Does it take 10 years, or is it just a myth?

I dunno know, maybe you should ask Diablo Cody.

How many years do you have to wait now till you know it's not true?

(Because waiting is passive and being passive brings you nowhere... )

Seriously: let me turn the question upside down:
do you think someone looks at the startdate of a writer to see the 10 year criterium is met?

It varies. It depends on when you consider the starting point for when a writer must sell his/her script. So does this start date start at the inception of the script idea in your mind, the first moment you get interested in screenwriting, or when the script is finished? But even then, you'll find a variety of different ways people break in, and at different times. Some people take a few days after they've completed their script to sell it, some don't sell it at all, and some take years to sell. I wouldn't say it's a myth. There's probably some truth to it, but it's not something set in stone and treated like an unquestionable fact, like the 1 page = 1 minute rule.

victortiti89 said:

I've read that 10 years are required before someone sells a script and therefore "breaks in"(this is the term I keep reading and I think it means to establish a career) [...] why does it take so long?

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Why does that seem so long? Forget about the script part, and just think about the career part - how many careers are there where it doesn't take at least ten years to become really successful? There's always exceptions, in any field, but I'd say most of the time that's a pretty normal kind of timeframe for career success.

Well, I was at the Toronto International Film Conference in 2012, and a panelist, who is a lawyer, said that everyone had to put in their time before they could get into the business. That's been my experience too, and, after all these years, I've finally understood what I want from show biz.

But I'm a working professional with many years experience, so I'd look at things differently.

It's not a question of how many years, it's a question of persistent hard work and dedication.

Most of us, when we are young, think we know it all and are that brilliant exception to the rule. Yet even those one-in-a-million exceptions who succeed right out of the box when they are young still put in many, many hours and lots of very hard work - and most of them were extremely dedicated when they were very young in addition to being brilliant.


You want to sell a script. How many scripts have you written? How many of those scripts were vetted by someone with a proven track record? And on and on with the "how much?" and "what else have you done?" questions.


I had always wanted to be a musician. In high school I played piano for the chorus, keyboards for the jazz band, harpsichord in the baroque orchestra and two baroque ensembles, and played keyboards for the various school plays. Outside of school I played piano for a dance school and jammed with the obligatory bands. At 16 I became organist/choirmaster of a small church. After high school I dove in head first into original and cover/copy bands. From the age of 22 I did nothing but gigging to support myself, working my way up the ladder. At 27 I started performing with a well known oldies act at world famous venues. So it took me about nine (9) years. But all through it I put in the hours and the hard work. As a guesstimate I performed about 250 gigs a year, an average of four hours of actual performing at each gig. So after high school I put on over 9,000 hours, not including personal practicing and rehearsals, which is probably another 4,000+ hours, plus all of the non-productive but necessary "down" time ( driving to gigs, setting up, breaking down, breaks between sets, etc). Add to that the time spent keeping up with technology, networking at every opportunity, etc., etc., etc., I put in an awful lot of work. And yes, I had almost no personal life. So I put in the work both on and off stage - and it was the off stage work, and some luck, that got me the contact that eventually led to the Apollo Theatre, Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall. But I never would have gotten the gig if I did not have the talent and experience.


The point of all this drivel is that you need to work very hard at your craft PLUS work very hard at "marketing" yourself and networking. How many hours a week do you work at your craft? There's 168 hours in a week; how many of those to you put into your craft?

ItDonnedOnMe said:

Why does that seem so long? Forget about the script part, and just think about the career part - how many careers are there where it doesn't take at least ten years to become really successful? There's always exceptions, in any field, but I'd say most of the time that's a pretty normal kind of timeframe for career success.

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To sell a script means only to "break in". To make the first step. To begin the career. "Become successful", is to have many scripts sold, become known, become someone whom people want to work with. 2 different things. Becoming successful requires years, in any field. But the author's question was about STARTING the career.

Be prepared to spend 40 years and not sell a single script. It's a bleak landscape with absolutely no guarantees to sell a single thing. I have a friend who sold the first thing he ever wrote and it was produced. I know others that sold one script and nothing else.

You should have a backup plan. Nursing school is good.

victortiti89 said:

I've read that 10 years are required before someone sells a script and therefore "breaks in" (this is the term I keep reading and I think it means to establish a career)

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When I hear "break in" (as long as it's not a police show), my thought is "getting recognized as being a member of that community" or "getting started professionally". Selling or optioning a script is a signal that your writing has reached a level that other professionals (directors/producers) gauge your work at a professional level. Writing a script and having it made into a movie even if not for money is "breaking in" for many. Most indie productions are no/lo budgets. Optioning/selling a script is the next step up. As with any career, credentials accumulate. Required? Ridiculous!

victortiti89 said:

Is this idea true or it depends on each case?

