Need a feature length screenplay

C

Charlie06

Well-known member
Alright.

These are my specs

I need:

a)Feature length screenplay
b) drama/thriller = driller story
c) To be Shot for around 35-40 days this upcoming summer in Chicago, U.S.A
d) Budget is 250k
e) Will have one good name actor (whether lead or supporting role) and am free to consider a cast of around 7-8 characters. This of course does not include extras, or any really minor roles of the film
f) Time frame (year the story is set in): Umm...250k is not a lot for a 1920's movie, so if it doesn't cost much to create the setting. Feel free.

Is there any more info I need to include here?
I hear standard for a screenplay is 25k
I don't want to, but will pay that amount if it's a really good one.

Please post here, or email me at charlie06@gmail.com with info requests and such.

I know DVXuser is full of great filmmakers and writers looking for a shot. I'd love to work with some of you.
 
Do you want one that is already complete or looking for script to be written from the ground up?
 
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Answering seans question

I'd like one that you guys have written, your own story.
Maybe you guys have a few written one, let me know guys!!!
 
Curious where you heard that. You can have a feature screenplay written for a few hundred bucks, or a few thousand bucks. Writer's Guild (WGA) has minimums depending on film budgets. WGA minimum for a $1M+ film budget is I think about $100,000. 10% of a budget is typically allocated for a screenplay I believe. For such a low budget as you have in mind you might need to promise back end points, which usually mean nothing to a writer since they rarely materialize, or else write the script yourself, or find someone to write a screenplay really really cheap.

Personally I would not sell a feature screenplay I wrote for less than $70,000 no matter what a film's budget, just based on the time put into the writing and rewriting and rewriting and such, and considering half of that goes to the taxman; but that is just me. But then I have only written one feature, not sold anything yet, I am a relative noob, amateur.

Charlie06 said:
Alright. ...I hear standard for a screenplay is 25k. I don't want to, but will pay that amount if it's a really good one.....
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If it were to be my first feature produced (which it would be) then i would be fine with 25k, I would even negotiate that depending on certain circumstances. I dont think any writer expects 70k for a indie flick on this type of budget, and things such as defered pay and points on the back usually come into play.

I honestly plan to produce most of my own stuff but i am interested in writing for this project if the deadline allows me to write something new or polish up one of the finished ones i have that fit his genre.

I always heard the script should get about 10% of the total film budget, so if his budget is 250k then 25k is about right... now again im no expert but that is what i have read.
 
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Hmm

Hmm

I think $25,000 is a very legitimate, fair offer for this type of budget. You will see a lot of producers trying to screw over writers, like, "Need free script, but think of it this way YOUR SCRIPT will be a MOVIE! How exciting!" Uhh, yeah... thanks, haha.

A screenplay is significantly easier to write than a book in most circumstances, unless you just find writing hard, because first off books are generally in the 300 page range, screenplays in the 90 to 120 range, and the documentation is non-existent in a screenplay essentially.

I've written two non-fiction books, the first was 90,000 words, the second was 140,000 words, with the second having a bibliography of about 65 pages. I cited 1,500 sources in that book, it was painstaking, elaborate, and very difficult. I spent about 4 months writing second the book, 50-60 hour weeks, then another five months editing, off and on, so two weeks of 60 to 70 hour weeks (they were far worse than writing because of time constraints and stress), then two weeks where I was waiting for commentary, etc. The first book I wrote and researched over about a year I guess, editing took quite a while as well. On both books I made no money, essentially, they were niche books, the people who are into them love them, they've been very well reviewed and appreciated by the circle they were intended for, but they represent about a year of my life each and I didn't profit financially whatsoever.

So, I don't know, if you ask me, $25,000 for a screenplay sounds pretty awesome. I'm planning to write my feature screenplay in 10 days, 9 pages a day. That's the rough draft. I anticipate the editing and re-editing will take about 4-6 months off and on. That's the hardest part of any writing. I wrote 16 drafts of my first book, 13 of my second, which was only because I had improved as a writer so the first draft was more on par with, say, my 4th or 5th draft of my first book. But even there, the level of detail is much more obnoxious with a book than a screenplay, not to demean screenplay writing but it's not at all on par with book writing. A screenplay, if you are a pro you know this, if you're an amateur you should, is not a product. It is not a finished product, and it's not actually a product at all. It's a blueprint FOR a product. It can be, and will be, changed during shooting, after shooting, before shooting, etc. A book is the final product. It must be perfect. Typos go to press, then they are in the final product. A typo on a screenplay won't make any difference whatsoever, someone will catch it at some point and it won't make it into the final movie, obviously. If you wrote "He walks into the coproration's headquarters," it's not like the production designer is going to make up a bakery and go, "I thought a coproration was a bakery?! I didn't realize that was corporation." That's because it is, again, a blueprint. Not the product itself. So the standard for a book is just a lot higher than a screenplay. I've heard of plenty of times where a screenplay is bought even despite its flaws because the idea is so strong, or the dialogue is so strong but the story isn't as strong, that the studio knows this is a winner if they hire someone else to do a re-write or if they hire a collaborator to help punch up the weaker points.

