Building Value Out of Nothing
How to Leverage Yourself to Gain Better Connections and Opportunities as a Screenwriter
It’s not easy to become a successful screenwriter. Most people fail, which makes sense because learning how to do it is insanely challenging. And, even if you can master the skills, there’s still a slim chance you’ll 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 for the right doors to open for you. So, what do you do beyond the skills to get to where you want to be, wherever that is?
I think this is one of the greatest challenges that novices and experts have to endure throughout their careers. Indeed, there is a lot of practical advice out there, such as reaching out to your film community, making shorts, moving to L.A., being agreeable, etc. But none of that is helpful if you don’t apply 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 using this hypothetical.
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Steven is a recent high school graduate interested in becoming an accomplished writer/director. That’s a tall order, especially given that he has never written a script or shot a film, and doesn’t even know a single person who does either 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 willing to critique his scripts and help him become better. Steven even manages to win a few mid-sized competitions. But still. 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 much better at writing, but he’s also stagnating. That’s because, despite 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, like a well-written script, 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 abilities 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 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 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 many people, shakes tons of hands, and is met with warm smiles. But, he left 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 at this meet-and-greet knows who he is. Sure, he introduces himself as a writer, but have they seen his work? And do they even want to see it? How do they know he isn’t difficult to collaborate with? But most importantly, how can Steven help them solve the problems they’re facing as filmmakers?
Steven should have focused on who he was talking to, what they were doing, and what problems they were facing that he could help solve. 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. Remember, he’s not Aaron Sorkin. He’s Steven, the young guy who spent five years learning to write good screenplays and won a few mid-sized competitions. But he’s also Steven, the young guy who is deeply passionate about screenwriting and 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 potential.
So Steven licks his wounds and decides to go back to the meet-and-greet. This time, instead of focusing on himself, he focuses on the people he interacts with. Specifically, he inquires about what they’re currently working on. Steven is doing this because he’s looking for an opportunity to help.
Ideally, he wants to use his writing skills but probably won’t for some time because, usually indie filmmakers, particularly new ones, don't realize they need a writer like him. Plus, even if they know they need a writer like him, that person needs time to evaluate who Steven is as a person, a writer, and a collaborator.
Now, Steven leaves the networking event with a few opportunities, though they weren’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 has a friend who owns a truck that he can borrow. 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 running cam ops (operating the camera). But he’s getting stuff for people and making sure the area surrounding the shooting location remains clean, which is a huge pain to deal with if you spent the last 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 enjoyable to be around, he hustled and showed drive, common sense, and a strong sense of conscientiousness, which is a great first impression to give anyone. 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, 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, this was also a networking event. Everyone on that set was involved in filmmaking and had projects they needed help with. But this was better than a networking event because instead of just talking to different people, Steven worked, and as the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.” So he proved to these people that he was worth something to them by 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 has 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 over a weekend.
Then there’s the set designer, who has a day job building sets for popular Netflix shows being shot around the area. They have connections to a couple of producers. The sound engineer happens to do VFX work for a local news station and is eager to develop 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 shorts like the one Steven just went to.
It’s common for all these different people to come to sets like this, which means with every new film Steven helps out on, he’ll meet more people connected to other professionals or things he may need. And just like the people he met at the networking events, all of them face different problems in their film careers. But all of these problems have one common solution that Steven might be able to provide...A really good story.
He spent the better part of that year continuing to develop his writing skills while helping the people he made connections with. Over time, Steven learned more about what goes into making a movie, which surprisingly made him a better writer because now he could be more budget-conscious with his screenplays.
Finally, one evening, while grabbing a couple of drinks with the first director he helped out, Steven is asked if he’s working on anything. Steven gladly replies that he is, and it just so happens to be a short ten-page script that can be done in a day for a couple of 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 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. Plus there are some expenses for wardrobe, props, and location, but because he helped so many filmmakers out, he and his director friend can 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 can’t 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 The Nicholls Fellowship, but he’s just not good enough to place 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 shot, edited 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 locally.
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 producer contacts and is even represented, giving him a few gigs here and there to 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 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 go through tons of “Almost made it” moments before getting 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 stepped 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 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 like Steven who helped them out when they had nothing.
But, regardless of the details or the path you end up taking, all of your actions will, more or less, be based on the 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.
Thanks for reading, and as always, best of luck in your creative endeavors!
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Story Prism,