Building Value Out of Nothing
How to Leverage Yourself to Gain Better Connections and Opportunities as a Screenwriter
It’s not easy becoming a successful screenwriter. In fact, most people fail and that makes sense because just learning how to do it is insanely challenging. And, even if you can master the skills, there’s still a slim chance you’ll be able to go beyond commercial work.
But whether you want to be the next Aaron Sorkin or just make a good living doing anything related to screenwriting, you have to forge the right connections that will open the right doors for you. So, what do you do beyond the skills to get to where you want to be, wherever that is?
In my experience, I think this is one of the greatest challenges that novices and experts alike have to continuously endure throughout their careers. Indeed, there is a lot of practical advice out there like reaching out to your film community, making shorts, moving to L.A, being agreeable, etc, but none of that is all that helpful if you’re not applying your talent appropriately while doing those things.
So for this piece, I want to put aside craft and focus on how to gain and strengthen your connections by leveraging the value you possess through reciprocal altruism. What in the world is that you might ask? Well, let me explain with this hypothetical.
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Steven is a recent high school graduate who is interested in becoming an accomplished writer/director. That’s a tall order, especially given the fact that Steven has never written a script or shot a film and he doesn’t even know a single person who does any of those things. So what does Steven do?
Well, he dives right into it, balancing his time between writing and studying the writing process and after five years, he becomes pretty good at it. He joins a screenwriter’s group and builds a network of like-minded friends who are willing to critique his scripts and help him become better. Steven even manages to win a few mid-sized competitions. But still. Even after several years of trying to master the craft and throwing his scripts out to everyone and anyone willing to read them, no one’s knocking on his door to write their movie.
He’s a lot better at writing and only getting better, but he’s also stagnating and that’s because, in spite of his skills and the network he built for himself, Steven fell into an environment that makes it harder for him to utilize reciprocal altruism.
Reciprocal altruism is just a short way of saying that you’ll give something of value to someone such as one’s own skills like writing and in return, the other person will give you something of value that you need like someone who can produce and make films or someone who can land you a writing gig. That’s what we mean by leveraging skills. You’re leveraging your skills to get something in return. So while mastering the craft is fundamental, it’s definitely not everything.
In this hypothetical Steven is leveraging his skills with people who have the same ones that he has, which isn’t as effective as doing it with people who have different skills that he needs. If he limits his network to writers only, then most of the value he can obtain from this network are things that he already has. Of course, this isn’t to say that Steven shouldn’t connect with other writers. But, if he truly wants to leverage his talent and propel himself forward, he also needs to network with people who need his talent, such as filmmakers.
So Steven joins a local filmmaking group and after the first workshop, there’s a meet-and-greet. Steven talks to a lot of people, shakes tons of hands, and is met with a lot of warm smiles, but he leaves without any new connections or opportunities even though he expressed to everyone that he was a writer. He even went so far as to pitch them a few of his favorite stories to show that he has good ideas. So, what happened?
Well, he made the grave mistake of putting the horse before the cart. Steven should have realized that no one in this meet-and-greet really knows who he is. Sure, he introduces himself as a writer, but have they seen any of his work? And do they even want to see any of his work? How do they know he isn’t difficult to collaborate with? But most importantly, how can Steven help them solve any of the problems they’re facing as filmmakers?
See, what Steven should have done was focus on who he was talking to, what they do, and what kind of problems they’re currently facing that he may be able to solve in some way. Instead, he focused most of his attention on himself, what he does, and what he’s cooking up right now.
That’s a poor approach to networking and leveraging his value because remember, he’s not Aaron Sorkin. He’s Steven, the young guy who spent five years learning how to write good screenplays and who won a few mid-sized competitions. But he’s also Steven, the young guy who is deeply passionate about screenwriting and is eager to master the craft and do what it takes to make a career out of this. He’s a novice writer with potential, but he needs to show people that he has that potential.
