Write Screenplays That Sell

For more than twenty years, Writing Screenplays That Sell has been hailed as the most complete guide available on the art, craft, and business of writing for movies and television. Now fully revised and updated to reflect the latest trends and scripts, Hollywood story expert and script consultant Michael Hauge walks readers through every step of writing and selling successful screenplays. If you read only one book on the screenwriter's craft, this must be the one.

Hal Ackerman offers a treasure trove of information on the writing of quality, saleable screenplays by teaching the art of story structure, substance and style.

- Breaks Down the Business of Screenwriting - Explains What the Buyer Looks For - Shows You What to Do to Get in the Door - Tackles the Pitching Process - Provides Personal Insights from Famous Screenwriters Everybody has a story to tell. Everybody wants to write the great American screenplay. But what do you do after it’s written? How do you sell it? Studio honchos. Development Executives. Independent Producers. What do they want? Do you need an agent or manager to get it into production? Selling a screenplay can mean earning $250,000 or more, so competition is fierce. Syd Field gives you an insider’s look at the movie and TV industry, packed with essential tips from the pros. Selling a Screenplay is a must-have guide for every screenwriter, filled with frank real-life advice from Hollywood’s most powerful deal makers and most celebrated screenwriters. They all started somewhere.

In today’s topsy-turvy world of film production, getting a screenplay sold and produced is no easy task. How to Sell Your Screenplay not only lets you in on the rules, but also lets you in on the secrets of winning the game. Written by two veteran screenwriters, this book is a complete guide to getting your screenplay seen, read, and sold. It begins with an insider’s look at how the business works. Later chapters guide you in putting your script into the proper format to make a professional first impression, introduce you to the roles of the industry “players,” help you prepare a perfect pitch, and provide you with a proven system for query submission. Throughout, tips from experts will show you how to swim with the sharks without getting eaten by them.

Covers the basics of scriptwriting, from deciding on a story and characters through the finished work, and analyzes a sample script

Your career can be made in 60 seconds - if you make the right pitch! Master the Elevator Pitch, even when you've got less than 60 seconds. Get your screenplay or Novel read by the major power of Hollywood - guaranteed!

You don't have to attend film school to take a screenwriting course with the master teacher in the field -- it's all in his book! Meet Hal Ackerman, up close and personal, just as hundreds of his students have known him through the years. Hal Ackerman offers a treasure trove of information on the writing of quality, saleable screenplays by teaching the art of story structure, substance and style. Over the last quarter century, dozens of screenplays written in his classes have been sold and several have become films, including ones starring Tom Hanks (directed by Steven Spielberg), Gwyneth Paltrow, Christian Bale, Hilary Swank and Diane Lane. They have won accolades in many prestigious contests and have been the gateway scripts to writing jobs in feature films and TV including HBO, Showtime, TNT, OWN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Disney, and more. With this book every professional writer gets a lifetime collaborator and every aspiring writer has a teacher in residence on his or her shelf. *Newly Revised and Updated edition featuring Pose, Moonlight, La La Land, Juno, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, among others. *Top-selling screenwriting book for almost 20 years -- 20th Anniversary Edition

An accessible yet comprehensive guide aimed at those with a keen interest in writing feature film screenplaysUsing case studies, creative exercises, and interviews from the industry, this book will guide readers through the necessary stages of writing a screenplay, from finding and developing ideas to creating and executing characters to shaping structure and constructing scenes. It will also consider how a screenplay might be sold, or used to raise interest in the writer, looking at areas such as finding and working with an agent, networking, using competitions, and raising private production funds. The book's approach is both creative and reflective, giving readers the opportunity to learn a wealth of creative skills alongside skills that will encourage them to think about themselves as writers and the work that they are developing. As such, the book will empower readers in their own creative processes and allow them to successfully tell the stories they want to tell. Rich with analyses from classic and contemporary films; littered with practical models, paradigms, and creative tasks; and enhanced by the views of key industry figures; the book is a must for any aspiring feature film screenwriter.