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We took a spec out last week.
I’ve referenced it often here in the Weekly Email as BACK UP. A sci-fi film noir. We changed the title to RESET for reasons that are too complicated to get into here.
It’s been a while since I’ve gone out wide with a script. I have not been as prolific the last couple of years. 2024 had some personal events that were a real punch in the gut. It has taken me a while to get back into the groove of life.
We did go out with a smaller screenplay last year, but it was by no means “wide.”
I could teach a whole course on how to go out wide with a spec script. In 2012.
But today? The business has changed quite a bit, and I feel like I am a little behind on some of these shifts.
Still, if you’re new to screenwriting, you might find some of the early steps of this process interesting.
And if you’re already in the business, I’d love to hear your take.
Why we don’t often talk about this as it’s happening.
Most scripts do not sell. This is the nature of the business. While failure sucks, public failure sucks even more.
It’s always more fun to talk about the spec that sold than the one that didn’t! But we can absolutely learn from both.
Now, we may not know the end result of this process for some time. Back in the 90s, you could go out with a script on a Thursday and find out whether it would sell by that Tuesday.
Other than the top echelon of the business, those days are mostly gone.
People take their time now unless something is specifically motivating them to move quickly, such as a project with real or perceived momentum. You will often hear that referred to as a “hot package” in the trades.
Of course, a project might pick up momentum, too. But unless you’re an in-demand writer yourself, or an actor or director is attached, your momentum has to be earned.
The bottom line is that while it may take some time to know whether the project sold, a failure to sell doesn’t mean the script itself is a failure.
Relationships begin when they read your script.
People don’t like to read scripts. And they certainly don’t like to read scripts without a reason to.
Getting someone to read a “sample” for an open writing assignment is a real challenge. Who has the time? There are plenty of great writers out there that they’re already familiar with to consider.
But how did they get familiar with them?
They read an available spec script to assess their own interest! Even if they passed for any number of reasons, they liked the writer.
The famous “water bottle” tour of meet-and-greets around town usually follows a spec script that hits the market and is well received, even if it doesn’t sell.
The spec script, whether it sells or not, is where relationships begin.
The process of selling (or not selling) a screenplay.
There are dozens of paths to selling a script. Too many to list, let alone to explain. RESET is not a small film. It needs a real buyer. The budget is too big for patching money together here and there, so it’s going to take the fairly traditional spec route.
The first step is to find a producer.
Few buyers pick up a project without a producer. On rare occasions, they may stumble on something and then ask a producer to come on board, but it’s almost always the producer bringing the project to the buyer.
So you have to find a producer.
The bigger the movie, the bigger the producer needs to be.
For our purposes, there are two types of producers.
The first is the primary producer.
This is the one the buyer (the studio) trusts to make the movie. These are established producers who have direct relationships with top agents, directors, and talent. They have the experience that makes the buyer more comfortable.
In the past, these producers all had studio deals, which meant they had to take it to where their deal was first. This is not always the case now.
The other producer is the independent producer.
Technically, “independent” means they don’t have a studio deal, but those deals are so rare now that the meaning has changed for me over the years. Now I think of anyone who is NOT a huge A-list producer as an independent producer.
Again, this is not technically correct, but more of just how I categorize them.
The independent producer is the hardest job in Hollywood.
These producers rarely get paid unless the movie gets made, and that’s a lot of time on a project with no guarantee of cash.
Because of this, most of these producers are sometimes independently wealthy or work as managers, physical producers, or corporate consultants.
The single most important job of the independent producer is to secure the primary producer or any other valuable attachment.
Most people in the industry will skip over the smaller producer if they can. What’s the point? If you can go straight to the primary producer, do that.
Nobody really wants the independent producer. They just dilute the producer pool. So they have to make themselves necessary.
They need to find unheralded specs, secure the rights to IP themselves, generate ideas, work with writers, and get that initial attachment that gets a project rolling.
It's an absolute grind.
My favorite producers in town are these folks. No one works harder, and original material gets made because of them.
Of course, some of them are also the worst human beings on the planet. Especially in the foreign sales world.
That said:
Newer writers should target independent producers.
For many readers, this is probably the primary lesson of this email:
Get on the radar of independent producers.
They are the hungriest group of people in the business. They need great projects as much as you need them.
Bigger producers get projects from the big agencies. They’re not the ones looking for the diamonds in the rough.
Established agents are plenty busy with their own clients and helping out on teams within the agency.
Some managers specialize in finding new talent, but they are not the norm.
The soft underbelly of the Hollywood gatekeepers is the independent producers.