So Steven licks his wounds and decides to go back to the meet-and-greet, only this time instead of focusing on himself, he chooses to focus on the people he’s interacting with. Specifically, he inquires about the things they do and what they’re currently working on. Steven is doing this because he’s actively looking for an opportunity to help in some way.
Ideally, he wants to use his writing skills, but in reality, he’s probably not going to be able to do that for some time because usually indie filmmakers, particularly new ones, don't realize they need a writer like him. Plus, even if they do know they need a writer like him, that person needs time to better evaluate who Steven is as a person, a writer, and collaborator.
Now Steven leaves the networking event with a few opportunities, though it wasn’t quite what he expected. One of the filmmakers needs a truck to haul a bunch of gear to this shooting location because his beat-up car is too small to carry everything. Steven just so happens to have a friend who has a truck that he can borrow that day. So, he offers to haul some gear and even help out on set for free.
This is a no-budget short, not a Marvel movie. It’s far more low-key consisting of mostly volunteers, if not all volunteers including Steven, whose primary goal is to help out in any way he can. Steven has no idea how to shoot a film, so he’s not operating camera, but he’s getting stuff for people and making sure the area surrounding the shooting location remains clean so that there isn’t a giant mess when the crew wraps, which is a huge pain in the ass if you spent 12 hours shooting.
He even manages to point out continuity errors in dialogue and background aesthetics, saving everyone’s asses. At the studio level, stepping out of your lane would be discouraged or outright banned, but on no-budget indie sets, this can really help you stand out, as long as you’re doing it effectively, respectfully, and at the right moments, as in not in the middle of the shot when the actor is speaking. Steven does this well and wins bonus points with everyone.
He was friendly, enjoyable to be around, he hustled, showed drive, common sense, and a strong sense of conscientiousness, which is a great first impression to give anyone because films are costly and no one from the bottom to the top wants people who will drag the production down, whether it's being careless and lazy or just outright disruptive and rude.
That first impression on his first film set did a lot for Steven because just like that filmmaking group he went to the other night, the film set he worked on was also a networking event because everyone on that set was involved in filmmaking and had their own projects they needed help with. But this was actually better than a networking event because instead of just talking to different people, Steven actually worked and as the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.” So he proved to these people that he’s worth something to them by actually doing something for them.
And who were some of those people he helped? Well, the cinematographer just so happens to run a successful mom-and-pop commercial company and is getting into independent narrative filmmaking around the area because she’s tired of always doing bank commercials. So these short independent projects are mostly pro bono. This person is cool and they also have tons of gear, professional friends, and even studio space that they’re happy to use for your film if they can shoot the whole thing on a weekend.
Then there’s the set designer who happens to have a day job building sets for some of the popular Netflix shows that are being shot around the area and who has connections to a couple of producers. The person running the sound happens to do VFX work for a local news station and is eager to build their talent with other people’s short films. The first AD is an editor by trade but really wants to get into directing so he’s been helping out with a lot of shorts like the one Steven just went to.
So there are all these different people who come to sets like this, which means with every new set Steven helps out on, he’ll meet more people who are connected to other professionals or things he may need. And all of these different people came together to work on short narratives for different reasons because they’re all facing different problems. But all of these problems have one common solution that Steven might be able to provide...A really good story.
He spends the better part of that year continuing to develop his writing skills while helping all these people that he made connections with. Over time, Steven learns more about what goes into making a movie, which surprisingly makes him a better writer because now he can be more budget-conscious with his screenplays.
Finally, one evening while grabbing a couple of drinks with that first director he helped out, Steven is asked if he’s working on anything, to which Steven gladly replies that in fact he is and it just so happens to be a short ten-page script that can be done in a day for a couple thousand dollars. It’s a proof-of-concept for a feature.
