How to Make Money Writing and Selling a Screenplay

[Holicent]

Writing an original script is an exciting process. You’re taking all these ideas and images inside your head and making them real. But it can also be tough to know where to start. Not only do you have to develop characters and plot lines, but you also need to consider the technical aspects of the formatting itself.

There are five steps to writing and selling a screenplay:

Step One: Write Your Screenplay
The first step is writing a screenplay. The screenplay is the document that describes what happens in a movie. It's a combination of two things: what the audience sees on screen (dialogue, scene descriptions, etc.) and how it should be directed by people in the film production industry. You can learn more about how to write a screenplay here.

Step Two: Pitch Your Screenplay
Once you've written your screenplay, you'll need to pitch your idea to a producer. A producer is someone who buys or finances movies. They're the ones who decide whether or not to make your movie, so it's important that you get their audience. You can learn more about how to pitch your screenplay here.

Step Three: Find an Agent
Screenplays aren't usually sold directly from writers to producers. They're sold by agents, who represent writers and help them market their screenplays to producers. So the next step is finding an agent for your script. You can learn more about how to find an agent here.

Step Four: Sell Your Screenplay
After you've pitched your story and found an agent, you're finally ready to sell your screenplay.

 

[Mika]

Writing screenplays is one of the best ways to make money through writing because screenplays get a lot of money if accepted. Do you know how JK Rowling made her fortune? Well, her books are no doubt the best selling, however, she made more money from her movie contracts compared to the books. Dan Brown is a popular author, but he made more money when his books were adapted for the screen. George RR Martin has made more money writing for TV shows compared to the money he made from his books. These are just a few examples; writers make more money writing for movies and TV shows compared to books. However, just because you can write does not mean you can write screenplays. You need special writing skills to write a screenplay. A screenplay is a story written through a camera lens. The screenplay will describe the scenes and dialogues through the camera. In order to sell your screenplay, you need a couple of things, one, a greatly written screenplay that captures the filmmaker's attention with the first scene, and two, originality. The story in your screenplay needs to be very original. It should not sound like something people have already seen in movies. Your screenplays also need great dialogues.