Melissa Samaroo - The Complete Guide to Writing a Successful Screenplay: Everything You Need to Know to Write and Sell a Winning Script

A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.

Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.

We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bears memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.

Douglas and Sherri Brown

PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:

• Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.
• Support local and no-kill animal shelters.
• Plant a tree to honor someone you love.
• Be a developer put up some birdhouses.
• Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.
• Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.
• Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.
• Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.
• Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.
• If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.
• Support your local farmers market.
• Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.

Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.

Disclaimer

The material in this book is provided for informational purposes and as a general guide to writing a screenplay only. Basic definitions of laws are provided according to the status of the laws at the time of printing; be sure to check for a change or update in laws. This book should not substitute professional and legal counsel for selling your screenplay.

Author Dedication

For Gabriel, who is amazing,
and for my family, who helped to make him that way.

Introduction

These days, everyone wants to be a star. However, some people dream of more than appearing in front of the camera. Sure, the glitz and the glamour sound good. The paycheck must be nice. Compared to a regular nine-to-five job, the work seems easy. Reading a finished script and preparing to shoot a movie must be fun and glamorous. But wouldnt it be even better to craft the script?

For a writer, seeing his or her vision up on the big screen is the most rewarding experience, even if the movie is not a box office smash. Although the pay is certainly not that of a star, it is a sizeable amount. On average, a producer will pay between 2 and 5 percent of a movies total budget for a screenplay, even one coming from a first-time screenwriter, according to the Writers Guild of America. With the average wide-released movie costing $65 million, according to the Motion Picture Association of America, you have the potential to bring in $3.25 million from one script.

Yet crafting a script, shaping the idea for a movie, is appealing for a different set of reasons. After the script is completed and sold, the director, producer, and actors all will have a say. The final product might vary from the plan set out in the original script. Still, the writer first determines each detail and aspect of the set and story.