ABSTRACT
For many aspiring screenwriters, the dream is to break into the business by selling their screenplay, getting it produced, then moving onto writing another screenplay and selling it. Remember, as mentioned at the beginning of this book, the reality is that 94% of screenwriting jobs are assignments, paid gigs where you are hired to work on an existing property already in some stage of development. I can tell you that, as a writer for hire, you do not always love the story you are getting paid to write: the job is “take this story and turn it into a screenplay” and, inasmuch as I ever actually make decent money, I take almost every job that comes my way; I cannot afford to be picky—okay, I once turned down a job writing a sequel to a film considered one of the worst ever made. What does seem to be happening is that big producers and studios are looking to independent filmmakers who have written, produced and directed award-winning low-budget films that get distributed.