Writing is a notoriously difficult profession to make any money, so honestly $25,000 is a generous offer in my opinion. Granted, you're not going to think that's good money if your last feature you wrote was Million Dollar Baby, but for someone who has maybe won a few contests at film festivals and received some praise as a screenwriter, but hasn't really broken in yet, that's a golden opportunity.

If you are a good writer and know how to focus, how to maximize your potential, you should have no problems writing a screenplay start to finish in 6 months. That's more than 180 days, about a half-page of finished screenplay per day, honestly in my opinion that's pretty terrible. If you knew you could make $25,000 for each one, minimum, then you'd be at $50,000 a year for one of the coolest professions that anyone could have. Now while everyone wants to be rich and famous, about 99% of people would be wishing they were you if you could actually make that good of a living, which is slightly less than an engineer makes, being able to set your own schedule and write screenplays. I mean, if that's the worst that you did, that's as low as you got, I'm sorry, you have it pretty good! :)

Just my two cents.
 
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Now while everyone wants to be rich and famous, about 99% of people would be wishing they were you if you could actually make that good of a living, which is slightly less than an engineer makes, being able to set your own schedule and write screenplays. I mean, if that's the worst that you did, that's as low as you got, I'm sorry, you have it pretty good!
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I agree totally. No need to be rich. Just get by, work for yourself and do what you love. Dream come true I think...
 
Im with you on that, i have no desire to be rich (though it would be nice) i just want to support my family and live comfortably doing something i love.
 
JonathanLB said:
$50,000 a year for one of the coolest professions that anyone could have.

No truer word has ever been said, it does have to be the coolest profesion around, Ive been in two conflicts and have five operatonal tours under my belt and, people like to hear a good story, as we used to say in the forces pull up a sandbag and swing the latern, but when I tell people that I write screenplays for a hobby, they are far more impressed, it is a very cool hobby and even cooler if you could make a living out of it.

Gaz
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For a budget that small I don't think you cold really afford more than a couple thousand dollars. Say $500 / week for 4 weeks: $2000. If the script stinks then drop the writer and hire another one. Keep it below ~$6000 total, absolute max.

Before a writer is worth any type of real money they must first have had their work get distributed (Theater or TV). Until then you are unproven, and there is no way a producer should pay anywhere near $25K for unproven, as yet unknown, talent. That goes for anyone 'above the line': writers, directors, producers, and actors. When you get real distribution then you can ask for guild wages, until then its whatever the two parties can agree to.

Personally, as a writer I'd want to know more about the producer and what type of distribution connections they have. I'd want confirmation of the budget, including any goods and services that will be loaned to the project. If I think the whole production is solid I might let one of my best scripts go on the cheap. If I think the producer could get it done and get distribution then it would be worth it to me to get my story and my name out there so I could get real money for my second script. If the producer is just a dreamer I might sell one of my lesser scripts and let him/her 'swing for the fences'.


An old Hollywood joke/riddle: "Do you know who makes money on their first film?"

Answer: No one (not writers, not actors, not directors, not producers <PAs>, not grips, not gaffers, not best boys, not anyone. Everyone wants into this industry, and you have to practically give your services away to get started)

Bob
 
Bob Gruen said:
Before a writer is worth any type of real money they must first have had their work get distributed (Theater or TV). Until then you are unproven, and there is no way a producer should pay anywhere near $25K for unproven, as yet unknown, talent.

Bob
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No, not true. First timers cut big deals all the time. People here at DVXUSER can speak to that first hand. Also, About 1 in 6 script sales results in an actual movie. I know one writer who has become rich off multiple sales and doctoring and yet has never been produced--and if you're not produced how you gonna get distribution which according to you is the litmus test for street cred as a writer.

2% of budget is a figure I've heard floated for a script. So what's 2% of $250,00? It's like a million dollars or something.
 
