Money and Reality 101


Another misconception about screenwriting concerns money: that screenwriting is an easy or at least likely way to get rich. Especially in the 1990s, the newspapers were full of stories about million dollar screenplay sales, and naturally a lot of budding writers took interest.

A recent article by Dana Kennedy in the New York Times (Dec. 9, 2001) put the phenomenon in context.

"It was like this big scam," says Chris Gore, editor of the online magazine Film Threat. "There was all this buzz, all these bragging rights and all these ego-driven deals. But really what happened was that screenwriting turned into an industry preying on all these people from Michigan or someplace who think they're going to come out here and write a screenplay and make $1 million overnight. It became like the lottery."

But "Screenwriters Adjust to Being Bit Players Again," to quote the title of this article. "The mid-90s gold rush that resulted in multimillion-dollar scripts (and some very bad movies) is over," Kennedy concludes.

Credits and Reality 101

Another peculiarity of the screenwriter's situation is that a good deal of money actually can be made without ever seeing one's work on the screen. I myself, for example, have optioned six different screenplays -- and none ended up as a movie. But there are much more extreme examples.

In her column in The Oregonian on January 8, 2002, Margie Boule interviewed Ken Nolan, who wrote Black Hawk Down. Nolan struggled for a decade in Hollywood before selling his first script. Although this gave him income, it didn't establish him as a screenwriter. Boule picks up the story:

"Ken wrote another script that sold, and then others. Each sold for more than the one before it, but none was ever made into a movie. Ken found himself locked into a Hollywood pattern: 'You have a really successful writing career, a house, a fancy car, people know who you are -- but no movies ever come out.'"

I had a friend in a similar situation. His parents were sure the guy was a drug dealer! How else could he have so much money and nothing to show for it, establishing how he actually earned it?

The reality of screenwriting is unlike any reality you've entered before. Be prepared for it.


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