Getting your screenplay turned into a movie?

Question:If you think you have a good unique screenplay, is it very difficult to attempt to get your screenplay turned into an actual movie? Do you have to have a lot of connections to have a chance at getting it to work? How do you go about getting your screenplay looked at?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: If you think you have a good unique screenplay, is it very difficult to attempt to get your screenplay turned into an actual movie? Do you have to have a lot of connections to have a chance at getting it to work? How do you go about getting your screenplay looked at?

It depends on what scale movie you hope to get your screenplay turned into. There are independent film makers who are always looking for scripts - so if you don't mind a low-budget indy film maker doing your film, then you probably have a fairly good chance. Shop it around to the local film companies.

However, if you want to go for a big Hollywood film - it's going to be a bit tougher. You will want to get your screenplay a proper copyright through The Library of Congress. This is actually pretty easy to do and doesn't cost very much. This will help protect your work, if you shop it around and someone ends up stealing your idea.

To submit to Hollywood, you really should have a literary agent to submit for you. Just like actor submissions, they don't usually look at unsolicited scripts or headshots (sent in by the writer or the actor on their own instead of through an agent.) Also, when you submit writing, you send a treatment of your script - not the full script itself - at least in the beginning until you get them interested.

A treatment is a synopsis that describes each of the scenes in a screenplay. Think of a synopsis as a story outline. A treatment for a spec script should summarize and dramatize the script, using dialogue and descriptions to describe the beginning, middle, and end of the story. The treatment can be up to seven pages long. But it's usually about four pages. It's similar to a short story.

It's always a good idea to have your screenplay evaluated by a professional script analyst before submitting it to film production companies and/or agents.

In order to secure a deal, you will definitely need an agent. Due to legal liability issues, production companies will only give you a contract if your script has been submitted by a literary agent.

So, prior to submitting your script to a qualified agent, make sure you've thoroughly refined it. A trusted script analyst can help you do that by giving you comprehensive guidelines for revisions.

So to answer your questions - if you go for indy films - you don't need to have tons of connections or even a literary agent to submit your screenplay and have it turned into a film.

If you want to go for a big Hollywood production company, then you need to have a literary agent - who will be the one who submits it for you and would have the connections needed - so YOU don't need to have a lot of connections.

Good luck!