How to get paid as a Screenwriter

In this session, our focus will be on all the steps you need to take to position yourself so you can actually get paid as a writer. It’s all about building trust and reputation, and proving you’ve got the writing chops to deliver. It won’t happen overnight, but there are things you can be doing right now to ensure that further down the line producers and financiers will pay for your services. And what should you expect when that time comes? We’ll answer any questions about that journey to the money.

When: Wednesday June 18th at 7:00pm
Where: Online Zoom Video Call
Cost: Free for MFJF PRO Members!

Content

It All Starts with Script...and Status

• Learning and Consolidating your Craft
• Creating an Effective Portfolio and Making Your Work Industry-Ready
• Laying Other Creative Foundations
• Figuring Out Where Your Income Comes From Before It Comes From Writing

Understanding the Industry You’re Trying to Enter

• Reading Trades
• Learning Who’s Who
• Film or TV? Or both?
• Knowing When to Go Out: Prepping Your Pitch

How Do I Get My Script to the Right People?

• Getting Past the Gatekeepers
• Constructing the Right Network
• Crafting Your Own Unique Path
• Not Giving Up: Persistence and Perseverance

When it Finally Happens!

• What Sort Of Money Can I Expect?
• What’s an Option, and Why is it Useful?
• Payment Stages
• How Do I Get an Agent (and Do I Really Need One)?
• Sustaining a Career Longer-Term

Course Leaders

Jon Gilbert

Jon is a screenwriter with a twin passion for psychological thrillers and human interest stories, who has developed projects with production companies including Kudos, Big Talk, Range and Bedlam, as well as with the BFI, and collaborated with directors such as Joel Schumacher and Jaume Collet-Serra.

He wrote for the Channel 5/Netflix thriller THE TEACHER, starring Sheridan Smith, and C5’s LOVE RAT, with Sally Lindsey and Neil Morrisey, as well as co-writing award-winning feature film THE ZIGZAG KID, starring Isabella Rossellini.

Jon started out in the industry reading scripts for Universal Pictures, the Works, and the BFI, subsequently working extensively as a teacher and script consultant at places such as the London Film School and the Met Film School, where he was a senior screenwriting tutor and Programme Leader of the BA in Practical Filmmaking.

Tickets

This workshop is for MFJF Pro Members. To join and participate create your account on MFJF and then upgrade to become a PRO Member.

Eligibility

Any MFJF Pro Member can attend regardless of prior film industry experience or knowledge.

No experience is required, if you are simply curious about a career in film or are a recent film graduate we welcome you to join us.

Please look at our Career Stages Pathways to understand where your experience lies in the grand scheme of things, it will help you navigate and plan your next steps.

This workshop is for Stage 1, 2 and 3 members.