Screenwriting : How do "Screenwriters" monetize what they write?? by MagicBrad Gudim

think of it like this. you have a house... maybe one that you've lived in, fixed up and renovated for years and now it's ripe for selling. you can put up a "for sale" sign in your front lawn and hope that people will come in and take a look. (there are websites that you can do this... like INKTIP). know that the facade of your front (yard, stoop, porch, windows) is what makes your screenplay attractive in the first place. this is your logline and pitch. so you get a couple of people knocking on the door. they like what they saw out front so they want to take a look inside. what do they see when they first step inside the door? this is your first scene, your opening pages. is it something that smacks them in the face with intrigue? something that makes them want to go into the next room? the answer must be, yes... if you want them to keep reading. okay -- they went through the entire house now. was it a rollercoaster ride? or did every room look the same? did they get smacked with a bunch of "uh oh's!" and "oh shit's!" -- and does the back yard (the final scene) make them think, "this could work? i might want to marry this." holy shit! does he want to get married? hold on, buddy. he wants to test out the waters first. this is called an option agreement. he says, "i'll give you this much money to take this house off the market for a while. i want to see if my wife likes it and my banker likes it, and my dog likes it, and if that actor wants to play around in the pool tool." so then he drops you some coin and nobody else can see the script anymore. then you wait while he tries to convince everybody that you should get married... and spend $5, $20 or $50 million on the wedding aka the production. they have to also come to the conclusion that so many millions of people will pay to see this house that they will make their money back with the ability to money in the bank too... you know, seed money for their next production. times up -- the option agreement is nearing it's end. they must determine whether they need more time to convince, prepare, and/or plan for the wedding (oh, this is called "development" or "development hell"). if so then they'll create a new agreement with the owner of the house. OR if they determine that, the marriage just won't work then they give you the keys back to the house and you must stick the sign up in your lawn again. OR (the one conclusion that most of us want) they say, SOLD! they pay you and then either tell you to go away. they hire a seasoned writer to redecorate and accommodate the wishes of the director, that actor, and some weird guy who's throwing money at it and wants a part written in for his granddaughter... you know the one he just spend $43 on plastic surgery AND he's got an airplane too. can we make that actor a pilot? b/c he wants to show that off. hope this makes sense.

Okay, I'll try to give a straight answer. To monetize your writing, you either sell your writing, or you use it to get future writing jobs. How do you do this? Well, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. I know a few ways: 1. Query agents to see if they want to represent your script. This is incredibly difficult if you don't have an inside track. Maybe smaller agents, if you have an awesome script with an amazing hook. 2. Query production companies and see if they would consider buying your script. If you query a hundred with an excellent query, you may get a few who agree to read it. If the script is amazing, then who knows? 3. Enter contests. If you win, or place very highly in the major contests, maybe the agents or producers will come to you. 4. Pay for an online marketplace like InkTip.com. Producers can find your script there. You can also subscribe to their newsletter which will inform you of producers seeking scripts. There are other places where you can pay to pitch (online or in person). Here, I think. Virtual Pitch Fest. Hollywood Pitch Festival. 5. Network. Meet people here, go to script conferences, talk up your work, see what happens. Good luck. Everyone who "monetizes" does it a different way so I'm sure I forgot some. I personally have had success monetizing with 3, 4 and 5. Your mileage may vary.

PM = "Punch in the Mouth"?

What Kerry said and what Lisa analogized (which seems to be a real word, or spellcheck is broken). (Spellcheck is not a real word, it seems.) You write a stack of screenplays to learn your craft. You find a way to get scripts out there (Kerry leaves off "accidental" which is my entire career... you give someone a script for some non business purpose and it gets passed around town until it accidentally lands on the desk of someone in the biz who loves it and wants to meet you.) Usually people in the biz will want to keep reading new scripts by you until they either find one they want to buy or hire you for an assignment... so you will keep writing "spec scripts" for the rest of your life. Once you sell a script (or land an assignment) you are unemployed and need to find a new job (once you finish that gig). So you are always looking for work. Sure, there's some heat once you have a script go out wide... and you will try to stack up as many gigs as you can while the iron is hot. But only 1 in 10 sold or assigned scripts ever gets to the screen, so you can do a lot of paid work that is under the radar... and need a new spec script to get back on the radar. People make a living writing screenplays, and a few people make a ton of money doing it. You always hear about the guy or gal who sold a script for huge money, but that is because getting that kind of money is news (ie: unusual). So don't think it's a way to get rich quick. It's work. It's writing every day. It's meeting deadlines. It's dealing with idiot bosses. It's everything you hate about your day job... but you are telling stories for a living.

like my ad for an agent-- "Wanted sleezy money grabbing agent to sell my screenplay for seven figure sum" 10,084 replies. It's gonna take forever siftin through these.

Really I would like to know how much money you guys invest in getting your screenplay out there.

Equeries cost nothing.

Enquiries cost nothing? What about food for the raven?

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