Writing for the Green Light

Introduction

If you’re reading this book, I’m assuming you (or someone close to you) want to be a professional Hollywood screenwriter. Maybe people have told you you’re crazy for choosing such a path, but it makes perfect sense to me. Hollywood is a billion-dollar per year industry and someone has to write all those scripts—maybe you’ve already taken a crack at writing a spec script or two and you’re just curious about next steps.

But let’s get realistic for a moment: being a great storyteller, rattling off a few ideas to some friends, or even writing a feature-length screenplay cost you nothing but time… . Yet, for the studio or production company you’re hoping will acquire and adapt your script into a full-on movie, this process costs a ...