Dov S-S Simens in "From Reel to Deal" (His students included Quentin Tarantino, etc) says that 10% of a budgets is for the screenplay and that includes any doctoring, rewrites, etc.
 
brianluce said:
No, not true. First timers cut big deals all the time. People here at DVXUSER can speak to that first hand. Also, About 1 in 6 script sales results in an actual movie. I know one writer who has become rich off multiple sales and doctoring and yet has never been produced--and if you're not produced how you gonna get distribution which according to you is the litmus test for street cred as a writer.
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Dreamers throw money around all the time (and fail). I was cautioning the original poster to not be a dreamer (recall that he is a producer / buyer, not a writer / seller). And as I stated the way you get distributed is to sell your scripts on the cheap to producers that you think can get the film made with a high level of production value. You'll make money on your second, third, and fourth scripts.

brianluce said:
2% of budget is a figure I've heard floated for a script. So what's 2% of $250,00? It's like a million dollars or something.
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$250,000 x .02 = $5,000 which is $1,000 less than what I suggested. I'd also say that as a percentage 2% is low for an established producer. For example: I'd think an honest $2M budget should have at least $70K for the script from an experianced writer, closer to 3%. That script should take the better half of a year to write.

Randall_Oelerich said:
Dov S-S Simens in "From Reel to Deal" (His students included Quentin Tarantino, etc) says that 10% of a budgets is for the screenplay and that includes any doctoring, rewrites, etc.
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Take his seminar: He suggests finding an unknown talent in a creative writing workshop / class and paying them $500 / week for a few weeks to get the script. Then when you raise the money and set the budget. Finally you can afford a few more weeks to clean it up and tweak it for the production limitations.

Bob
 
Bob Gruen said:
$250,000 x .02 = $5,000 which is $1,000 less than what I suggested.





Bob
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Actually what you said was this: For a budget that small I don't think you cold really afford more than a couple thousand dollars. Say $500 / week for 4 weeks: $2000. If the script stinks then drop the writer and hire another one. Keep it below ~$6000 total, absolute max.

As I interpret this, you're saying hire a guy for a month for 2k and repeat as necessary until you get something usable. So you're saying 3 scripts at 2k a piece. Generally I think this is bad advice for the OP because you've insured he'll get a lame script by allowing only 30 days to write it--and you've doubled down by only offering the writer 2k which works out to about $8 an hour. So the OP will be $6000 poorer and own 3 lousy scripts and the OP will have extended the longstanding tradition of producers screwing writers.

It's tough enough as it is to make any income off writing, for another writer to suggest working for minimum wage doesn't help the profession. And that's what we want it to be right? A profession?
 
Like anything else, a script is worth what it's worth. A great script is worth more than a good one, which is worth more than a lousy one.

That's like saying "An actor is only worth x dollars." An A-list actor is worth a LOT more to your production than a C-lister or an unknown.

What surprises me here are the writers who are saying, "Oh no....that's too much." That's astounding. I don't advocate gouging anyone, but a great script is certainly worth 10% of a production's budget -- especially if that production plans to hire at least one 'name' actor.

If your script isn't worth $25,000 then keep it to yourself. :)
 
If your script isn't worth $25,000 then keep it to yourself.
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I agree. Considering a movie is nothing without the script and a you will never make a great movie without a great script, we are rather under selling ourselves here.

Look at the money a great movie can make...
 
Even though I have yet to sell a screenplay, I just finished my first feature script (actually still revising a 4th draft), I value my time and place a minimum value of $60,000 on a feature screenplay. Otherwise I would rather keep writing, hold onto it for ten years if I need to to sell it for perhaps $300,000+ which would be a 5x return on my investment (time and value), not bad over ten years, with more screenplays being written during that time. My goal is one feature screenplay each year; if it takes ten years of revisions before they start selling, that is a great income in my opinion. Really, think of the time it takes to produce a final draft of a feature screenplay, a writer has to put value on her/his time or the profession will be diminished.
 
I think this is part of the problem. You charge too little or nothing at all and people see you work as nothing and not really an investment. I sold a short to a guy for $100 because that was all he could afford for it - but loved it. Then after the sale was finished he told me he was going to shoot it on his new $20,000 + camera.

So you was the fool. The guy under selling himself to get something made or the guy investing nothing in the foundation of his short because he was allowed?
 
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Gee Randall....the other day you said you'd never consider selling a script for less than $70,000. Now you're already cutting the price $10k. :)

Best of luck on that plan. I hope it works out well for you. Everyone has their own map to reach their goals. You may beat us there. Time will tell.
 
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