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It depends on each case. As many have stated there are many factors: commitment of time & effort; talent; network of mentors & contacts; training; access; and admittedly a degree of luck. Though I believe if you work on the first five, you create your own luck--opportunities. If you are already a successful writer (novelist, blogger, etc.) then adapting that to screenwriting may not be a challenge. Diablo Cody (Brook Busey-Maurio) had achieved a level of success by publishing her memoirs and a parody blog. People judge her because of her choice to work as a stripper earlier in her life, which is stupidly closeminded. They ignore the fact that she graduated with a degree in Media Studies and had been a writer for "Entertainment Weekly", "City Pages" and wrote her novel "Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper" as well as her popular blog. With that experience, she was encouraged to write a screenplay by her manager. If you look at the biographies of many successful screenwriters, you will find a similar pattern. "Juno" was a first effort at screenwriting but she was creatively successful prior to that.

victortiti89 said:

If so, why does it take so long? Thanks for answering this!

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There are several reasons. Unless you are in the business 24/7, the entertainment industry is pretty chaotic to schedule around. Most of us have day jobs.

How long does it take to get a college degree? It should take 4 years. Some take longer. Others will breeze through in 2 years! Is success measured by the Bachelors, or do you need the Masters or Doctorate? Are you working your way through college? Others find the BA/BS doesn't go very far so they need to go back. Getting that MBA or PhD can translate to 10 or so years post high school.

Just as a degree takes longer if you only take classes half time, if you are a half-time writer, your efforts are not the same as a studio writers or readers hired to churn through scripts. Needless to say, competition is stiff and things go in and out of fashion. Even if you wrote an awesome comic superhero script, the studios already have "their best men on it" (established writer/directors on those projects).

As several have pointed out, when do you start the clock? How long does it take a novelist to convince a publisher of their story's merit? Having family and friends "in the business" can be a quick route. Being able to self-publish (or self-produce) is another. In that case, money is the great dis-equalizer. If you can crossover experience, as many actors and novelists do, you can appear to accomplish things quicker than normal. It takes time to learn the craft of screenwriting. It takes time to make connections.

In the past, one's only option was Hollywood for films and New York/Chicago for theater. Television made all three media centers. Today, the drop in the cost of technology and the available delivery platforms has made film and movie production less expensive (and potentially more profitable). As states have increased their tax incentives, Atlanta and Detroit and even New Mexico are becoming large film and television destinations for major studios. Kickstarter and Indiegogo have also contributed to changing the financial backing of indie films. Why is this important to your question?

Writer/directors have many more options now. And while writers will continue to have a difficult challenge breaking into the Hollywood writing market, there are new studios and production companies growing up around the country. Some have posted on IndieTalk looking for scripts. Opportunities abound but those big five need to be in place: time & effort, talent, training, connections and access. Access is becoming more open. Involvement will help with training and connections. Reading will also help with training. But only you can put in the time, effort and talent. I think "breaking in" can happen very quickly. Becoming successful takes time and effort which some screenwriters don't have. They think that one script will be their 'golden lottery ticket'. It's one thing to have a "great idea" that you really want to see made into a movie. The reality is, you keep that in your back pocket and push forward with lots of other projects, some which are not your own. When you are established, you pull it out, dust it off and go at it again.

If you put all your time and energy into this as a business, you could see some success in 2-3 years. If you have or develop connections, even sooner. If you put reasonable energy into it, most screenwriters will see some success within ten years. If it is a hobby, as Brian pointed out, you might never sell/option a script.

Can Computer Game Development, mainly storyboard writers or scenario developers, get a "window" into the movie industry?

Alcove Audio said:

Most of us, when we are young, think we know it all and are that brilliant exception to the rule. Yet even those one-in-a-million exceptions who succeed right out of the box when they are young still put in many, many hours and lots of very hard work - and most of them were extremely dedicated when they were very young in addition to being brilliant.

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Sometimes it's just dumb luck. There are literally hundreds of thousands of "young" (and old) writers who have attempted to write a script without really knowing what they are doing. Just because of the sheer numbers of attempts, the probability distribution dictates that a few of these people who otherwise don't know what they are doing, will get lucky and win the lottery.

But can they repeat it? And are they good examples?

OP, it's no different than playing Powerball. Dreamers focus on the one winner, but they don't consider the millions of people who otherwise employed a poor strategy for making money.

If you stick to learning the craft, and take a long term approach, no short-cuts, you can make it. Just like becoming a doctor or surgeon, you can't read a book and learn it overnight. How many years do you think those guys were in school? It takes a long time to get good at something that is so difficult, but if you make it, you'll appreciate all of your failures and hard times so much more.