Selling a screenplay.

[spaceham]

I'm interested in selling a screenplay. How do I find studio addresses to send it to? Must I copyright it before I attempt to sell it? How many places may I attempt to sell it? (Ex. Could I advertise it a film magazine and send it out to studios?) These are dumb questions but I just wanna calrify.

Peace out home dawgs.

[Gurdeep Samra]

As far as I know, people won't touch your script unless it came from an agent. Most studios would either send the script back to you (unread) or introduce it to the paper shredder.

So the best thing to do first is to show your script around to agents. Most agencies have websites, just surf around and get contact addresses.

[ac_01]

The only place that i know of that accept unsolicited material is the bbc. Check out their writer's room website on details on some useful adresses - bbc.co.uk/witersroom - it does take a while for them to get back to you so dont hold your breath, i think they quoted 8wks. It would help if you copyrighted it before sending, i think all you need o do is post it to yourself. Either that or look for an agent.

[GREATwarEAGLE]

Don't know about the UK, but in America:

-copyright requires you to put the year on title page, which could hurt you since scripts circulate for some time before any deal is struck and a script with last years date or the year before identifies itself as "old"

-registering with the WRITERS GUILD (WGA) is what I did with my screenplay. It's fast and simple. Cost like $30. So it's on file with them if I need to prove authorship. You don't need to be a WGA member to do this.


Then, enter it in screenplay competitions.

[Actor]

You may have to put a date on the copy that you give to the copyright office but you don't have to put it on a copy that you give to an agent. And I wouldn't.