How Screenwriters Should Embrace The Creator Economy

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The traditional routes for screenwriters to get their projects financed and produced have long been rickety and fraught with too many contingency plans and risky business and distribution models.

The streamlined script pitching, optioning purchasing, development, and film financing pipeline is becoming less common in today’s creator-led economy where screenwriters are actively taking the helm and bypassing traditional writer for hire or script sale avenue. This often means less interference from studio heads or a half dozen or so producers attached to an independent film, each taking their fee from the production budget. On the place side, being a content creator allows the majority of creative control to reside with you and your vision.

So what’s a screenwriter who’s not so business minded to do? Shouldn’t your writing speak for itself and your representatives package and sell your work and hustle for open writing assignments? That’s what they’re paid to do. Yes, but the good news is that you now have a lot more control over your screenwriting career. The “wait and see how the industry responds” attitude is no longer relevant.

If you’re a screenwriter, most of the responsibility of completing a script rests with you.

The virtues of being labelled a creator and your writing as content can be discussed elsewhere. Furthermore, creators aren’t generally seen as writers. They make videos, podcasts, presentations, social media memes and reels and other… content.

Screenwriters should rejoice how we are spoiled for choice with the plethora of content options available to achieve our primary aim of getting your name and work in the universe and hopefully into the hands of people who can shepherd it into a film or television series.

Our problem has now been reframed from not having enough opportunities for writers to having too many. Granted, the brave new world is overwhelming and you’ll need to learn a new skills set – most of which are easier than writing that screenplay you’re so passionate about.

Content creation is in the rise with solid business models to build a community for your work and subscribers and advertisers to contribute to your multi-pronged revenue stream – aka moolah!

Short form content with a solid fan base can lead to long form projects

Kane Parsons (The Backrooms)

New Industry Entry Points

The old film and television model typically relies on going to film school to learn basic technical skills, making a film – either self-funded or low-budget through grants or creative crowdfunding, screening it at a bunch of film festivals and waiting for the recognition, awards, and offers to pour in. Perhaps it was never that linear.

That first feature or short film that buzzed at Sundance, SXSW, or even Cannes was the first step in a many a filmmaker’s career trajectory.

The treadmill of getting the increasingly risk-averse power movers to notice you and believe in your artistic career is time-consuming and exhausting. It may have been necessary in the past due to a lack of viable alternatives. Quite frankly, it was demeaning. Why should you be wasting your time convincing these decision makers of your worth? Many have been so paralyzed by financial concerns, they’ve diminished their ability to judge artistic merit.

Now you can build your own community and you will find people wanting to know how to help in the unlikeliest of places. Rich dentists and doctors wanting to sponsor the arts and reduced their tax liabilities are still part of the equation, but filmmakers have so many more options now. Not only in terms of producing a completed short of feature film. You have the option of making a proof of concept, filming discussions, read throughs, locations, interviews with cast and crew to build awareness – at very low cost.

Nicolas Alayo, Kaleigh Bleu Howland and Christian Sullivan

Bypass the Intermediaries

Even if you manage to get your film made and screened at a film festival or industry event, it still needs to be acquired by distributors, and subsequently, exhibitors to amplify audiences. This ecosystem is as inefficient as trying to keep your house warm during a snowstorm when all the doors and windows are open.

So savvy filmmakers – apologies, content creators – are looking at more streamlined direct-to-consumer models. Think of it as a farm-to-table restaurant where the food is fresher. The experience is more intimate.

That’s not to say that traditional distribution and exhibition practices no longer have a place in the process. Try releasing your summer movie on 3000 screens on your own – even with over 100,000 social media followers.

Build Community

Every industry-disrupting career success is built on this one principle. People have to want to spend time with you. They want to get to know you and bond with you before they attach to your project. Call them paying customers, disciples, followers, contributors, or consumers – the principle is the same.

This step is foundational regardless of your platform of choice. Then you build an ecosystem where new fans sign up and you and your projects build momentum. Whether you write a poem, screenplay, novel, or make a proof of concept video for TikTok or YouTube, it’s all community-building.

Marketers deliberately use terms like “from the writer of ….” or “from the people that brought you…” for a reason. You have earned and sustained that trust with audiences. They want to see your film succeed and spread the word. In turn, you need to satisfy their expectations so they return with more followers. This is career momentum.

Curry Barker. (Obsession)

Identity Path

Both Markiplier (Iron Lung) and Curry Barker (Obsession) initially made comedy sketches on YouTube to find their voice, rhythm, and tone. Curiously, they both wound up making horror films without begging studios for cash. Studios enticed them later to see how they could help distribute it. The big fish see an opportunity. Youo’re job is to taste good.

In the case of stand up comics like Gabriel Iglesias and Kevin Hart, they become content creators in their own right, moving on to write, direct, and produce. Similarly, consider actors from sketch shows like SNL who subsequently established successful careers after moving on.

Short Form Paths

Kane Parsons achieved success in The Backrooms – the 9-minute YouTube video that is being adapted into a feature film. Check out his Kane Pixels channel. Parsons experimented with mood, dread, and anticipation in his horror film rather than chasing cheap jump scares. He posted new videos consistently to keep viewers engaged before he was offered his deal.

Similarly, Eavesdropping, a romantic-comedy series built on snippets of conversations, created by Nicolas Alayo, Kaleigh Bleu Howland, and Christian Sullivan is setting the internet abuzz. It explores non-traditional short formats – in this case two friends talking about about the nuances of the boundaries between friends and lovers.

They tested the theory of expanding their short form format into long form and it paid off.

These short form formats can even translate to online web series like Anthony DiMieri’s Subway Takes. It has a distinct guerrilla documentary style. This not only sharpened his storytelling skills, it also led to feature projects.

Conclusion

There is no single path to a successful career as a content creator.

Executives are always looking for great stories to support. Start small. Start personal. Gauge reactions in real time. Figure out which ones honor your vision and are worth implementing. Course correct and stay true to your vision.

The key here is experimentation. These pathways will not replace feature films. They are a petri dish where ideas can be developed and tested.