Screenwriting : MY SCREENWRITING JOURNEY... so far... by Ben Johnson Jr.

I've posted this on Twitter/X and it seemed to encourage people, so I'm going to do the same here, especially for those still trying to find their footing or get that first significant win. I hope you find value in it.

MY SCREENWRITING JOURNEY

Growing up under apartheid in South Africa, a screenwriting career was unthinkable. We were socially engineered by the government into specific industries and steered away from certain sectors through job reservation policies. People of color were explicitly excluded from ANYTHING in media. Despite loving film, television, and storytelling, I never imagined I could work in that space.

Everything changed when I spotted a newspaper ad for a week-long filmmaking course at a local university. As a creative, I was intrigued. I applied and was selected as one of twenty participants. The course covered all aspects of filmmaking - lighting, camera work, directing, blocking, editing, etc. I hated everything except the writing. When workshops were offered during the Durban International Film Festival, I chose screenwriting without hesitation.

That workshop transformed my life. I fell in love with screenwriting and was blown away that I could actually have a career in this field. The reality, however, was daunting: I lived on a cattle farm in a rural area, worked in a hardware store, had no computer or laptop, and virtually no internet access.

But I was determined. For five years, I worked full-time at the hardware store plus two extra jobs to support my family while studying screenwriting. Every night from 10pm to 2am, I wrote on an old Blackberry(That's the one in the pic). There was only one spot in the house with cell phone signal, so I'd stand there to research, send emails, or submit assignments. I took on free writing gigs to build my credibility and CV.

Finally, breakthrough came. My first paid gig earned me $25, and I felt like a king. After two more years of relentless writing, I sold my first short film. Two years later, my first feature script was commissioned—and I resigned from my day job. A year after that, I landed my first TV writing job. I never looked back.

Since then, I've written on 16 local TV shows and 12 paid features. I've been a Final Draft Big Break Winner, signed by a manager, and hired to write a feature for one of the directors of BBC's Doctor Who. I was hired to create a show for Netflix, adapted Ugly Betty for a local network, and now have an Academy Award Winner attached to one of my feature scripts that's being shopped.

My goals remain ambitious: secure an agent, break fully into Hollywood and the international industry, write big-budget features, and become a showrunner on a premier streamer like HBO.

Through this journey, I've learned three crucial lessons:

You never stop learning, so stay humble and teachable. The surest roadblock to learning is thinking you already know. I enter every experience as a student, and it's served me well.

You must love what you do, including the hard work, challenges, and craft itself. Many people love the idea of being writers but don't really love writing. I love everything about the art and craft, and that love brings me back to storytelling repeatedly. I write because I must.

Be stubborn and determined, because the people who succeed in this business never give up. Talent alone isn't enough—you need to be tough. You must take knocks and disappointments, learn from them, make adjustments, and keep moving forward. If you can't outlast the challenges, you won't make it, no matter how talented you are.