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The screenwriting myth of “making it” in Hollywood

by Mark Sanderson

Sure, everyone wants to be on the A-List at the top levels of Hollywood. It that even realistic? Who knows. And what is your definition of "making it?" Having huge A-list paydays for your screenplays and being famous?

Good luck.

Maybe it's just making a living in a tough business and waking up in the morning every day and following your passion. That's more realistic, but who knows where you will end up? Many talented writers toil away for years and never sell anything, while others with less talent and drive end up carving out a career. It's a strange business for sure with zero guarantees.

THE LONG-HAUL JOURNEY TO SUCCESS

When you become a working screenwriter, we are just one project away from looking for our next job. We roam from job to job trying to stay in the screenwriting game and make a living so we can build a career. Even if you're writing on a TV series, the season ends, and many times so does the show when it's cancelled. Then what? You need to find your next gig. I found my first professional writing job six years after graduating from film school. It allowed me to leave my previous job as a waiter, something I had done for ten years while in college and after, and I truly believed that I had finally "made it" with my big break. 

That was until the producers fired me six weeks into the writing of the show! It happens to everyone at some point. No, I did not "make it", but it was just another step on the long-haul journey. The positive take away was that I secured my first writing credit, and it allowed me to leave the restaurant business for good. Even with the failures and rejections I’ve experienced on my journey, my drive, passion for the work, and tenacity always help me to never give up. 

DREAM, BUT DO THE NECESSARY WORK

You must follow your glorious writing dreams to even reach halfway there but know that Hollywood is a tough business to achieve any level of success. Your pursuit cannot always be about making a big script sale or climbing to the A-list overnight. You will not survive over the long-haul journey if you possess an all or nothing at all attitude about your career. I’ve seen too many writers burn out from the stress and pressure of needing to sell something. I’ve also known people who would only consider themselves a success if they became an A-list talent. It wasn’t worth the tremendous effort for them to end up only making a living at their craft and not being on top. These precious screenwriters only wanted to be superstars and nothing less. When I was pre-teen kid and making short films with my friends, my dream was to one day become a filmmaker and be paid to do what I loved to do—make movies. 

I'm blessed and grateful to wake up in the morning, write for a living, and have my films seen by people around the world. My dream has come true more times than I ever had imagined with two dozen paid screenplay assignments and fifteen produced films.

CHANGING YOUR DEFINITION OF “MAKING IT”

The longer you're in the film business with its ups and downs and busy and slow periods, you may change your definition as to what "making it" is in your mind. Few writers achieve the top levels of Hollywood, let alone making a steady living for decades. Sure, shoot for the moon, but it's not such a bad place to get paid to do what you love for a living too.

This might require you to adjust your lofty goals of achieving A-list or celebrity status. It's okay to make a good living being an artist too. So many do not, and it will always be a struggle.

Do not chase fame, fortune, and glory. 

ONE STEP BACK, TWO STEPS FORWARD

As you continue your journey toward your definition of making it, do not take any step forward for granted because what might appear to be a tiny step can be a huge opportunity in disguise. If you manage to find a producer or production company to consider your material, it’s a new opportunity for you to plant your flag and hold new ground. Even if they pass on your script, do not look at it as a rejection because it can lead to an

open door. Many times, if they like your writing, they will offer to read something else you have written, and it can build a vital relationship that may pay off down the road. Even a tiny step like meeting an assistant and keeping in touch can be considered a successful step. 

The longer you pursue a screenwriting career, you will achieve various successes but also setbacks as it’s all part of the journey. If you’re always creating, submitting your projects, and building your relationships, you need to pause to celebrate and cherish the little and big successes along the way.

Before I was blessed to be a working screenwriter, I entered my fifth spec script in various screenwriting contests, and it ended up being a semi-finalist in the Nicholl Fellowship that year. It placed in the top 1% of all entries worldwide and was in the top twenty scripts overall but did not end up as one of the eight finalists. 

I could have looked upon this as a complete failure, but I used my script’s advanced placement as a successful step forward and convinced producers to read it because of my achievement. I eventually found a producer who saw my script’s potential and his new production company bought my project and produced it into a movie. As you keep writing new projects, each becomes a new opportunity to create forward momentum. Even when you face the inevitable rejections, you will be gaining invaluable experience and hopefully it will help make you a better screenwriter.

THE IMPORTANCE OF RELATIONSHIPS TO MAKING IT

Back in the day when I was shopping a spec screenplay around Hollywood and getting rejected at every turn, it felt like I was constantly hitting a wall until I met an assistant through a mutual contact. This assistant was able to interest his boss in my project enough to option it and later buy it and produce it into a movie. The same assistant went on to become the president of the production company and hired me to write movies for them. He later became an independent producer and hired me again for more assignment work.

You never know where the tiny successes will lead, but they do add to your experience and hopefully a career.

THE BATTLE WITH CRITICISM, REJECTION, AND FAILURE

Be aware of your negative thoughts about your self-worth as it relates to “making it” as a screenwriter. Never forget, screenwriting is a job and a career and has similar ups and downs as many careers do. As I mentioned, if you chase fame and fortune, you will find rejection more times than not. The rejection, criticism, and failure can bring negative thoughts that can become emotions and then it’s hard to separate your thoughts from your emotions. You might start to believe a reality that isn’t true. Many times, it’s not always about the sale of a project. A rejection or “pass” now can actually be an open door later and another project because they like your writing and want to see more of your material. What seemed like a failure at first might really be a successful step because you started a new relationship with a producer or executive. This is why you must always be working on new projects because the key to a “making it” is building these relationships with a solid body of material.

On your way to “making it” you never know what may happen. During one recent year, I was hired to write five screenplay assignments, three of the films have premiered and were distributed globally, and I sold a pitch to a network a few months ago and just completed the second draft with hopes of a start date for production.   

IF YOU KEEP WRITING YOU’RE ALREADY SUCCESSFUL

The definition of "making it" is all subjective. Getting your first writing job or next job after that is "making it" in my opinion. Even completing your latest screenplay is making it. Always remember, growing into an excellent screenwriter takes time. Many writers become too anxious to “make it” before they are ready to compete and work professionally. Your journey might take four or five screenplays to really find your voice and style. Practice patience and respect the mountain we all climb to reach any level of “making it.” As everyone says, it is a marathon and not a sprint. Keep making it and eventually you might land a real screenwriting job that hopefully will be the first step of a long screenwriting career. Avoid becoming depressed when your script does not sell the first time out because most aspiring screenwriters rarely sell their first screenplay or their fifth. Keep your eye on the bigger picture and realize that you might never “make it” to a level you first dreamed of, but if you stay in the game and continue to work at your craft — you have made it. 

Keep the faith and keep filling your blank pages on your road to success.

Mark Sanderson (aka @Scriptcat) is a working screenwriter, author, script consultant, and lecturer blessed to be living his childhood dream of making movies. His work ranges from his sketch comedy writing and performing as a founding member of The Amazing Onionheads, writing for MTV, to his spec sale, and his two-dozen screenwriting assignments with television premieres and worldwide distribution of his fifteen films.

His book, “A Screenwriter’s Journey to Success” is available on Amazon, and he offers screenplay consultation services on his website: www.fiveoclockblue.net