A Screenwriter’s Life Beyond the Page: How Your Reputation Builds Your Career

January 10, 2026January 3, 2026 ~ Scriptcat ~ Leave a comment

It’s a given that you must possess some talent as a screenwriter, but if your reputation is less than stellar, it may be harder for you to establish a career with steady work. Your reputation will always precede you, and it can only be built over time as you work on various projects with professionals and gain experience. If you build a negative reputation of being a difficult screenwriter, producers will most likely work with you again.

My experience has been that producers will hire a team player over a pain in the ass that has no regard for professionalism. Hollywood is a business of relationships and people generally like to work with talent they can trust. So, how do you build a solid reputation as a screenwriter? You show producers the best of your work ethic, professionalism, and talent. Do yourself a favor early in your career, never be late for meetings, and never get testy or show your frustration about script notes. Always go the extra mile on the project, no matter how big or small your salary. Surprise your producers by delivering your drafts early but always on schedule. Show them you’re a hard-working collaborator they can trust to deliver the goods on time.

Pay close attention to the hundreds of details that a project demands. It’s your chance to hold a unique position during the film’s production—being a repository of knowledge for the director, producer, and actors because you are the genesis of the screenplay. If they’re smart, they will keep you around as an asset to help make the film better. Always keep your eye on the goal of making the best movie possible. This will require you viewing yourself as a collaborator and taking your ego out of the mix. Your work is done unless you do on-set rewrites, but the director and producer’s jobs continue as the movie goes into production. If you’ve created a production ready screenplay, it makes their jobs easier. During production, you will lend the team any support needed to complete the movie. This will enhance your working relationship with them.

Initially, you may not receive the praise that you feel you deserve for your hard work on the project. That’s okay. If praise is your way of feeling validated, you should look elsewhere because there are too many egos on a production sucking the air out of the praise balloon. Find your praise in the personal satisfaction of having a film produced and being paid—the rest is just hot air. Over the long haul, your patience and understanding will eventually pay off with the praise of a professional screenwriting career.

Every new project is a chance to build new relationships and to show producers, executives, and directors they can trust your integrity. If you promise to do something—follow up and do it every time. Integrity is a commitment followed up by action and for some people it’s a hard discipline to master. If this doesn’t come easy for you, work daily on becoming a person of your word. As you build your integrity and reputation, your relationships will learn they can count on you, and your word means something. It’s a vital part of living the life of a professional in all aspects of your screenwriting career.

I recall during the pre-production of one of my films, the director was in another state busy scouting locations and we kept in touch every day. When he needed changes to the script, he would call or e-mail me, and I would have the revised pages back to him the next morning. He knew that he could trust me to deliver what he needed to produce the film properly and within the budget. I knew that he respected and trusted me as his collaborator, so I made a pact with myself to never let him, the production, or myself down.

Your solid reputation is out there representing you and the producers, directors, and executives who only like to work with people they can trust to deliver the goods. I was gratified recently to hear a story from a director who ran into another director whom he knows, and both talked about what a pleasure it was to work with me on their separate films. I was overjoyed to hear that my reputation was solid and properly representing me in the film business, exactly as I’ve worked hard to build it over the years.

Another example of how your reputation will get you work — two weeks after my recent film premiered on television, the producer called and hired me for a three-day rewrite job as a script doctor on a screenplay in pre-production. My professional reputation made him consider me but also our successful working relationship together on the previous film.

When you take your meetings, it’s best to show up early as a good first impression sticks, and a bad impression is hard to erase. Make sure you’re always ten to fifteen minutes early and ready to go. The same goes for your screenwriting deadlines. Strive to turn in your draft early but always on schedule. At some point, it’s become industry standard protocol for producers or executives to make you wait before meetings. It’s like going to the doctor’s office where your appointment is at 11:00 and you don’t see the doctor until 11:30. As frustrating as this may be in the film business, it’s their prerogative to be late and not yours.

