I have a question, how does one become a film and/or television writer? What do you have to do to become that? Go and get a degree? What???
Question - how do you become a screenwriter?
- Thread starter Norma Jean
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I have not broken in. I only talk to different people who already have, so this is second-hand information/advice I am giving you here:
1) Write
2) Network
3) Lather
4) Rinse
5) Repeat
More seriously ...
--Just keep writing, keep perfecting your craft, network network network, query query query, and network some more and don't stop writing.
--See if you can move to LA. See if you can land on the crew of a movie set or a TV show --even if it's an unpaid position like an intern or a gopher, --even if it's a small indie shoot in your home town of Pumpkin Bend, Wisconsin.
--School is fine, but not essential.
--Join a local writer's group, especially one that focuses more on scripts than novels. See if you can get feedback from them on your stuff. And network with them.
--Join an online writing community (like maybe Absolute Write or Trigger Street, etc) where there's a core of scriptwriters who can review your work and give you feedback. And network with them.
--Read trade publications like Variety and Hollywood Reporter, etc, to keep abreast of the industry.
--Send out queries to agents and production companies on your completed work. Expect rejections, but keep pushing onward in spite of those rejections. Some of those rejections will be kind enough to tell you WHY they rejected your work, so try to learn from the advice they might take the time to give you.
1) Write
2) Network
3) Lather
4) Rinse
5) Repeat
More seriously ...
--Just keep writing, keep perfecting your craft, network network network, query query query, and network some more and don't stop writing.
--See if you can move to LA. See if you can land on the crew of a movie set or a TV show --even if it's an unpaid position like an intern or a gopher, --even if it's a small indie shoot in your home town of Pumpkin Bend, Wisconsin.
--School is fine, but not essential.
--Join a local writer's group, especially one that focuses more on scripts than novels. See if you can get feedback from them on your stuff. And network with them.
--Join an online writing community (like maybe Absolute Write or Trigger Street, etc) where there's a core of scriptwriters who can review your work and give you feedback. And network with them.
--Read trade publications like Variety and Hollywood Reporter, etc, to keep abreast of the industry.
--Send out queries to agents and production companies on your completed work. Expect rejections, but keep pushing onward in spite of those rejections. Some of those rejections will be kind enough to tell you WHY they rejected your work, so try to learn from the advice they might take the time to give you.
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Yeah, there's no set path. But it generally is based on who you know and what you've done. So start doing some stuff and meeting some people.
IMO,
1% who you know.
1% what you know.
98% how badly you want it.
Decide whether this is something you really want to do because nothing less than total, burning, passionate, non-negotiable devotion will get you there.
1% who you know.
1% what you know.
98% how badly you want it.
Decide whether this is something you really want to do because nothing less than total, burning, passionate, non-negotiable devotion will get you there.
Lumping TV and feature film writers together,
Jane Espenson studied linguistics and comp sci at Berkley, wrote some specs for Star Trek and some other shows, and was accepted by the Disney Fellowship.
Conan O Brien studied Comparative Literature at Harvard, participated in comedy groups there, wrote for the humor magazine, and made connections with alumni already working in the business. Became staff writer for SNL, then head writer.
Tina Fey studied English and Theater and UVA. Joined the Groundlings, studied and performed improv, joined SNL as staff writer and performer, became head writer.
Paul Attanasio, got a lib arts degree from one of the seven sister colleges, graduated from Harvard Law, got fed up with law, became an arts critic for the Washington Post. Reviewed everything under the sun from movies to rock concerts. Made connections, started writing screenplays.
One TV staff writer I worked with several years ago played linebacker and studied English lit at UT Austin. Got a job as a writer's assistant on a John Wells show, made connections, went on to a staff writer job.
The guy who does the Boondocks TV show, as well as some assignment work - his name escapes me but you can google - started out doing a comic strip for the Univ of Md student newspaper. The strip broke out and was taken on by newspapers all over. Hollywood folks started calling, as they're prone to do anytime there's a pop culture hit they can cash in on.
Some people start out as playwrights, some start out as film critics, others as standup comics or best selling paperback novelists. Joe Esterhaz studied Journalism, at Kent State, I think. Went on to work as a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, then wrote feature articles for Rolling Stone. One of the feature articles got the attention of Hollywood, and Esterhaz was invited to write scripts.
Each of the major film schools puts out a few designated wunderkinds every year, and the big agencies snatch them up and launch their careers. It's better to have great films for this crowd, but good scripts are important too.
Jane Espenson studied linguistics and comp sci at Berkley, wrote some specs for Star Trek and some other shows, and was accepted by the Disney Fellowship.
Conan O Brien studied Comparative Literature at Harvard, participated in comedy groups there, wrote for the humor magazine, and made connections with alumni already working in the business. Became staff writer for SNL, then head writer.
Tina Fey studied English and Theater and UVA. Joined the Groundlings, studied and performed improv, joined SNL as staff writer and performer, became head writer.
Paul Attanasio, got a lib arts degree from one of the seven sister colleges, graduated from Harvard Law, got fed up with law, became an arts critic for the Washington Post. Reviewed everything under the sun from movies to rock concerts. Made connections, started writing screenplays.
One TV staff writer I worked with several years ago played linebacker and studied English lit at UT Austin. Got a job as a writer's assistant on a John Wells show, made connections, went on to a staff writer job.
The guy who does the Boondocks TV show, as well as some assignment work - his name escapes me but you can google - started out doing a comic strip for the Univ of Md student newspaper. The strip broke out and was taken on by newspapers all over. Hollywood folks started calling, as they're prone to do anytime there's a pop culture hit they can cash in on.
