Question: What is the state of spec script market?
Open Forum question from JD Walters:
Dear Scott,
I wonder if you could clarify a bit more the real state of the spec market, and also the meaning of a spec script. I’ve heard contradictory reports on this website. On the one hand, you say (and agents seem to be saying) that the spec market is on the verge of collapse and hardly anyone seems to be buying anymore. On the other hand, you keep reporting on the sale of original pitches from previous unknowns every few weeks or so. So which is it? Or is it both?
JD, while those who track the spec script market, like myself and Jason Scoggins at ItsOnTheGrid.com, may lament from time to time how slow things are on the acquisition front, the words “verge of collapse” have never issued forth on GITS (unless I was ranting about the fate of the New York Mets). Yes, the studios are currently frothing over remakes, pre-branded brands, graphic novels, comic books, and videogames, but even though the spec market was down last year, between 60–70 spec features sold (I’m still working on the 2009 spec market analysis, so those numbers aren’t final yet).
So to make things clear, here are a few facts about the spec script market:
* Spec features continue to sell
* First-time writers — or ‘tyro scribes’ in Variety lingo — continue to break into the business by selling spec scripts
* The number of spec scripts that sell varies from year to year
* Some times the spec market is hot, some times it’s not
* Certain genres continue to dominate the spec script market: comedy, thriller, action
Is the spec script market as ridiculously competitive as ever? Yes.
Is it difficult to sell a spec script? Yes.
But it’s still possible to sell a spec script, right? Yes.
Look, you have to go into this knowing the odds are against you. But if you ever need confirmation of the fact that spec scripts work, you need look no further than your humble blogger — me. I was almost a complete Hollywood outsider who sold a spec script that got produced and spent a week as the #1 movie at the box office.
There’s another thing — and we’ve talked about this before — even if a spec script doesn’t sell or get optioned, it can still serve you as a writing sample. If for some reason producers and/or studio execs like your script, but don’t buy it, that should still land you some meetings, just based on the strength of the writing alone.
Finally, JD, let’s clarify this comment: “you keep reporting on the sale of original pitches from previous unknowns every few weeks or so.”
Pitches is a whole other thing. And while I do post most of the pitches that sell, I have to quibble with you a bit because the people who sell pitches are almost always working screenwriters, not “previous unknowns.” Why? For a very logical reason: When a studio buys a pitch, they are forced to exhibit more trust than with a spec script — because a pitch is not as realized a story as a screenplay. Therefore their comfort level in buying a pitch is much higher if the writer involved is an established professional, who has proven in the past that they can deliver the goods, than with an “unknown,” who have no professional track record.
So by “previous unknowns,” you are probably referring to people who wrote a spec script, not sold a pitch. And if you go here, you can see a list of ‘tyro scribes’ who sold a spec script in 2008 (I’ll have a new list when I finish my 2009 analysis). Granted it’s not a long list, but the simple fact is each of these writers is no different than you. Their odds against success in selling a spec script were the same long odds that you have. The only thing distinguishing them from you is that they stuck with it long enough — along with a healthy dose of good luck — to sell a script.
Let me end this post by asking GITS readers: You know the odds against selling a spec script and yet you persist with your writing. What is it that keeps you motivated? Where you do find your persistence and determination?