• LAVA Moderator: Mysterier

how to become a bigscreen writer

Unfortunately, the word from people who know (like Larry McMurtry) is that it's virtually impossible to become a successful screenwriter without going to L.A. and working your way into the system. I've thought about it myself, but this seems like a most difficult market to break into if, as the others have stated, you're not starting small.
 
Man, this thread really reminded me of The Player. I think that film is pretty accurate from what I know.
 
Does anyone know if majoring in some screenwriting-related field helps your chances?
 
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^ It might be a good way to learn some of the techniques in a controlled setting if you are not a good self-starter, but it won't help you sell any scripts or get a writing assignment at all.

UNLESS you are getting a degree from the USC, UCLA, or maybe NYU and AFI film schools. Then it will help you because you can make good contacts that will be decision makers down the line. But that can take some years before your contacts have risen up in the biz.

I wrote four scripts, live in L.A., and know a lot of people, and can tell you that this is not an easy way to make a living. I was just getting to understand how a screenplay is put together when I ran out of time and had to go back to my "real" job to support my family. Some people intuitively understand how a screenplay works immediately, but most people need to write several scripts before they understand it.None of my scripts were good enough to get sold. But I was ambitious. If I had aimed a bit lower with my scripts, I could have sold one. A close friend of mine wrote a studio movie that got made and we write on the same level. But it was not a great movie, and while he has had a lot of interest in his second script, which is pretty decent, but has not gotten it sold. In the meantime, he is an industry executive and knows a lot of people. The movie business is in serious financial trouble because too much product was being made and the whole model is based on DVD sales which have been declining. The writers' strike didn't accomplish anything except to cement the studio's control over everything. For now. It might change in the future. And if you come up with a truly GREAT, FRESH CONCEPT and can deliver that concept via an excellent script, you can make a million or even two from a single script. But you can't rely on this result, to put it mildly.

One thing that can be hard to accept: most writers are motivated by art. I.e., they see inspiring works of art and want to create art themselves. And screenwriting is no doubt creating art. But the way to learn how to be good at screenwriting is to concentrate on craft. Work on your craft and the art will sneak in the back door when you're not even expecting it.

Here's a book that will start you off right without pulling any punches about what screenwriting is about: Crafty Screenwriting by Epstein. Get it and listen to what he says and you will be ahead of 95% of people writing screenplays out there.

For software, it's worth getting either MovieMagic Screenwriter or Final Draft if you're going devote months or years to this. I like MovieMagic Screenwriter myself. Sometimes they offer discounts to students, so if you take a university-based film class you can get it for $100 rather than $200, but get one regardless.
 
^what do you think of Robert McKee's "Story" book and seminars?
 
Does anyone know if majoring in some screenwriting-related field helps your chances?

I dont know about for screenwriting, I'd imagine thats a little harder, but I know I've gathered a few good starter connections for acting through my school.
 
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