How to Sell Your Screenplay: Seven Steps

Becoming a screenwriter and finding work in the film word is very different from going into just about any other profession. Lawyers must attend law school. Doctors must attend medical school. Just about any line of work requires some instruction. To become a screenwriter all you need is basic literacy, good software (Final Draft is the industry standard), and a healthy imagination. With those three tools you can write a screenplay. As challenging as crafting a script can be, it’s actually the easy part. Finding work in the film world and learning how to sell your screenplay is the real challenge. These seven steps will increase your chances of actually selling your script.

#1 Pick a simple premise. Once your script starts going out to agencies, it will be read by assistants who will condense it to a logline, which is a description of the script in 25 words or less. Talent agents won’t even consider a film with a longer logline, and the shorter the better. For example, “In a distant galaxy, a farm boy becomes the savior of a rebellion fighting an evil Empire.” If you don’t recognize that as the logline for Star Wars, you need to brush up on your cinema. Which brings us to secret . . .

#2. Go to the movies as often as possible. You need your finger on the pulse of the industry if you’re going to give them what they want.

#3 Put a conflict at the center of your script. Every film has some conflict or challenge at its heart, whether it’s defeating a monster, winning the hand of a beloved, or averting some horrific disaster. Conflict forces your characters into action and creates tension and suspense.

#4 Focus on descriptions more than dialogue. A movie is primarily a visual experience. Dialogue can help set the tone of the piece, but when we think back on most movies, it’s much easier to recall their look and feel than the actual words the characters spoke. Make your descriptions as vivid as possible, but avoid making them overly-detailed. Assistants always prefer a screenplay with lots of “white space”, and this is an invaluable secret of how to sell your screenplay.

#5 Get professional feedback. Find someone who wrote a successful screenplay and get his or her advice. These professionals can be found at a film school in a one-on-one mentoring position, or you can use a professional script reading service.

#6 Proofread the script within an inch of its life. The slightest error conveys that you didn’t take the endeavor seriously.

Finally, #7: Network, network, network. Reach out to anyone you know who has a connection to a talent agency. Submissions received without a connection will be dismissed out of hand. Make sure the agency knows who you are and that someone has vouched for you.

Talent agencies collectively receive about 50,000 screenplays annually, of which roughly 600 will actually get made into films; follow these seven steps of how to sell your screenplay and you’ll considerably up your odds of success. Good writing, and good luck!