First Draft: Think Outside the Box With These Five Resourceful Screenwriting Career Moves

5. Change How You Pitch Your Projects

So not everyone can go out and make high quality trailers, short films, and proof of concept videos. So what’s the next alternative that is more accessible to the average screenwriter?

Finding creative ways to stand out is key as you realize that there are thousands of others trying to do the exact same thing that you are. How can you change your query emails? How can you change the way you present your projects in any given situation?

The Duffer Brothers took a rather unique and creative approach to pitching their series. They had a love for all things Eighties and they crafted a show set in that era. When they began to develop the pilot, they also conceived a somewhat cryptic show bible that would display the themes, homages, and inspirations behind what they were trying to sell.

“When we were selling it, we made a fake Stephen King paperback cover for the show, [then called Montauk]. We actually used the Firestarter paperback and put our title and an image of a fallen bike on top of it, so when we were trying to come up with titles, we would type them out onto this paperback cover and it would help us. And Stranger Things sort of sounds like Needful Things—it sounded like it could have been a Stephen King book from the ‘80s,” Matt told The Daily Beast.

Why can’t screenwriters take a similar approach when pitching their spec scripts? Well, they do. Studios, agents, managers, and producers have been attracted to pitches that use creative elements to sell the concept, setting, tone, and atmosphere of potential scripts.

You can hire graphic designers to create movie posters for your scripts and place them within the body of any query emails you send. If you manage to get meetings with agents, managers, producers, and development executives from cold queries, contest wins, or networking, you can use visual aids to sell your vision of whatever story you’ve written.

Anything is possible.

Most screenwriters eventually learn that thinking outside the box is a must. The industry is designed to prevent just anyone from getting in. There has to be a filtration process given the number of submissions versus the number of projects and writers that are made and hired. It is the job of the screenwriter to think outside the dictated perimeters—within reason.

The first objective is to write a great script. Once some great scripts are in the system, the cream will often rise and the powers that be will take notice. But because of the amount of screenplays and screenwriters out there, many great scripts slip through the cracks. Sometimes it’s because of poor marketing on the screenwriter’s end. Sometimes it’s bad luck.

Thinking outside the box is necessary to increase your odds of breaking through.

Beyond these five suggestions, there are endless possibilities. Hop on out of that box and find them. MM

This post originally appeared on the blog ScreenCraft. ScreenCraft is dedicated to helping screenwriters and filmmakers succeed through educational events, screenwriting competitions and the annual ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship program, connecting screenwriters with agents, managers and Hollywood producers. Follow ScreenCraft on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

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