Steven gives him the synopsis. The director likes the idea and asks if he can read the script. He sends it over and by next week, the director tells him that he really loves this idea and thinks he should turn that proof-of-concept script into a film. Sure, Steven worked on a lot of sets and has a basic understanding of what goes on, but he knows he can’t direct an entire team, coordinate, and plan appropriately with a cinematographer. He needs a director. This director loves the idea and since they’re now friends who can trust each other they decide to partner up and use their individual skills and shared network to create the short because, at the end of the day, they both need good content to advance themselves.
Now, Steven’s gotta pay his talent some money and, of course, he has to feed everyone during production, and there are some expenses for wardrobe, props, and location, but because he helped so many filmmakers out, he and his director friend are able to assemble a very talented team to work on something for a day in exchange for food and credit, which is extremely valuable for someone like Steven who has this ability to write a decent story but doesn’t have the ability to film it.
And since he’s such a small fry, it's very hard for Steven to get noticed by studios. He did the competitions and even submitted to Nicholls, but he’s just not good enough, yet to place really high. Steven may never be good enough. But he’ll never know if he doesn’t put himself out there and give it his all.
Steven and his director friend successfully shoot, edit the film, and put it through festival channels. They aim for Sundance but instead get the Maryland Film Festival. Nevertheless, they get eyes on their proof-of-concept and are very quickly noticed more at the local level. One such person happens to be an accomplished filmmaker who invites them to lunch so they can hear more about the project. They pitch it to the person and decide to pass it on to their contacts in exchange for associate producer credits. The project doesn’t go anywhere, but now Steven has his own producer contacts and is even represented, giving him a few gigs here and there to actually make a living as a writer.
And with every gig he makes stronger connections and develops himself further so that eventually he ends up in a position where he can go off and use his credibility and connections to raise funding for a spec piece he’s really passionate about that can be shot affordably. It does well, which means the people who financed him last time will trust him again. The process continues and he lives happily ever after.
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Okay, so perhaps this is too ideal of a hypothetical. I left out the fact that the chances of writing a short-proof-of-concept that’s notable enough to get you represented after only writing for five years is...Well, that’s super rare. In reality, people can spend 10 or more years developing their skills and ideas and go through tons of “Almost made it” moments before they actually get their big break, if that ever happens. Plus not every set will yield big connections, but many will if you’re working in the right areas of the World.
And, of course, this is just one of the millions of different paths creators can take to become successful. Many go straight to L.A and find entry-level jobs at the studios where they work their way up. Others meander through the commercial world doing camera and grip work. Then, there are those rare people who never even step foot into the film world, but just so happened to write an amazing script that can be marketed well at just the right time and they just so happen to have a friend or a family member who knows someone high up the food chain.
But using this lesser-known strategy in the hypothetical above is a solid way to enter into the game since A. It’s a more tangible route for most compared to getting a job at a big studio, B. No one wants you if you’re not spitting out good content, and C. People will have a harder time recognizing you if you’re just writing scripts and submitting them to festivals. You have to figure out how to stand out and maybe that’s working your way up the studio ladder somehow. Or maybe it’s just linking up with solid filmmakers and making a good film that gets a lot of eyeballs.
And even if you never make that amazing proof-of-concept that goes viral you can still get a lot of value out of this strategy. Those big filmmakers you see in the Hollywood Reporter? All of them started out at the indie level in their local areas. So some of those filmmakers you help out at this level might blow up or at the very least, they could end up with big opportunities themselves and who do you think they’re gonna call when they need help? The people who helped them out all those years like Steven.
But, regardless of the details or the path you end up taking, all of your actions will more or less be based on this give/take relationships you build using your talent as leverage to gain stronger connections and opportunities. As long as you do this in conjunction with mastering a skill, whether it’s writing, directing, cinematography, or a combination of many things, then you stand a much better chance of getting where you want to be, even if it isn’t where you expected it to be.
After all, we’re just floating down a river of time. And while we can’t control the river, we can certainly control how we navigate through it. This is just one way to do that effectively. It’s as simple and as hard as that.
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Story Prism, LLC