: Re: How difficult is it to break into screenwriting? Is it difficult to get anyone to buy a screenplay you write? I am thinking about writing a screenplay but am concerned that maybe I shouldn't

@Debbie451

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You have to dedicate your entire life to it. If you just have one idea and think you can make money, it simply won't happen. You have to put hours every day into the craft for years. I know someone who is from a top university who moved to L.A. right after school and now works 12 hours per day studying and writing. He's sold his screenplays, but he's still struggling. I met an Oscar winner in screenwriting and she can't get a screenwriting gig. I know of a producer who has an A-list actress attached before money has been raised. Actors didn't do that before, but it's the economy that has changed the playing field of making movies.

I've been at it for 18 years and got minor jobs; nothing has been produced. The best way to write is to become a producer. To be a producer, you need huge connections to big money or big talent. These connections have to be solid. Or you can break in by being a big director who directs his own writing. Make a small movie, but it has to be GREAT. You can do low budget work, but just trying to raise money is a huge undertaking. If you produce and finance your own small movie with B-list actors, you're still a HUGE LONG SHOT to get distribution. If you don't get distribution, your budget turns into money spent on nothing. I know people who this happened to. There are people who dedicate a big part of their lives to filmmaking who are struggling. Some-to-many are famous, believe it or not.

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