Goodbye, The Writers Store

After 30 years, The Writers Store in L.A. is closing its doors.

When I sold my first spec script K-9 to Universal Pictures in 1987, the studio provided Word Perfect software with a few preset macros put together by their IT people to mimic screenplay format. It was crude and barely functional, basically prehistoric.

I made some inquiries to see if there was anything better available and heard about The Writers Store. I made my way to its location on Santa Monica Boulevard near the Nuart Theater. It wasn’t much, but for a writer, it was great. Screenwriting and writing books and — more importantly — some actual screenwriting software. Plus some awfully nice people who worked there.

[I can’t remember the name of the screenwriting program I bought, but the logo was a monster. I believe it was something put together by two dudes in San Diego. I called them several times over the years to discuss issues with the software. Eventually I believe they were bought out and evolved into what is now Movie Magic Screenwriter.]

Over the years, I visited The Writers Store several times, mostly to check out any new screenwriting software which had come onto the market. When the store moved to Westwood Boulevard, I remember stopping by and was shocked to see the proliferation of ‘how to’ screenwriting books. It was the front end of the whole screenwriting ‘guru’ thing and some of them actually did presentations at The Writers Store.

At some point The Writers Store left Westwood and made its way to Burbank. And now as of July 17, it will close its doors forever.

End of an era perhaps? Not quite. Partnered since 2011 with F+W, a media and ecommerce company located in New York, The Writers Store will continue to have an online presence.

I’m curious, what’s your experience with The Writers Store? If you’ve lived in L.A., did you ever visit the store? If not, intersect with them online?

You can go here to read a Script magazine article about the closing of The Writers Store store.