spec script RSS

Big-budget spec scripts, High buget, intellectual property, Low concept, opportunity cost, Perfect a screenplay, screenwriting, spec script, THE DEPARTED - January 23, 2020

When To Let A Script Die

Letting a script die is probably the single hardest thing for a screenwriter to do. You’ve spent months, maybe years working on this material. The dream of what this script could be has fueled that process. But some scripts are in trouble from the point of conception, because their inherent nature makes them an uphill battle. This has become especially true in the feature realm, in a post-Marvel age. The overwhelming majority of big-budget films are based on pre-existing intellectual property. For writers with a big-budget spec script, this presents a significant problem. What it means, practically-speaking, is that a...

Do Scripts Really Still Sell? A Case Study

Do screenplays still sell? Is it actually possible to simply write a script, turn around, and sell it at a high level? With the decline in the feature spec market from its high point in the 1990s, it can sometimes feel like nothing sells, and specs exist primarily as a writing sample. To illustrate how this isn’t the case, we’re going to look at Aaron W. Sala’s script THE BEAST as an example. Per Deadline, in a preemptive mid-six figure deal, The H. Collective acquired Aaron W. Sala’s horror thriller spec THE BEAST. That’s a high-level sale. It’s also the...

Screenplay Sale: How Much Money Do I Get?

Unfortunately, the economics of screenwriting are challenging for most people who do it, and that includes working pros. Let’s take an example sale and walk through it, and sadly observe the money get chopped away on that screenplay sale.

Earlier this year, Global Road bought the spec screenplay “Rawhide Down” from screenwriter Alex Cramer. Deadline reported the deal as six-figures. So, let’s say, for argument’s sake, this sale was for 350 thousand dollars or more.

Read more