"Neither of us is ever going to get rich, Sean," a producer friend of mine recently said. "We're too ethical."
I took that as a compliment. Not that I'd never be rich, but rather that she considered me ethical.
She's right on both counts.
I am working on a re-write of one of my old scripts with a friend of mine. The script was a near miss in the Hollywood A-List world many years ago. Richard Zanuck even praised the dialogue. The only problem is making the time to finish the re-write. My wife advised my friend to make it her priority. My friend, who certainly knows this business, demurred. "Knowing what they pay for scripts like this now," she replied. "It won't be life changing money."
Sad but true.
If the screenplay sold as a studio-financed theatrical picture, it might result in the biggest check dropped on either of us at one time. But it wouldn't be freedom money at this stage in our lives. We'd both still have to work.
Finally, a producer who read one of my scripts back in the mid-1990s recently called me to see if it was still available. She said she hasn't been able to get it out of her mind. That script was one of my calling cards back in the day. I even turned down representation from CAA for it. (Long and foolish story.) The script had been optioned since she last saw it. However, the rights have reverted back to me. I took it off the market because I wanted to turn it into a novel before attempting to sell it again. However I said, yes, it was still available. How can you say no to someone who remembers one of your scripts after nearly thirty years?
She was delighted. Then she asked, "Would you mind if it became a BET movie?"
My answer: No!
I always envisioned the film as the first part of a theatrical trilogy. Now, however, a made for cable movie would be fine. The business has changed. So have I.
I have been blessed. I have written fourteen produced motion pictures and a number of other award-winning projects. However, I have been more blessed to have a lucrative day job as a video editor. During the day when I edit, I am still a storyteller. However, at night when I type away on Final Draft, I get to create the universe my stories take place in. Both jobs are wonderful, but writing is more creatively fulfilling.
I was disheartened when the WGA began releasing financial statistics prior to the last strike. From what I could see, I earned more as an editor for Discovery than a writer would make working on a ten episode season of a cable or streaming series. That didn't seem fair, and it made me glad I never put all of my eggs in the writing basket. I think there were only two years when I made more money as a writer than I did as an editor. Granted, I wrote on low budget features. However, by the time I walked away I began making a livable wage at screenwriting -- as long as I didn't live in LA.
I don't know how aspiring writers can survive in an expensive city like LA. I know there are script doctors who still make a million dollars a week, and showrunners who make tens of millions of dollars a year. Still, I believe the prospects of the working writer have only worsened. The WGA made a compelling case prior to the strike that television and screenwriters face an existential crisis. They won the strike, but I'm still not optimistic about the future. Something is profoundly unbalanced in the industry if a staff writer on a "hit" streaming series has to return to waiting tables during the offseason.
I remember co-writing the pilot for a one camera sitcom for a basic cable network. The project was non-union and the writers would not receive any residuals. One of my fellow writers said, "Sean, if this show is a hit, we're going to be very bitter." I just laughed and said, "I'm already bitter."
Chapel Street - Prologue - My Mother
Chapel Street - Chapter 1 - RestingPlace.com
Chapel Street - Chapter 2 - Elisabetta
Chapel Street - Chapter 3 - The Upload
Chapel Street - Chapter 4 - The Kobayashi Maru
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