An excerpt from my script review for Retribution which will be available 09/11/23:
1.) Marketability of the Idea
So I finished my summer gig about two weeks ago.
Should have been ready to go the following Monday, but…didn’t get around to it.
Then I actually read the script while away at a soccer tournament with the youngest, but…Labor Day happened.
Thus, here we are.
To say I’m a bit burnt out may be an understatement, but I’m left with two thoughts:
- Newer scripts are getting harder and harder to find for reviews.
- I don’t feel there’s any real new advice to give you.
If you’re a regular member on our site, you can probably recite what myself, Reals, the Cap’n, or 3way will have to say about what to do and not to do while writing.
I’m also left with the realization that there are easier and more lucrative ways to make a living for yourself.
There’s no better evidence of that than the current Writers’ Strike which, as of today, is still ongoing.
However noble and valid their reasons for striking, these folks aren’t getting paid!
If/when they come back at increased wages, will it be enough to offset what they lost out on?
I don’t know.
On one hand, I know when government workers strike/shut down, they’re given back pay for what was missed. On the other, I remember when the steel mill workers of my dad’s employer went on strike growing up. More than a year later most of the union members did not return and had moved on to other jobs.
Union dues only stretch so far.
Considering income…one of the most valid arguments for “working from home” should be screenwriting.
There’s absolutely zero reason someone should be forced to live in one of the most expensive economies on the planet earning only peanuts.
In fact, I’d even make the argument that most supporting roles to the industry could be relocated.
Shit, I have suppliers and customers for my own business that I’ve “known” for years yet never met in person.
For instance, do management agencies need to be in LA to be successful, or is it simply out of hubris and wanting to live the life of a “big shot” that they’re headquartered there?
Perhaps it’s time for a paradigm shift, and one that one requires commuting for the increasingly rare necessity of face to face meetings.
(Alas I default to 3way answering via Bragi on that one.)
My line of thinking boils down to this…there are those of us that truly want to be screenwriters regardless of monetary outcome, and then the vast majority of the rest are simply romanticizing the notion a la my children wanting to be viewed as “influencers”.
By no means am I advising anyone not to do the work, but simply ask that you consider the profession practically.
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