SCREENWRITING: HOW TO BREAK IN !!!

“How do I break in?”

It’s the screenwriting question I hear most. (in the old days it was 2 brads or 3?)

I’ve seen it on every message board, heard it at every writers’ conference, been asked it a gazillion times…

I’ve never seen a good answer.

Ever.

I’ve collected a lot of the ‘unhelpful’ answers. Tell me if you’ve heard these:

“Just write a good script. The rest will take care of itself.”

Translation: I have no idea. Here’s some advice that will get you out of my face so I can eat my scone.

“That’s the wrong question! Why are you worried about breaking in! Worry about writing a great script!”

Translation: You probably suck. Don’t suck.

“There’s no such thing as breaking in.”

Translation: I’m still figuring out this crazy business every day. You newbies think you get an agent and everything magically gets better.

Yep, it’s the old answer a question with the WRONG QUESTION!! routine.

The other answers I hear are self-serving.

AGENT: “I never read queries! The best way is to get a recommendation!” Translation: “Leave my inbox alone and send someone else all your queries.

WRITER DUDE: “Send queries to agents.”

Translation: “Don’t ask me for a recommendation. And please don’t ask me to read your script. Go bother an agent”

PRODUCER DUDE: “Write a great script.”

Translation: Get your agent to call me when you’re good enough to get an agent.

So why isn’t there a good answer?

Asking a screenwriter how to break-in is a little like asking a terminally ill person that was healed by some miracle for medical advice.

Every break-in story is a minor miracle. They usually are the convergence of several factors — getting the right project to the right person at the right time. They vary greatly. It’s hard to find any consensus or commonality.

There aren’t any clear patterns to follow. There is no clear-cut formula.

I personally went the Indy route. I made several movies and sold several scripts by working with indy producers. My movies played festivals and got distributed by Universal and Lionsgate and I met people with agents and managers…5 years into all this — making $$, making movies, aggressively chasing sales and working assignments on non-union fees…I landed my first agent. It wasn’t even a plan. I fell into it. I was writing scripts to make myself and randomly started sending emails to producers I thought might be interested.

My plan probably won’t work for you. Unless you’re willing to work for pennies, have projects/sensibilities that work on a low-budget level…even then the movies might not get made or get to Sundance or hell…the market has changed so much the budgets on these films I worked on might be like $20,000 and be dumped on YouTube.

I have friends that “broke in” because their father is a doctor and met a producer. Another one got a job as an intern then were asked to take a crack at their boss’s idea. Another one made a micro-budget film that became a Sundance darling. Imagine if I were to tell you any one of these was the BEST way to break-in.

See…there’s no good answer.

Probably the better question is to ask is ‘how did you break in?’ and then seek inspirations in the answer. Try to twist it to your own path.

Just getting your script to any legit person let alone the right person is minor-miracle #1. Getting agents or managers or producer to read is hard. Getting them to like is harder. Getting them to stop what they’re doing and give you a phonecall…well…it’s seemingly impossible.

Even if you somehow manage to get one of your scripts to the right industry bigwig, the timing is everything. That person/company will have a bunch of factors that change day-to-day. Just a small example:

— Opening on their slate — if they just sold two things they might be too busy figuring out how to get those greenlit.

— Access to $$ or Studios

— Needs for an actor

— Needs for a director

No one can give good advice on ‘breaking in’. Everything strategy has horrible odds.

Here’s one thing I hear a lot: “There’s no such thing as breaking in.”

There’s truth to this. You’d be shocked how little things change after you get an agent or make money or whatever. Getting gigs or selling scripts still is a rare event. A minor miracle.

But once you get an agent (or some producer friends) — at least things get read, vetted, considered. But the odds are still really bad. You could go years without making any money. But you still will get a better shake with an agent than just blindly querying or entering contests. The odds are better…just not good. And mileage may vary based on agent and relationship (some reps won’t send your stuff out). So I understand the sentiment.

But getting an agent or working with producers changes the game. And really if you have an agent or producer-buds there probably is some advice that’s valuable. You can have meaningful talks/strategies about budgets/genres/markets/material/etc. The odds still stink. But there are things you can influence.

Okay, so what’s my ‘awful answer’…well…I want to give something that CAN be constructive to YOU. Not just some autobiographically tinged thing…

Here’s my only advice on HOW TO WIN THE LOTTERY.

1. Buy MORE tickets. Write more scripts. Create more things. Meet more people. Query more people. Enter more contests. MORE. MORE. MORE. The one consistent element I see in pro-screenwriters is ‘sticking with it’ and volume. Almost all of my colleagues cranked out several scripts over several years. I can’t say I know a single person who wrote one or two and the doors open. I’ve seen countless frustrated writers who spend years working on the same script or project. Volume is your friend!
2. Have BETTER Tickets. Yes, the old ‘focus on your writing’. The better your script the better your odds. A good script alone won’t take care of everything…but it will help. And remember…winning the lottery here is just getting a spot at the table. Once you’re there…merit wins out. You have to be ready.
3. CHEAT. Yes…if there’s a shortcut to get to the person you need to get to…do it. If you have a friend/neighbor/schoolmate…awesome. Do it. Cheat your way to the front of the line. Just be sure you’re ready. Script-wise/knowledge-wise. In fact, they often say the greatest reason to go to film school is to find your crew. It’s kind of like when offices buy lottery tickets but share in the payday.
4. YOU HAVE TO PLAY TO WIN — Keep trying. Screenwriting is really a long hall. Took me about 10 years before I could go full time. 10 years off near misses and dashed hope is NOT unusual. But during that time I was sending out hundreds of queries, entering contests, writing indy movies, taking classes, going to pitch-tests, etc, etc. I bought thousands of lottery tickets during that time. You need to get on it. The one quality I find with everyone who has ‘made it’ isn’t talent — it’s RELENTLESSNESS.

(okay…now that you know why you’ll never get a good answer…my next blog will give you some more concrete ‘bad advice’ on how to track down someone to read your script. But remember — there is no good advice. MORE! BETTER!)