The Sky Is Falling! Or What to Do When You Think Armageddon Has Come to the Entertainment Business

If you are reading the trades, blogs, or really any entertainment news source you would think the end is near for the entertainment industry.

Some sample headlines:

WMA and Endeavor are merging! 100 agents are going to be on the street!
Fox Atomic is shuttering! One less buyer!
The credit crunch is killing the studio! They have no money to make movies!

Really there’s enough dire news to make a person pack it all in and give up.

However, don’t let the doom and gloom dissuade you from writing that great script.  Because people still need content — and now, more than ever, they want to be entertained to escape their daily worries.

In fact, movie attendance is going up and tv is seeing higher viewership (especially now that people are staying home).  And, yes, American Idol still gets 30 million viewers.

So while it is true that it’s getting harder and harder to get anyone to say yes these days, and it’s definitely true that the days of getting someone to buy a pitch are over — it just means that you really need an amazing script plus you often have to be creative and help package the material.

What I mean by package is that, if you have a spec script, we will try to package it with a director, star, etc., before we take it out to prospective buyers.  So we will start with a great script and try to bring on as many elements as we can to help the studio say yes.

Also, think about what you want to write about. It is  my personal opinion that people don’t want dramas or depressing movies these days. They want to laugh, have fun and escape.  So I would suggest that now is a great time for that comedy or action film you have been writing.

And last but not least, if you are wondering how does the WMA/Endeavor merger effect you as the aspiring writer? Th truth of the matter is that it really doesn’t.

While no one knows what is going to happen –  new agencies could form or agents could go to competitors, if the merger does result in there being less agents — that doesn’t actually have any effect on how many movies or tv shows are actually being made. This just means that there might be less agents out there.

And, if that happens, there will be more competition to get an agent, which means, again, that your script has to be fantastic. There is no room for mediocrity anymore, which I personally think is a very good thing!

(P.S.If you want more screenwriting tips, check out my site www.ShowMeTheScreenplay.com )