How to Sell a Screenplay

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Female assassin extraordinaire.
Alright, this is not actually my question but a friend wants to know (though I pointed her to the internet and said there were all sorts of resources out there). Just so you don't shake your head at me.

So, the question: How do you get a screenplay out there? What's the professional screenplay format, how long, and how do you begin to sell it? What do you do when you get offers? Do you need an agent? What about copyright?

Thanks in advance!

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Commit mindless acts of movie criticism and senseless acts of movie revelry.



Well, I'm not a screenplay writer, but for now, you might want to checkout Project Green Light (http://www.projectgreenlight.com" - where you can submit your screenplay if you review 3 others. Winner gets their movie financed by Matt Damon and Co.



Female assassin extraordinaire.
Yeah, I knew about that. I told her about it ... Thanks tho .



In Soviet America, you sue MPAA!
Yea I was kinda wondering about that myself, I wrote a short story which would be good as a Twilight Zone type thing...
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Horror's Not Dead
Latest Movie Review(s): Too lazy to keep this up to date. New reviews every week.



My movie starts out with Denise Richards in a health club working out. Lol, just as she get's into the shower the health club blows up and she is forced to run off wearing only a towel. Of course she knows it's her the bad guys are after so she fights her way out using slo-mo matrix-like martial arts. During one fight her towel flys off but it's okay because there is so much smoke from the tear gas and explosions that we only get ocasional glimpses of nudity. Several explosions and deaths later she gets away and we cut to the director of the govt agency's office. He is reaming out the head guy in charge because so many people died and so much stuff was destroyed and the girl still got away. Harrison Ford is assigned to the case for PR reasons and to keep a leash on Al Pacino who is hell bent for leather on getting Richards. Of course Pacino and Harrison don't hit it off right away and Pacino pretty much calls him a wussy right to his face. He doesn't care about how many shiny medals he has or if his wife is in a coma because a bad guy shot her right in front of him. He's gonna get Richards and that's final. He even pushes Harrison out of the way and he falls to the ground. Friends keep Harrison from going after Pacino. Everytime they have a sceen together the tension is so thick it seems like they might get into a fistfight at any second. Later we learn through a series of flashbacks that Pacino was at the sceen undercover when Harrisons wife was shot and allowed it to happen because he didn't want to blow his cover. Later, after a few more action sceens we learn that the top secret dohicky Richards stole allows top secret files to be deciphered. One of these files reveals that Pacino is a double agent and that's why he really wants her dead. In the exciting conclusion Harrison must decided between letting Pacino kill the girl and saving the device. He chooses to save the girl and the device is destroyed. Richards escapes back to her country, Pacino goes back to work and Harrison ends up in a coma next to his wife. Lol.



What about the part where Denise Richards meets up with fellow spy Salma Hayek and they decide to lay low as strippers for around half the movie? How could you forget that part?

Shame on you, sunfrog. I'd expected better.



Female assassin extraordinaire.
oooh, you shouldn't post your ideas here someone could sell them as theirs!

you and your denise richards. she's too mouthy for me. beauty for me is ashley judd and a couple of others who glow like that.

but get back to answering my question!

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Umm, big breasts and great hair do not equal great film. But uh, yes I will buy any copy of anything you have with Billy Zane in it.



Well, starting with the last question. Copyrights are automatic, technically. Once a work is created, copyright attaches. But if you ever have to prove that your copyright predates someone else's, you'd have a hard time doing so without having registered your copyright. It doesn't cost much to register a copyright, so there's no real reason not to do it. It's also a good idea to register your screenplay with the Writer's Guild. You don't have to be a member to do so, I don't think.

Beyond that, there are many ways you can get people interested in your screenplay. Sending it to the movie studioes is probably not going to get it done. Most of them will likely not even open the package your script comes in for fear of being accused of stealing your idea.

Smaller film companies may be more willing to have someone read your screenplay. But there's no guarantee there, either. Same thing with agents. A large agency is probably going to push your screenplay off on someone way down the totem pole if they have someone read it at all.

You might try sending it to some producers who have made films in the same genre your script is in. You might also think of sending it to some directors who have made films in teh genre your script is in. You might even consider sending your screenplay to some actors who you think might be good in a role in your screenplay. It's unlikely that would lead you to a deal, but it's not impossible (and you're more likely to get in that way than by sending your script to the big studios).

There are also many conventions that Hollywood types show up at. Sometimes you can smooze your way close enough to them to give them a short pitch and give them a copy of your screenplay. Sometimes they'll even read your screenplay.

As for format. You can find some scripts on the web that show the proper format. There are also some relatively cheap computer programs that will format the scripts for you. Or, you could go to the local Barnes and Noble and find a book that will give you the formatting stuff.

As for length, it's my understanding that 120 pages is about standard for a movie script. But that would depend on how much dialogue there is and all that.



Rotfl! Oh the stripper club part! Believe me, I left a whole bunch of stuff out for the sake of keeping this a family site. Lol!

What was the original question? Oh yeah! I don't know the answer, I'm just hanging out in here to see if it gets answered. I want to know too.

Ashley Judd does glow but she's too nice.

Hey what was the name of that horror movie where Billy Zane played the bad guy?



Female assassin extraordinaire.
Sorry my reply is so late, for some reason or dorm computers are having problems accessing certain sites like Hotmail, and this one... Anyhoo!

Thanks Ryan -- my friend plans on us both selling the script and while i'm lazy and detest "schmoozing" i guess it's got to get done somehow ... sigh! I appreciate all the info though.

Another question - You say there are relatively cheap script wordprocessors out there, but the only ones I can find with anyone to vouch for them are $100-$300, which I'm not about to dish out (b-day gift for my friend as she battles to write the screenplay while I enjoy myself on the sidelines . I don't know what to buy her -- I want one that does it's job but I don't want one that necessarily has all the extra trappings. I found a few really cheap and really small freeware/shareware ones online, but other than that handful, nada. And if I go into a software store it's the expensive ones again and a limited selection. I've tried to look up the software via price comparisons and am getting nowhere and am not getting anywhere even with simple searches on tech info related sites ... any help you can give here is appreciated though I don't expect you to know so thoroughly about the software available.

sunfrog -- that's Demon Knight, which was the first one I ever saw him in, and he was yummy and funny. Either that or Silence of the Hams. Dude can only act in soft porn or spoofs and nothing else. He just did a spoof on the VH1 Fashion awards with Henry Rollins, a war-time scene with the script including any and all references to fashion and designers and it was the best thing about the whole awards!
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"Dammit, man! Why do you keep distracting me with your fine undergarments!"



Well you have a lot of questions that need to be answered. There is a standard format for screenwriting. There are dozens of how to books. But for a beginner I'd recommend "How "NOT" to Write a Screenplay" by Denny Flinn. It lists the top 101 common mistakes first time writers make. If you don't have an agent or Manager, send a query letter to a production company, not a whole script. Most of them won't read for legal reasons. And don't send it unless it's been properly formatted. (Believe me- readers are trained to look for reasons not to read your script. They are looking for an excuse to move onto the next one. It's a very anal retentive business.)

Good luck.



As far as software... Final Draft 5.0 is pretty standard and easy to use. You can get a discount by ordering it from the Writers Store in LA. As far as length goes a feature script should run 90-120 pages. Rule of thumb is that a properly formatted page should run about a page a minute, but it depends on the pacing. And remember - three hole punch, standard 1" posts, Courier 12 pitch font, Black & White. Don't get creative on the covers, and use regular paper. (Color scripts are a code - while in production.)



We've gone on holiday by mistake
I would write for a TV show these days, movies are dead.
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