Screenwriting Course
Lessons

There has never been a bigger market for screenplays that are needed to fill the voracious appetites of the streaming services.  These days, around 10,000 films get made worldwide with Nigeria being the largest consumer of feature films followed by India and the U.S.

In the U.S. the Writers Guild of America (WGA) registers 50,000 scripts a year.  Of these, 2000 are bought or optioned and only around 200 get made.  In practical terms this means you cannot take learning screenwriting and going pro casually.  This means acknowledging the three masters who will determine the fate of your screenplay.

1. The Money Source (often a studio)
2. The Talent
3. The Public

With franchise film sequels, prequels, movies based on songs or boardgames or comic books there’s little room for a unique idea unless it stands out on its own merits, satisfies the three masters and guarantees (as much as possible) a return on investment.

There’s one other master who you must serve, the coverage reader (otherwise known as the gate keeper).  There the ones who can send your script up the food chain IF they feel great about it.  Perhaps 10% of the scripts they read get moved to the next step.  Now coverage readers can’t green light your script, but they can kill it before it’s born.

So, if you want to be screenwriter understand that the discipline and commitment to writing is as important as the writing itself. 95% of what you do in this business is rejection.  Therefore, it is imperative that you understand screenwriting at a deep level.

• No one wants to read your script.
• Commerce first, art second.
• You need to find your unique voice and develop it.
• 95% of what you do in this business is rejection. Learn from this process.