Screenwriters for film and television were once the highest paid writers on the planet. All of this has changed in the last few years with the WGA and with the economic recession. While breaking into jobs like screenwriting is often the most difficult, it’s now even more difficult. Feature films and prime-time television are increasingly using in-house writers. Even more with animated products and shows.
Daytime soap operas are gone, with the guiding light gone and just as the world is spinning toward its end. In the next two or three years that all my children and one say Live Live. won’t it be next? With only three hour-long daytime dramas, there won’t be too many young writers to rush into this type of television.The Young and the Sleepless, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, and General Hospital also rely on established writers.
One area in which young writers thrive in this medium is the civilian ropes. HBO and Showtime, USA Network and TNT, even AMC are now getting into the game. They have flexible schedules and better chances of hiring young writers. A cable drama often lasts an average of five seasons consisting of thirteen episodes each. Against the twenty-two minute seasons on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and much less, The CW, that’s lucky to last one season. Cable dramas are one of the few revenue streams left in film and television for up-and-comers.
There are other opportunities with the same writers, but they don’t cost as much money. Like scripts for made-for-television, direct-to-DVD, or independent films. Children’s shows, sports shows, and drama shows also give little. Even lower on the financial scale are commercials and instruction for business and education. A young writer has to survive, right? It certainly does, but it remains sad to see demand and talk of screenwriting dry up in such a way.
Despite these options, screenwriting still remains the most difficult medium of writing to break into. Years pass before one gets even the first paid gig as a screenwriter. With all the politics between studio and network executives, managers and the WGA are set up. Along with the ability to pull out in Los Angeles and New York, those webs cause complications. A touching screenwriter as this one shot among myriads.
For those who have a hard time breaking into screenwriting, one option would be to work on something new for a few years. While the pay is much less, the pains and red tape are also much less compared to Hollywood. Also, only ten percent of the population outside of California and New York even knows what screenwriting is. There is no author or author of the article. Plus, while they only generate a fraction of screenplays each year, thousands of teams have been published.
Freelance writing is another approach to consider. Articles, columns, and short stories also pay much less than movies and television. It still works more there in case the screenwriting still doesn’t work. Newspapers, magazines, and websites pay a small fee. These issues gave the career a lot of exposure and a little money on the side. Plus, it’s much easier to get a job at Content Associate or Screener then Hollywood.
For those writers with a background in music or an interest in it, poetry would be a bad choice. Ideas come and are written in a lyrical or rhythmic way. Also one small fee for his songs. As opposed to someone in Hollywood you found a screenwriter and paid him a six figure sum. This is one shot among myriads. Singers have more opportunities because it involves less work for less money. Therefore, more work for singers. The same goes for writers in radio and advertising.
Comic books and graphic novels go the other way. Aspiring and veteran developers alike found an outlet for their ideas here. New ideas and concepts were rejected before the cinematography. It’s a way for fans of comics to be exposed to up and coming writers, with a certain amount of scrutiny. abortive films and canceled television shows would have been similar. It’s better than a screenplay or a bible for a television series sitting on the shelf.
The two part opportunities in Hollywood dried up when the WGA hit and quit. Hollywood and writers alike should be glad that the DGA has resolved its union issues early and that SAG is not going to strike. If both the Director’s Guild of America and the Actors’ Guild were gone. I could bet Hollywood would somehow be flat broke right now if they had. All that remains is this screenwriting option.
