I just finished my film script, now what?

Four years ago, I was mid-run and saw a distressed and abandoned duffle bag by a small stream among fallen debris. I didn’t stop and look, but as I carried on running, I wondered what could have been inside, and from that, I started to write.

CUT TO: Present day.

Over the weekend, I pressed print on my completed draft of Mistaken, an action-drama full feature, and had my first read-through. I had given it a lot of my attention over the years, but it had been a slug of persistence these past seven months. I worked on it non-stop. I focussed on the nuances of the narrative and continued to find parts that didn’t make sense or the transitions weren’t as smooth as I would like them to be. So, I would go back and think about my character’s choices. Their reasons for their actions and their responses to the activity happening around them.

I am a sentimental fool. These moments deserve to be savoured (as they take so long to come to fruition and can be so rare in this busy world we all occupy), which is why I chose to print it out, buy it a fancy cover, and take myself away and read it somewhere other than my desk.

As I began to read, I prepared myself for setbacks. In my work, there will always be grammatical errors and a missed word here and there, but I was thinking more to the point; there will be parts I will still want to change.

*Most writers will call themselves their worst critics, and this is something that should be so as it pushes us to want to be better than we were before*

I had my red pen at the ready, but there was very little I wanted to change, a few hours later, I arrived home to finish the last few pages. I closed the cover and looked in the mirror — I had this grin on my face that can only be described as a feeling of accomplishment.

Now what?

It can be a strange moment. You have created something from nothing, brought to life a place and people who live in it, and given them a purpose to resolve. You have given them enemies’, relationships, love, and pain. Sometimes you give your characters more than you are willing to give yourself. And then, you come to an end. Well, it feels like an end because you have finished, but in a cruel twist of fate, this is only the beginning.

You have created a product, and now, you have to sell it, and that is a whole other ball game and requires skills that have NOTHING to do with what you have just spent all that time doing. The introvert has to become to extrovert. You have to be exciting, dramatic, and explosive; you have to be different, a classic phrase you will hear; you have to be something they haven’t seen before.

You have to perform.

When most writers are busy putting all those characteristics into their characters, it can be daunting to put yourself into the spotlight now, and that is if you can even get the gatekeepers to look your way. The catch-22 in the world of entertainment writing is that no one wants to know you unless you are known. As you begin researching the business and the companies that may be interested or have previously worked on productions similar to your premise, you will continuously see the words…

“We do not accept unsolicited material.”

And when you finally find companies that do, chances are they will be inundated, and you will threat over your subject line — wanting to be eloquent, witty, to the point, but also informative, as you have to catch the receiver’s eye if you want them to be intrigued enough to open your email. And what if you are their 40th enquiry email, and they have had a long and slow day, and their mood isn’t in anyone’s favour (we all have those workdays that you just want to end)? All that hard work falls flat and is instantly forgotten, perhaps not even considered.

The odds are stacked.

And I wish I could say your personal life is more forgiving than the professional in this time of pursuit. We live in a world that wants results, and we don’t want to wait for them. Writing can suffer under this pressure. Most of what you focus on is first worked on from within, as there is so much to consider before you even put ink to paper or put fingers to keys. You have to create. People don’t want visualisation; they want evidence and proof. They want to have an understanding or a common ground, or they want nothing at all, and at this point, they have deemed what you work on unimaginable and therefore unachievable.

This can put a writer’s career to its end before it has even been given a chance to start. There have been many times I have had a feeling from another or dismissal, disinterest, and disbelief. I want to talk about what I write about and its potential, but it is never as important as the conversation happening with the masses. My irrelevance is made clear as they talk about quotas, children, and relationship feuds.

There is no room for my little fantasy.

But some of us are too headstrong for our own good; we continue. Despite the setbacks, sacrifices, and solitude, we have a calling that needs to be answered. This is something I promised myself almost five years ago. I will continue. I am a self-taught rebellious mind. I believe that I have a way with words that will entertain and encourage others, and most of all, I believe I have compelling and compassionate stories to tell.

So, I have finished my film script, now what? I now prepare myself to sell what I have written.

MISTAKEN — A full-feature, action-packed misleading drama. That draws you in and has you searching for clues for what might come next. A story told in a past and present timeline, jumping back and forth between the character connections and what is tearing them apart. A journey of depravity, distrust, death, and the constant battle to stay alive only to question why.

A script with heart, suspense, and continuity that draws you in and makes you empathise with the characters — something that I believe is missing from most of today’s films.

I have been here before; please don’t consider me naïve. I have been researching and experiencing this world for the better part of ten years. I take trips to Los Angeles, talk to people in that world, and remind myself that at the end of the day, this business, like all businesses at its core, wants to make money. I haven’t seen this as a fantasy for a long time, and I have put my mind to work and understand the risks.

I may find myself here in weeks, months, and years to come, still here, still trying. There is no quick route (unless you are born into it, perhaps), and as much as the world and the people who live in it want to tell me it is not possible, I stand here saying: I will prove you wrong.

As soon as I finish this piece, I will get to work on mine and my script’s introduction email. I will start pitching, enquiring, and networking. I will do what it takes because it is what I love.

Never be the person who gave up because other people didn’t believe.

Anyone out there who is on this same road and that may be worried about the path ahead. You are allowed to be worried. It is a big decision, a big ask, and people will make you feel like it isn’t, but trust me, it IS important.

And to any literary agents that may come across this article, boy, do I have a script for you *wink*.