Build your reputation as the team player that shows up early and is always ready to meet any challenge. If you’re habitually late, you’ll harm your reputation as they ponder: “Can I trust this writer? If he or she doesn’t even have the respect to show up on time, why would the script come in on schedule?” It’s a reasonable assumption to make based upon a screenwriter’s unprofessional attitude. A producer’s actions are out of your control, but what you do control is your commitment to your craft and being a person of your word. Always remember, your reputation is equally as important as your talent and attitude, so build your integrity as a professional and it will produce a career of solid working relationships.

Keep writing because if you stop — you’re guaranteed never to have any chance at success.

Scriptcat out!

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Did you just complete your new screenplay? Congrats! Time for in-depth consultation? Check out my screenplay consultation services by clicking on the icon below for the link to my website and more information. Blog readers take advantage of my end of the year discount — take $25 off through January 31st, 2026 with discount code MY BLANK PAGE when scheduling your feature or TV pilot package. You never get a second chance to make a first great impression so take the time to get it right.

56 FIVE STAR REVIEWS! Now available on AMAZON my new screenwriting book. If your passion drives you to embark on this crazy adventure of a screenwriting career, you’ll need to prepare for survival in Hollywood’s trenches. Talent is important, but so is your professionalism and ability to endure criticism, rejection, and failure over the long haul. The odds may be stacked against you, but the way to standout in this very competitive business is to create a solid body of work and build a reputation as a team player and collaborator. The rest is just luck — a prepared screenwriter who meets with an opportunity and delivers the goods. “A Screenwriter’s Journey to Success” will help you prepare for your own journey with the necessary, tips, tricks and tactics that I’ve developed over the past twenty years of working in the film industry. It’s time to start living your dream as a screenwriter in Hollywood.

“When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write. You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there. You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again”—Ernest Hemingway

“Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out.”—Martin Scorsese

“The problem is that screenwriters don’t focus enough on storytelling.”—Scott Frank

“Take a person like Picasso, you know, who does double profiles and has gone through cubism and God knows what, but he knows every muscle in the human body. If you ask him to draw the figure of a man or a woman, there wouldn’t be a muscle out of place. You’ve got to know your craft in order to express the art.”—Alfred Hitchcock

Do You Really Need to Live in Hollywood to Establish Your Screenwriting Career?

January 3, 2026February 1, 2026 ~ Scriptcat ~ Leave a comment

I’m often asked this question by screenwriters who live outside of Hollywood and my answer remains the same—it’s far easier to live in the center of the film business and build your network from the inside, than living somewhere else and only having that access via the internet or phone. When screenwriters who do not live in the Los Angeles area make some noise with their scripts, they set up a series of meetings in person or on Zoom, and if they need to do in person meetings, they can fly to Hollywood to plant their flag wherever they found victory on the field of battle. After their goodwill tour, they return home and stay in contact, but unless they have an agent or manager helping navigate the choppy waters, they may be at a disadvantage because they cannot just walk out their front door, travel around their town, and meet new film professionals at any given time.

The primary advantage of screenwriters who live in the Los Angeles area is the daily access they have to screenings, parties, events, premieres, workshops, and classes where they can meet film professionals on every level of success—from the biggest producers and directors to other screenwriting aspirants, to working actors and screenwriters, and even production executives, managers, and agents. On any given night in Los Angeles, you can find screenings, premieres, or networking events where you can meet the filmmakers in person and see their latest films.

Another important opportunity the town affords is the variety of filmmaking panels, workshops, classes, and writer’s groups where you can meet, network, and learn from filmmaking professionals. Your interaction will strengthen your knowledge of your craft, but also opens the possibilities of finding a mentor who you can apprentice under. These networking opportunities can also build your relationships with the assistants and junior executives. They can become your eyes and ears on the ground for valuable information about the business as they chart the course of their higher career aspirations. You probably would not have this type of access in a small town or city where filmmaking may not an established industry.

It’s all about access. As a beginning screenwriter, you probably wouldn’t get a chance to meet a big producer, but if you ran into his eager assistant who was looking for the next great American screenplay, you’d better offer a quality project that represents the best of your ability. Back in the day when I was first starting out, my girlfriend at the time had a friend who was an assistant, and she gave my spec to another assistant who championed the project. Eventually, he convinced his boss to option my script and later their company produced it into my second film. You never know where your film industry encounters will lead, so build your contacts into personal relationships who can help on your journey to success.

