Honestly. Which is harder: Winning the lottery or Breaking in as a Screenwriter?

Question

Contacts! That's all I here! So, I basically am spending $100,000 for film school just to get lucky and find that right one! I might as well play the lottery everyday! This really sucks! I think I should change my carrer choice before I start it and swaped with debt!

Answer 1

Breaking in as a screen writer would almost be easier then winning the lottery

Answer 2

depends. My mother probably has a better chance of winning the lottery.

BUT if you have some talent as a screenwriter, willing to chase down every contact and opportunity and have the heart to stick out the bad times you still probably a much better chance of success than playing the lottery.

heres some different question though, could you spend the 100,000 on gambling on producing a small film? How much does attending film school actually improve your chances of success? Do you only account for the monetary benefit? Do you gain some utility just being a screen writer, successful or not?

As for the lotto, I think the house edge is generally around the 30% mark, so you would expect to get about $70,000 back from buying $100,000 worth of lotto tickets.

Answer 3

It depends on how good of a writer you are, and it depends on how lucky you are.

Answer 4

depends. for screenwriting, you need talent.

[edit]

to answer the 2nd part of your question, there are a couple of points:

1. Dialogue: maybe you have trouble with dialogue. it's not easy and few have mastered it. If your scripts sound like a documentary, you aren't going to get anywhere:

Hal: How are you today Mary?

Mary: I'm so relieved, I just came back from the doctor and I don't have soriasis!

Hal: Soriasis? What is that?

etc. etc.

2. the opposite of the above is that you are too artsy and your scripts are indecipherable, like oscar wilde. aim for realism, not for the hope that someday your scripts will be studied in literature (and screenwriting!) classes.

3. Protocol: do you know the proper channels to show scripts to studios? I would recommend Writer's Digest's series of books on professional writing. My guess would be first you need to find an agent based in California, and send them a few drafts from your best scripts. If they accept you, then you are halfway to success.

4. Classes: are you certain you are taking the classes that fit your goal? My MA is in ESL. While there, I took class after class on statistics, experiments, and research. I finally figured out that if I wanted to be a teacher, I had to select classes in pedagogy, not research. Maybe you are in the same boat: make sure your classes are geared towards (it sounds like) commercial screenwriting.

5. Start small: don't try to jump into the movie biz immediately. pay your dues on a tv show, commercials, local news programs, etc., anything to get your resume filled out.