Liberating original screenplays

I’ve been lucky. Over a period of twenty years I’ve been hired again and again and I’ve had eight of my scripts produced. I have written feature-length films, worked on series, crafted adaptations ... and then there are the New York City specs I've written at the beginning of my screenwriting life.

Specs are ‘speculative scripts’, original screenplays not written on commission, but instead labors of love, passion projects, screenplays writers craft to make an impression, get through a door, attract an agent, generate interest. Specs most often don’t sell. Instead they are hugely valuable as calling cards, proof that a writer can tell a story and is worth considering for a hired gig. Most writers have written at least half a dozen specs before they get their first paid writing assignment.

What then happens to those countless specs screenwriters have poured their hearts and souls into? What happens to them is dust. Most specs end up on a shelf and remain there for good. They may have served their purpose as a calling card – but beyond that? That lovingly woven tale will never reach an audience, it'll never have people on the edge of their seats, it'll never induce goosebumps, tears, thrills, it'll never scare, it'll never make people laugh out loud. That spec on that shelf, abandoned and forgotten, will only ever collect dust and more dust. 

It doesn't seem right, it doesn't feel right. Those stories were written with as much passion as authors put into their novels. They're different forms of writing, yes. And the screenplay's ultimate goal is the silver screen ... but when that doesn't happen - why should such scripts be lost to the dust? Scripts have their very own merit. 

For the past few years I’ve focused writing on novels (two of them actually inspired by specs > more on that here). Looking at my old specs again, I’ve realized just how much they mean to me – and just how much I owe them. They've opened doors, they've delivered as reading samples, they got me agents, they got me jobs ... but they never sold. The characters in these stories never got to be discovered by the world out there. I figured it was time to change that.

I've now taken my first half dozen original screenplays and published them on Amazon - no frills, no additions, no changes. I've simply adjusted the format as it makes for easier reading for a broader audience. These original screenplays have been on the shelf for some twenty-five years. Every spec’s chance of ever being bought and produced is always minimal at best. And, sure, that may still happen one fine day with any of these stories - heck, one never knows. But I’m done leaving these stories to the dust until such time, because these characters deserve the opportunity to come alive – if not on screen, then in readers’ minds.