Something I see every day that really pains me are screenwriters walking into the equivalent of career quicksand. I see this happening on various stages of writer’s journeys and sometimes they aren’t so much aimlessly wandering into trouble as gleefully diving right in to thunderous applause. Sometimes they are pushed. Here’s what I think screenwriters looking to build careers need to look out for while treading very carefully.
Before I get into this, I want to state that I’m not naming any names. I’ve come to learn over the years, while working my way up the system, that corruption runs thick throughout the amateur screenwriting community and it gets worse day-by-day. Sadly, it’s just not worth facing legal battles or the hordes of cultists that defend these companies and individuals. There is a lot of money at stake and people don’t want to lose it. So anyway…
Paid Exposure Services
The early steps on your screenwriting journey are most likely going to lead you to some form of paid exposure service. These suck you in by preying on three key things all new screenwriters suffer from; the need to be validated, an urgency to be discovered, and having zero industry contacts to approach.
The process is usually a case of “rating and ranking” but the ratings are done by unknown individuals and the ranking…
