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Selling a Script is Like What?

Screenwriter Craig Mazin makes a compelling case that a pitch meeting is an act of reproduction:

The truth is that we’re the males, they’re the females, and they know it.

Every time we sell a script, we succeed. Every time. Maybe the script dies in development. Maybe it gets made but the movie bombs. Maybe the movie from our script is so bad, it literally kills the studio (happens every now and then). But no matter what, we get paid.

And while the last script we wrote is being raised by its studio mother, we’re off banging...excuse me, selling...to another studio.

For a writer who's about to pitch, this essay might be the screenwriter equivalent of the Rocky theme song.

About J. Ott

John Ott is a writer, filmmaker and futurist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.