Creating Your Own Intellectual Property As A Screenwriter On A Budget
Creating your own intellectual property (IP) as a screenwriter is one of the most valuable things any writer can do. Hollywood is obsessed with IP beyond the point of reason. The majority of theatrical films released on a mass scale are now based on IP.
For screenwriters, this can be frustrating. Shouldn’t the job just be writing a great original screenplay? That will always be valuable, but creating your own IP is just as valuable, and does not have to be debilitating or highly expensive to do. You can create your own IP on a budget.
Creating a comic book or graphic novel or videogame is ambitious, costly, and time-consuming. But writing a short story isn’t. With platforms like Medium and Wattpad, there is also no barrier to publishing online.
Podcasting has exploded in popularity. Creating a scripted podcast only requires some actors, microphones, and audio editing software. A cheap microphone and a closet to muffle outside noise are accessible to anyone. You don’t necessarily need a full recording studio to make a scripted podcast.
Short films are a bit more involved, but again, ingenuity can make them very accessible. One actor, one camera (even iPhones now record higher-quality video than most cameras did ten years ago), one microphone and Final Cut are enough to make a great short film if used cleverly.
The value added of this approach is that, once completed, you have created IP. Your short story, scripted podcast, or short film are now the pre-existing intellectual property Hollywood is fanatical about.
They are also a lot easier to consume than a screenplay. Reading a short story is not imposing to do, neither is listening to a podcast or watching a short film. An executive might put off reading a script for two months, but listen to a podcast on their drive home.
Are you creating your own intellectual property on a budget? If so, how? What format? Let us know in the comments below.
