THE AGONY OF DEFEAT

Signing up for a career as a screenwriter? Brace yourself, because for every little victory, there will likely be 100 crushing defeats. Why do we subject ourselves to this? 

Because we must.

 

1001 Ways to Get Screwed as a Screenwriter

I recently read Jim Agnew’s book “To Live and Write in LA – A Street-Level Guide to Surviving as a Screenwriter,” (2026, Independent Global Solutions,) and it really resonated with me.

Agnew, who’s been working in the biz for over two decades, might well have called the book “1001 Ways I Got Screwed as a Screenwriter, and So Will You.” Every chapter is another jaw-dropping anecdote about the myriad creative ways he’s gotten stiffed, shafted, bamboozled, defrauded, and flat-out ripped off as a Hollywood screenwriter. And those are from the nice guys.

I’m not going to convey some of Agnew’s tales – you can pick up the book for yourself – save one, about the time his own agent threw him under the bus to yank a huge, prestige deal out from under him and give it instead to a more famous writer client. Agnew only found out about it when the exec at the production company, who felt terrible, called Agnew to tell him what had happened. Agnew of course fired that agent, who shrugged it off – it’s just business. That agent is now one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, certainly in large part because he is so callous and ruthless.

It’s Not Just You

There’s something oddly comforting about learning of other’s tales of screenwriting woe, isn’t there? It gives us a bit of succor and reminds us, “oh, wow, it’s not just me.” Misery loves company, and somehow it’s a lot easier to tolerate years of rejection, frustration, and near-misses, knowing that there are so many others in the same frickin’ boat.

Yup — it’s not just you. That horrible feeling when you don’t even make the quarterfinals of a contest after doing umpteen drafts. The gut punch of having a producer come aboard your script — only to have it all fall apart months or years later with nothing to show for it. The feeling of helplessness at not being able to find representation. Or even the kind and helpful feedback in a coverage report that says “good but could be better.” All of these are the little blades that, over time, may cause the proverbial death by 1000 cuts.

Make no mistake: it can be hard to keep going, no matter how much joy you get out of writing, when no matter what you do, you can’t get those @!!*#*&!!$ stars to align.

Personal Experience

I’m lucky enough to have had a few years when I made six figures screenwriting. But I’ve have many more years where I did not make a dime. I had a multipicture studio deal – then lost that deal when the company got bought out and my mentor, the company’s founder and CEO, got made Chairman Emeritus – now he was just one vote on the board; his greenlight power gone.

In the past six months, my writing partner and I have had the wheels come off two projects that are set up as indies. Both of them could reignite at any time (bless our producers, they’re a scrappy bunch!) We were supposed to be shooting one of them last spring and the other last fall. Yeah, nope. In one case — oh, this is a good one — United Talent Agency came aboard to package and finance the movie. A huge win! UTA gave us a list of actors they would approve for our two leads. It took over a year, but we finally landed two amazing actors. We had our package and a window in which both are available – spring 2027. We were looking golden.

Until one of the actors’ agents told us, “You can’t fund-raise off my actor’s name.” To be clear, this was an actor UTA told us to go get so they could build the package and raise the financing, which we did – and his own agent (also UTA) put the kibosh on the whole deal. Boom, in one fell swoop, we were effectively dead, at least for now, at UTA.

Welcome to the business.

My old buddy John Marsh from Chestnut Hill Prods., producer of great movies from back in the day such as “V.I. Warshawski” and “I Love You to Death,” gave me this great advice decades ago. “Jimmy, there’s one thing you gotta understand about Hollywood,” he opined. “Anything that is absolutely, 100%, guaranteed, for-certain-going-to-happen sure thing — is at best a remote possibility.”

Sigh.

The Reality

And yet we get up the next day, and we suit up for battle again. Once more unto the breach. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. And yet that’s part of the screenwriting job description, isn’t it? We lick our wounds, and then: back to the salt mines.

It helps to understand just how much of a numbers game it really is. The WGA West registers around 50-60,000 screenplays every year. Around 300 movies are released by major studios or their sub-brands each year. And only around 50 spec screenplays are sold annually. One need not be a statistician to figure out that the odds are kind of against you.

Yet there’s some curious comfort in that too, isn’t there? Because the odds are so overwhelming, it’s perhaps a bit easier to not take the rejection personally. Hopefully. Understand that for a producer or manager to champion a script, that means a f*ck-ton of work for them — they REALLY need to love it or see a clear path for it. The script you’re shopping now may be killer – but it may simply not be the droid they’re looking for.

But the next one? Ah, the next one. Because we always learn, we absorb, we improve, we hone, we tone, and in theory at least, we get closer to the bull’s-eye with each draft and every new script. It’s like any other highly-paid, specialized job — years of training and practice are often required before they let you pilot the 767 or operate on the patient. At a certain point, your skills should be undeniable. Then it becomes about the material, marketability, your personality, bona fides… and  yeah, connections don’t hurt.

Sigh again.

It’s Everyone

All I can tell you is, if these musings resonate at all, good. We share something. To quote ABC’s Wide World of Sports’ famous intro, “the thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat.” Know that you are not alone — there are many, many of us out here on this long, bumpy journey right alongside you.

I’ll leave you with a quote from the late, great Christopher Reeve:

“Go forward.”