Reader Question: Which has better opportunities for writers: Movies or TV?
From Steff Brown:
I’ve been reading a lot of blogs lately and many are discussing the pros and cons of writing in either film or in TV. Where do you think a writer can have a more healthy career?
That is a timely question. Check out this recent article in TheWrap:
Movies are fast becoming the ugly stepchild for major media companies, while television continues to be the cash cow that drives profits.
That’s the message that emerges from an analysis conducted by TheWrap of the annual reports of five major media companies in 2011. And it’s a dramatic change from the way things used to be, when movies were the straw that stirred Hollywood’s drink.
“I remember when international buyers had to be forced to take TV product, and they only wanted movies — now it’s the other way around,” Jeff Sagansky, former president of CBS Entertainment and a former senior executive at Sony, told TheWrap.
Now before you drive a stake through the heart of your screenwriting dreams, consider a few things:
* The fact that TV generates approximately 10 times the amount of profits as movies do does not mean there are 10 times more writing jobs in TV. The most recent figures I could find online with a breakdown of WGA writers working in TV compared to movies were from 2005 [you can download that report here]. There were 3088 writers working in TV in contrast to 1831 working in movies. That’s not even a two-to-one comparison. I’m sure the numbers have changed in the last 7 years [and I’ll bet some savvy GITS reader will find more recent figures and post them], but I’m guessing the totals are pretty similar.
* As cable TV has evolved, both basic and pay, we have seen some amazing series that I guess you could say have managed to bring cinematic sensibilities, both visually and narratively, to the small screen. Great, right? But this has also increased the number of writers trying to work in TV, therefore the competition is more fierce than ever.
* The competition for work on the TV side is even more challenging nowadays because with the rise of scripted cable programming, those budgets are lower, which means their staffs are smaller.
* The profits contributed by movie divisions to corporate earnings may be considerably smaller than TV, but $2.5B annually is not chump change. Besides there are movie fans, lots of them, so it’s not like the parent corporations are going to shut down their movie divisions any time soon. Although the movie business will continue to evolve as it always has done, it is not going away.
* And there’s this: Whereas 25 years ago, when you had to choose one career path — movies or TV — that is definitely not the case nowadays. Case in point, Damon Lindelof who just this week saw the domestic premiere of a movie he co-wrote [Prometheus], signed a huge overall deal with Warner Bros. TV, and then just today it was announced he is going to rewrite the troubled movie World War Z, all this, of course, after the ginormous success of the TV series he produced “Lost.” This is how malleable things have become for screenwriters and TV writers enabling them to work in both arenas.
Bottom line: You have to know going in that pursuing a career as a writer in TV or film is extremely competitive. That’s why as opposed to looking at where your best opportunities may lie from an economic standpoint, I encourage writers to go with their passion: If you love movies first and foremost, write screenplays. If you love TV first and foremost, write teleplays. The only things to distinguish you from any other writer is your talent, your understanding of the craft, your grasp of story, your ability to translate all that onto the page… and your passion.
How about you, GITS readers? What’s your take on pursuing a career writing for TV or movies?
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