That’s where you are most likely to break through.
This project started with an independent producer.
That’s not always the norm and not always the best way to do it.
At this stage of my career, I would usually not work this way. With a commercial spec, my reps would normally go out to PRIMARY producers first. They would skip this stage entirely.
This project started with this producer because:
- I’ve known him for 30 years.
- He was my first screenwriting mentor.
- We have had success together before.
- I know he never gives up on a project.
- IT WAS HIS HIGH CONCEPT.
That last one is key. I couldn’t have done this project without him. The first four are why I was willing to.
We are using the same model we used way back when I first started.
I own the rights to the script. I am free to negotiate any deal I can. He is attached as producer and negotiates his deal.
If you are in the early stages of your career, this is a good model for you.
For all practical purposes, it is essentially a shopping agreement. While this producer and I have nothing in writing, I implore you to never do anything remotely similar. You will not duplicate the five reasons above. So, short of that:
Get it in writing.
- Make sure there is a very clear and reasonable expiration date.
- Make sure you keep the rights to ALL rewrites you perform for free.
That second part is hugely important. You do not want a producer claiming they are attached in perpetuity because they “helped develop” the project.
Next: Find a primary producer.
You only take a screenplay into a buyer once, and it’s important who brings it into them.
It’s someone’s job to decide which producers get which “territory.” (Another word for the buyer.) If no producer is attached yet, it will be your reps’ job to make these decisions.
With a producer attached, it’s their job. They will work in conjunction with your reps (if you have them), but they control the material.
While the independent producer can theoretically take the project directly into the studio, the smart producer will want to partner with a producer that the particular studio wants to work with.
Who gets which territory?
Now, why do we suddenly switch from calling a studio a buyer to calling it a territory? I don’t know! It is fitting. You’re dividing up access to different people, but we were just calling them a buyer a second ago, so why not keep that?
Again, don’t know!
So at this stage, we are now calling Netflix a territory. Universal is now a territory, as are New Line, Warner Bros, and Sony, etc.
Only one producer gets each territory.
A producer can take it into multiple territories, but only one producer can take it into any single territory.
Before the 2010s (maybe earlier?), most producers had an office on the studio lot. The studio paid a salary, overhead, etc. In exchange, that producer would take any new project into that studio first, and sometimes even exclusively.
You would simply look at which producer on each lot would be most likely to spark to your project, who you had positive relationships with, and submit the script to them.
If they liked it, they would bring it into that studio.
If they passed, you would go to your second choice on the lot. If THEY passed, your agent starts to panic and questions the script!
The studios decided that these were not always a good deal for them, and they mostly shut them down for all but the biggest producers.
You can mix and match.
You can certainly give a producer multiple studios to bring it into. But remember, Hollywood is filled with heat seekers.
So if a producer with a first-look deal submits to a studio they don’t have a deal with, the new studio asks, “Why did the first studio pass?”
You can go from a hot property to ice cold pretty quickly just by one single pass!
So normally, barring any extra value they bring, you only give a producer one studio to submit to.
What might that extra value be?
That extra value would be additional attachments.
Do you add attachments?
Attachments can and should add considerable value to your project. This is finding a director or an actor that the studio wants to make a movie with.
So, how do you add an attachment?
Unfortunately, we will have to get into that more next week!
Like KILL BILL, this was not planned as two parts, but the length kind of demands it.
We went out to 20 producers this week. Some were just producers; others were designed to add attachments.
Next Tuesday, I'll explain the thinking behind the different submissions.
PART 2 next week!
Another way to format a text message.
Reader Jason Kraft sent this to me after last week's email. It's from the EUPHORIA script, and apparently, was their format for text messages throughout the series.
I think this is a pretty neat way to tackle it. It emphasizes the quick back-and-forth glibness of a youthful exchange.
It would likely take a little extra effort if there were a dramatic moment from the text, but nothing too difficult.
I think this is very effective and may try it myself if the emotion calls for it.
That's a wrap for this week!
I am very excited about PROJECT: HAIL MARY this weekend.
I don't get too revved up for movies anymore. This makes me sad. But this one has got my old juices flowing.
How much?
I purchased advanced tickets last week, and we actually showed up at the theatre Friday night to see it! The high school ticket-taker had to explain to me that "These tickets are for next week."
I stared at him for what seemed like a minute, until, "What?"
We ended up seeing HOPPERS again! But we're back Friday night for the main event!
Thanks again for being a subscriber. Seriously. You motivate me to do this every week, and I am so glad that I do.
See you next Tuesday.
Tom
