EUROSCRIPT.CO.UK
  • HOME
  • HIRE A WRITER
  • FEEDBACK
    • SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
    • FEEDBACK
    • One-hour chat
    • Feedback for Partners
  • EVENTS
  • CALENDAR
    • TELLING TRUE STORIES
    • HOW TO MAKE IT AS A SCREENWRITER
    • WRITING HORROR
    • GETTING YOUR IDEA ONTO THE PAGE
    • HOW TO CLAIM THE UK INDEPENDENT FILM TAX CREDIT
  • RESOURCES
    • VOUCHERS
    • SCREENWRITING FAQS
    • HOW TO WRITE A WINNING TREATMENT
    • ONLINE CLASSROOM
    • SCREENWRITING ARTICLES
    • SCRIPT FORMATS AND FREE DOWNLOADS
    • DEVELOPING YOUR SCREENWRITING CAREER
    • SCREENWRITING LINKS
  • COMPETITION
    • ENTER HERE
    • WINNERS 2025
    • INTERVIEW WITH A WINNER
    • PREVIOUS WINNERS
    • THE EUROSCRIPT TREATMENT BAROMETER REPORT
  • ABOUT
    • OUR BOARD
    • DISCOUNT INFO
    • OUR PARTNERS
    • SUCCESS STORIES
    • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • CONTACT US
  • BLOG
  • THE SCRIPT CLINIC

How’s It Going In Hollywood?

16/3/2025

1 Comment

 
James Bartlett, Euroscript's man on the ground, gives us the lowdown
​All of 2024’s top 10 grossing movies were sequels, or stories with previously established characters.

​Three of them grossed over a billion dollars, with one (Despicable Me 4) close to that benchmark. In 2023, two movies grossed over a billion dollars (Barbie and the Super Mario Bros Movie, believe it or not). Oppenheimer was also close, at $975m or so). 
Picture

Clearly the movies aren’t dead.

So why are the studios and streamers laying people off left and right, and what's the outlook for stories that seem to be - gasp - original?

​There are reasons why the industry is on the ropes. 

There’s COVID of course, which helped streaming become an even more regular part of our viewing experience, while the recent actor/writer strikes stopped everything here in Hollywood, and things were very slow to get going again.
Picture
The recent fires that blasted across huge swathes of Los Angeles affected the industry; movie-related businesses were burned out, and many people above and below the line lost their homes. Lots of them will leave the state to start again somewhere else.

On an even more practical level, some regular shooting locations are now gone forever.
​
Then there are the worries about A.I. writing scripts, reading scripts, and essentially putting everyone out of a job, at least once they have enough data to replicate everything so accurately and effectively that audiences don’t realize nor care.  
Picture

​So why bother to write your screenplay and go through the process of entering a competition, or trying to attract a producer, or get funding of some kind?

And more than that, what chance has your speculative or “spec” script (i.e. one that hasn’t been commissioned and is usually by a new writer) got anyway?

As a glance online will tell you, many spec scripts have been made into movies, including Thelma & Louise, Good Will Hunting, American Beauty, The Long Kiss Goodnight and the recent Nike/Michael Jordan drama Air. 

​Spec scripts still sell, too.

Recent sales like Break, a drama about two pool hustlers, or Three Hitmen and a Baby (no need to guess what that’s about; a good title and memorable high concept idea are always crucial) may be familiar-sounding – especially in the latter case – but they still sold: there was something there. 

And why? Because the monster still, always, needs to be fed. 
Picture
Millions are watching and want content, and so it will be the best stories – and the best writers of those stories – that will win through, especially in terms of new or emerging talent (and even more experienced players), because producers and studios, now as ever, are looking for writers who can ideally write in any genre.

Being able to do this makes you more employable for longer.
​
For writers, arguably the most perfect time is when you’re writing and rewriting your script and it hasn’t been sent out anywhere yet. You are unlimited by budget, or time, or realities: you can write a $500 million space adventure, or a one-room two-hander. 
Picture
Whether it gets made or not is another matter – it probably won’t, as almost nothing does – but if you can show your knowledge and skills with plot, structure, dialogue, characters and the other crucial elements, then there is a chance you could have a career doing something you love.

That’s still worth trying for, no matter how bad things look today (and remember, a movie will take a year or two or more to get made, if it even gets that far, and by then things will be different again anyway).

​After all, the late and legendary screenwriter William Goldman, whose spec script for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, summed up the movie business perfectly and accurately by saying something that still applies today:

“Nobody knows anything.”
Picture
For more articles, updates and info on our workshops and courses . . .
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR SCREENWRITING COMMUNITY

About James Bartlett

James initially worked in UK, Ireland and EU developmental funding, providing project assessment for short and feature initiatives. 

Since moving to LA in 2004 he has worked for commercial studio, production and management companies, continuing to partner with UK and Irish agencies.

​He has read for scriptwriting competitions including the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, AFI, WGA and Sundance.

He has also assessed scripts for National Geographic Films, New Regency, the New Zealand Film Commission and private clients.

Alongside script reading and story editing, he is also a travel/lifestyle journalist and award-winning true crime author.
Please leave a comment on the article and let us know your thoughts and questions!
1 Comment

    RSS Feed

    BLOG

    THE ONLY PLACE TO TALK ABOUT THE CRAFT OF SCRIPTWRITING.

    Archives

    May 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    August 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    April 2023
    October 2022
    February 2022
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013


    CATEGORIES

    All
    Beginning
    Character
    Competitions
    Conspiracy Theory
    Descriptions
    Dialogue
    Editing
    Emotion
    First Draft
    Genre
    Horror
    Mental Game
    Money
    Pitch
    Premise
    Protagonist
    Rocketry
    Scenes
    Science Fiction
    Screenplay Structure
    Screenwriting Technique
    Script Reading
    Second Draft
    Tips
    Treatments
    Werner Von Braun
    Your Next Script

    RSS Feed

Picture
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR SCREENWRITING COMMUNITY
Privacy Policy © Euroscript Limited 2020
  • HOME
  • HIRE A WRITER
  • FEEDBACK
    • SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
    • FEEDBACK
    • One-hour chat
    • Feedback for Partners
  • EVENTS
  • CALENDAR
    • TELLING TRUE STORIES
    • HOW TO MAKE IT AS A SCREENWRITER
    • WRITING HORROR
    • GETTING YOUR IDEA ONTO THE PAGE
    • HOW TO CLAIM THE UK INDEPENDENT FILM TAX CREDIT
  • RESOURCES
    • VOUCHERS
    • SCREENWRITING FAQS
    • HOW TO WRITE A WINNING TREATMENT
    • ONLINE CLASSROOM
    • SCREENWRITING ARTICLES
    • SCRIPT FORMATS AND FREE DOWNLOADS
    • DEVELOPING YOUR SCREENWRITING CAREER
    • SCREENWRITING LINKS
  • COMPETITION
    • ENTER HERE
    • WINNERS 2025
    • INTERVIEW WITH A WINNER
    • PREVIOUS WINNERS
    • THE EUROSCRIPT TREATMENT BAROMETER REPORT
  • ABOUT
    • OUR BOARD
    • DISCOUNT INFO
    • OUR PARTNERS
    • SUCCESS STORIES
    • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • CONTACT US
  • BLOG
  • THE SCRIPT CLINIC