Best of luck!

Never work for free!

What Colin Slater said.

You usually don't write spec for hire...it's an already established idea, you're hired to develop or prefect...spec is actually you calling card at best to get the job...I used my short spec "Cutoff Time" to get an offer I'm closing on deal now, so the process actually works...

I think eight years later nothing should have changed...

^^^^ this... however i am seeing legit producers (soliciting on pitch sites) asking contest winners to adapt books for free, for "exposure", promising $ if the work gets picked up by a third party buyer.

Seriously, if you're in this game for a while, everyone has written for free. Even John August & Craig Mazin have admitted they've written for free/spec for potential employers.

It all depends ... if there's a clear path to a payday, zero issues with writing for free. If it's "we'll write it and then find someone" with someone with zero connections then you're most likely wasting your time.