Deal or No Deal?

How to tune out the industry noise.

If you’ve been on Screenwriter Twitter recently, you’ve seen the above image; it’s from a recent article from the Hollywood Reporter that had writers reeling… and quote-tweeting.

The story claimed that post-strike, Hollywood was ready for an influx of fresh spec scripts and pitches… only they never came.

The “why” is up for speculation. Did writers take the idea of “pencils down” too literally? Is this the dreaded “industry contraction” at work? Or are agents simply telling their clients to hold off on pitching until 2024?

Whatever the reason, execs say they have a dearth of material… and after six months of forced work stoppage, that made many an under-employed writer fume.

As someone who lives for drama that doesn’t involve me, I spent the weekend combing through the angry comments on the article. Most of the responses I saw were from offended professional writers. After all, it’s never nice to hear, “It’s YOUR FAULT you’re not selling!”

Some offered logistical reasons for the lack of content finding its way to executives’ desks. They pointed out that studios and networks weren’t simply looking for pitches, but rather, packages, stacked with move-the-needle talent. Others said the lack of buying interest kept them from wanting to burn pitches at the end of 2023.

Those points seemed salient to me. But others… not so much.

I kept seeing people exclaim, “Of course writers don’t want to pitch their work to these greedy executives! They’re holding onto their work in protest!” Or “They don’t want their project to be David Zaslov’s newest tax write-off!”

The thing is, most projects that get bought in Hollywood never get made, meaning they’d never get to a stage where they could even be a tax write-off. And for the writers versus executives angle… unless those writers are protesting making money, I simply don’t see it.

While I enjoyed reading all of the responses (like I said, she loves the drama), I personally didn’t have an opinion on the article. It didn’t make me feel anxious that no one’s buying or relieved that no one else is selling. It certainly didn’t offend me. And that’s because, as I tweeted —

A screenwriting career is long (hopefully.) It will ebb and flow with the industry tide, and to make it safely to Hollywood’s shores, you must weather all manner of storms. Went a little heavy on the sailing metaphor there, but you get my point.

If you want to make a career out of screenwriting, tune out the noise and focus on what you can actually control: your writing.

Because, even though the article says no one’s been pitching or speccing… I can tell you first hand that people have been. People like me. I have been! Pitching and speccing up a storm! (So much so that I’ve let my Substack duties slip, and for that, I apologize.)

Actually, I’ve been working so hard that I did something the Hollywood Reporter article claimed was a near impossibility…

I sold something.