To Spec Or Not To Spec

(Repost from Virtual Pitchfest)

“I love your writing. Love your script. I have an idea and I’m wondering if you could…”

Okay writers, raise your hands if you know what’s coming next. For those of you who guessed, “…write it. It would be on spec, but I promise I can set it up,” you get a gold star.

If you guessed, “I’m not a writer, but there is an (INSERT agent, exec, actor) very interested in reading it,” then I’m taking you out for ice cream!

For a group who aggressively seduces daily with our prose, we sure do allow ourselves to be lured into writing on spec fairly easily. I mean who can resist an actress batting her eyes and working her cleavage to beg us for a short? Or the excited producer, in a pretty swanky office, who wants you to sweat out two years writing their idea, but has no financing?

Happens more often than not, especially for beginners. We as screenwriters want our voices to be heard. We dream and drool about it and we will usually take any chance as an opportunity to fulfill our singular dream of becoming a working screenwriter.

Yeah, no.

Don’t get me wrong. We have to write specs. In between write-for-hire jobs, I work on my specs. MY SPECS. We have stories to tell. For me, the spec ends there. Writing, as I have said, is a business. Heck, filmmaking is a business. Why wouldn’t the one thing that producers, actors and directors all need to make a film be one, too?

There are a couple of reasons I will not write on spec for anyone. First, I am WGA. Thank god. The union actually protects us from writing for free. Another deal-breaker for me is not having any rights to the spec once it is completed. I had a situation where I put eight years into a spec screenplay. It was set up a couple of times, but never made it to the finish line. The rights reverted back to the producer. My payment – Thank you.

Spec sales are hard and rare these days. Just check The Tracking Board. Even the Christopher McQuarries of the world have a difficult time selling something that is their own work. Depending on someone else to sell an idea you may or may not be so passionate about is rolling the dice.

However, if you do decide to roll the dice, at least take steps to ensure you rights. Decide upfront how the money will be split. If someone says they will split it fifty/fifty with you and you are doing all of the writing that is wrong. They should only receive a percentage of the story. If they balk, walk.

If they say wait for financing, ask for the script’s rights after three years. You are going to spend possibly from one to two years working on someone else’s idea. Make sure you are getting something.

Remember, writing is a biz. Don’t let someone, no matter how great the promises or cleavage are, give you the business.