To Write For LA Do You Have To Live Here?

(re-posted from Virtual Pitchfest)

     I had drinks with a lovely former Chicago Screenwriters Network board member a few weeks ago at one of my favorite happy hour haunts, The Hudson. You’re welcome for the plug.

     After a couple of glasses of Malbec and small talk, Denise finally asked the million-dollar question.

     “Sooooo Colin, do I have to move to LA?”

      “Yes.”

      What I am about to say will upset many friends who don’t live in earthquake country. They will argue that one can still become a working screenwriter while not living in LA or New York.

     No you can’t. There is no argument.

     This is not meant to dash dreams. Without dreams, you can’t have optimism and hope. What I mean to do is give you a realistic portrayal of the landscape and help your dreams come to fruition.

      First, there are great independent films being made every day in places like Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago. God knows Chicago-based Dreaming Tree Pictures produced my first feature, The Stream.

      However, if your dream is to become the next Mark Protosevich, Shonda Rhimes or Chris Terrio, then you have no choice but to spend significant time in Los Angeles.

      Look, I know you can option or sell a script living elsewhere. I have. Screenwriting contests and wonderful sites like Virtual Pitchfest, Danny Manus’ No Bull-Script Consulting and Jennifer Grisanti’s Writers on the Verge allow writers, who were once cut off from the entertainment capitol, to show off their talents.

      However, they don’t immerse you in the film industry. And that plays a big role, if not bigger, in becoming a screenwriter.

     I’m not talking about coming out here and trying to take meetings. As a beginning screenwriter, you won’t. I am talking about living an ordinary life in LA.

      Immersion in LA can lead to writing opportunities that cannot happen anywhere else. A visit to a friend’s house led to selling an animated pilot to Russell Simmons’ digital network. A trip to the W-Hotel led to trading cards with Curb Your Enthusiasm’s showrunner. Sitting at a table at the WGA awards turned into a wedding invitation from a producer. Things like this will just not happen elsewhere, except maybe New York.

      I know moving to LA is easier said than done. There are responsibilities, families and mortgages to consider. I also don’t want you to think that once you come out here that studios will suddenly open their gates and roll out the red carpet. You’re more likely to attend a taping of The Price is Right.

      But if you do move here, you are putting yourself in a better position to win. And that is the key.

      I’m not saying my life out here is perfect. Far from it. Every day, I question if I made the right choice. I miss my daughters and girlfriend to the point that it hurts. But, I want to be a working screenwriter. The only way to do that is to be here.

      Feel free to yell at me. Spit on this posting. But then think really hard.

      And move.