Some people start out as playwrights, some start out as film critics, others as standup comics or best selling paperback novelists. Joe Esterhaz studied Journalism, at Kent State, I think. Went on to work as a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, then wrote feature articles for Rolling Stone. One of the feature articles got the attention of Hollywood, and Esterhaz was invited to write scripts.
Each of the major film schools puts out a few designated wunderkinds every year, and the big agencies snatch them up and launch their careers. It's better to have great films for this crowd, but good scripts are important too.
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writing for tv is like getting a job as a writer. and like most jobs education is the way to get your foot in the door. they're more likely to look at you if you have education as opposed to someone who decided to just wing it on their own. your talent as a tv writer is secondary because of the process of getting the job. and you have to be local to the production.
feature writing is a bit different. there is the spec script market where you write a script and then try to sell it. but there is also a rewrite and writing on assignment market that is available for real writers who know what they're doing and can prove it by way of sample writing. ie - you can try and sell a spec and a producer might say we don't want that story but we really love your writing. we have another story that needs a rewrite and we want to hire you to do it.
and like odo stated - most successful writers in the business have education related to the media. education is really the best route if you can do it because the amount of networking and acknowledgement for your work is a huge benefit. being self taught is the painstakingly slow and frustrating route.
feature writing is a bit different. there is the spec script market where you write a script and then try to sell it. but there is also a rewrite and writing on assignment market that is available for real writers who know what they're doing and can prove it by way of sample writing. ie - you can try and sell a spec and a producer might say we don't want that story but we really love your writing. we have another story that needs a rewrite and we want to hire you to do it.
and like odo stated - most successful writers in the business have education related to the media. education is really the best route if you can do it because the amount of networking and acknowledgement for your work is a huge benefit. being self taught is the painstakingly slow and frustrating route.
(I'm not a produced writer, so have your grain of salt ready.)
I'd say it's the same as what's said about computer programmers: If you have what it takes (to be good) then you will do it no matter what, no questions asked. You will do it day and night, you will dream of it when you don't do it. Nobody has to check on your quality, because you are committed to churn out the best there can be - and may be get close to it in the process. And the lucky ones are those that get paid for it.
I'd say you are a writer when you love to write and do it. Then comes the rest. Read books on it, blogs, magazines, everything you can find plus a ton of scripts - while you write.
To get produced: follow all advice that's given here and more.
I realize I'm might be taking this in a different direction, but do you mean professionally, as in a career, or simply learning how to write for film or television? The path (even though there isn't a set path) would be very different if your intention is to be a professional screenwriter, versus learning to write screenplays.
Your question seems to indicate professionally, but I thought I'd through out that quick comment.
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Be a high school grad or a college grad. If the latter, major in the liberal
arts, like English, Drama or Comparative Lit. Read. Write. Read again. Write. Learn about the industry. Get connected with the right people. Have a tough skin about criticism towards your work. Be nice and be assertive. Have fun what's your doing.
I've written three spec scripts and have a bag of ideas. I'm following my own advice.
MY PERSONAL STORY:
My hometown paper did this story on me. Please ignore the hideous file photo from 2002, I'm way prettier at present.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/NEWS01/71108007/1009/RSS01
My hometown paper did this story on me. Please ignore the hideous file photo from 2002, I'm way prettier at present.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/NEWS01/71108007/1009/RSS01
LEARNING THE CRAFT should be number one on any how to become a screenwriter list. Networking, querying, etc. are pointless if what's on the page isn't of a professional calibre.
Reading scripts and writing scripts should be part of any "learning the craft" repetorie - but they are rarely enough on their own to teach an aspiring writer what they need to know.
A good writer needs to have a solid, conscious understanding of drama, story, conflict, theme, character etc. and the best way to learn it is to be taught it. It's not just about knowing the definitions of these terms, it's about learning how to create and develop a story.
If you look at odocoileus post - those on the list had a solid education in writing or the dramatic arts. That's not to say you need to have a degree in film or literature - but at the very least, if your serious about purusing screenwriting as a profession, I highly recommend taking some classes - where you get feedback from and interact with a knowledgable writing pro or scholar.
In person classes are preferable - but there are many good online courses and programs available.
Screenwriting in particular is not a natural form of storytelling. You need to learn it.
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I would say that there's plenty of well networked working writers whose craft is suspect =)
But I agree with DE about everything else.
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Aaron McGruder.
Although it's arguably easier to sell a screenplay than to get a comic strip nationally syndicated.
Aaron McGruder.
That's him.
A little more info on the original topic. More and more writers these days are coming over from game design. Comic book writers have been crossing over since the sixties at least.
Syndication is tough for any comic, true. Just about all the starter gigs are brutally competitive in their own rights. Stand up comedy, popular fiction, feature journalism, the agency assistant route, the indy filmmaking route, the theatre.
Moving back to anecdotes,
My stage direction prof at the UW also taught the Playwriting course. A few years before I got there, he had a student in his class who did amazing work. So amazing, in fact, that the prof did something he almost never does.
He called up his own agent and insisted that the agent read this guy's work. The agent did, and encouraged the guy to leave Wisconsin and come out to LA. He came, and enrolled at UCLA film school. A few years after that, he was writing the screenplay for Jurassic Park.
Another A list screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin, majored in musical theater at Syracuse, and then joined the army of unemployed actors stalking the streets of NYC. He switched over to playwriting, and wrote a hit play which became a hit movie.
Cameron Crow was doing rock and roll journalism, getting published in national magazines while still in high school. His novel about his undercover high school experiences was made into a hit film.