Screenwriting Basics - Demystifying Industry Lingo

If you want to be a writer, a director, or that impressive hyphenate, the writer-director, you’ve got one of two choices: make a film, or write a screenplay.  There’s no job training program for writers and directors; there’s no such thing as “paying your dues” in the traditional sense.  You’ve got to prove that you have the creative chops, and they only way to do that is, quite simply, to write.

Demystifying the Industry Lingo – ‘Spec,’ ‘Query,’ and ‘Unsolicited’

A ‘spec’ screenplay is one
that is written in order to be sold; that is, not paid
for by a production company or studio.  It’s
written on speculation, or in hopes that it will be sold
or optioned.  It’s advisable to register your
screenplay with the Writers’ Guild
of America. That will give you a layer of protection
against having your idea used in an unlawful manner.  Technically
speaking, the mere act of writing creates a de facto
copyright, and placing the © symbol on the cover
page of your screenplay is enough to copyright your work,
but registration through the Guild (which is less expensive
than an official registration at the U.S.
Copyright office) provides you with a date of origin
that can be used to prove that you came up with a particular
idea first.

A spec screenplay is intended to be seen by as many people as possible.  The best case scenario is that your spec is so hot that it prompts a bidding war and sells for over a million dollars, which was the case with Shane Black’s The Long Kiss Goodnight, which sold for a record $4 million.

If you don’t have an agent, you will need to step into the icy waters of the query letter, in which you provide a 1-page synopsis of your idea and your contact information.  You send this letter out to as many producers as you can (the Hollywood Creative Directory is a good source for names and addresses), and hope that they use the stamped postcard you’ve enclosed to request to read the script.  Many producers will say that they do not accept unsolicited manuscripts, and this means that they won’t read screenplays that don’t come through an agent or a manager.  However, it never hurts to send the letter in the hopes that they will solicit your screenplay, but the odds of that happening are not very good.  If a producer will accept unsolicited manuscripts (also known as ‘over the transom’), then you can simply send them your screenplay, along with a SASE for return.  But keep in mind that there’s no guarantee they’ll actually read something that comes in unsolicited.  So, it’s better to send a query letter first.