Years ago when I was first starting out, I joined my friends for drinks and my buddy struck up a conversation at the bar with a woman about the film industry because he works in entertainment law. When he learned that she was the assistant to one of the biggest producers in Hollywood, he introduced me and we chatted about the industry, the films that I had written, and my current projects. Ultimately, our conversation didn’t materialize with any traded contact information, but it was a possibility. What if she had offered to read one of my projects? What if I had a mutual relationship with someone she knows or had worked with before? That’s why you always need solid projects ready for when opportunity presents itself. If you’re out meeting new people, you never know when you will have personal access to film industry professionals outside of their protected work environment. Trust me, assistants always look for that next big project to kick their career up to the next level. They do not plan on being assistants forever and they’re always looking for ways of moving up. The ticket to their success is finding a gem of a screenplay for their boss.

There is no shortage of self-produced projects being developed in Hollywood by aspiring filmmakers looking to collaborate with other like-minded artists. If you live in the Hollywood area, you have more chances to work at all levels of the business from a web series to indie films, to short films, student films, self-produced TV pilots, and pilot presentations. Hollywood is a business of networking and it’s easier to find and build those relationships if you’re personally here in the mix. You never know which aspiring director or producer you just worked with who goes on to make it big and wants to work with you again. If you have no credits, you just have to jump in and risk of your time to work on a project with no pay because it’s a beginning filmmaker with a vision but no budget. Again, it’s about being in a place where you have better access to a variety of opportunities that will help you gain the necessary experience in the film business.

Sure, it’s possible to live away from Hollywood and establish a screenwriting career, but it may take longer. You may miss opportunities to network and build the necessary relationships that you don’t have in a small town, or even a big city with no film industry. When you live outside of Hollywood, you don’t see the tremendous level of competition around you daily because you’re sequestered away in a place where probably few aspire to become filmmakers. Once you’re in Los Angeles, it will become painfully obvious when you walk into any coffee house and find dozens of people writing screenplays on their laptops. Seeing the odds in front of you can help motivate and fuel your drive, focus, and resolve to write. As I have mentioned before, the only competition should really be with yourself as you strive to become a better screenwriter. You are not competing now with J.J. Abrams or Rian Johnson for jobs.

If you live outside of Hollywood, you are married with children and have a steady job, it’s going to be more difficult to throw caution to the wind and move everyone out to California while you try to build your career. This “do or die” mentality and the added pressure to “make it” will affect everyone’s lives and create a poisonous anxiety. Better to stay put and throw your hat into Hollywood’s ring only when you finish a viable project that is ready to compete on a professional level.

If you are single with no attachments, this may be the time to take the leap and find out if you really have what it takes to achieve any level of success in screenwriting. It reminds me of when I went skydiving for the first time. When I stood in the airplane’s open doorway and gazed out at the empty sky, I knew it was a defining moment. I could have easily turned back and allowed my fears to control me, but I knew it was “go time” and that I had to jump. After a count of three, I leapt into the void and never felt so alive and present in any moment.

All artists have their own definition of success and what achievements will clearly define “making it” in the film business. You may find that your definition of success changes at some point on the long haul of your marathon. I have friends who laid down the strict edict that if they didn’t achieve “A-level” success, then it wasn’t worth the years of struggle and rejection only to end up with less than being at the top. I’m at a place in my life where I’m perfectly happy making a living from my dreams and doing what I love to do. I’m blessed because I wake up in the morning and get to create for a living. I’ve had many other jobs over the years while I was trying to break into the film business because we all have to pay the bills as we pursue our dreams. When I finally reached a level of success where I could jump off the cliff and soar as a screenwriter, I did it without fear and never looked back.

If you’re blessed with a huge screenplay sale that launches your career and you become a busy working screenwriter, you can live anywhere in the world, fly to Hollywood when it’s necessary for meetings, and live outside of the madness and high cost of living. If you are a beginning screenwriter trying to establish new ground and find success, eventually you will need to physically be around the film business to build the relationships necessary to stay in the game.

The reality is that regardless of where you live, a small Midwest town or in the heart of Hollywood, you’ll never launch your career if you don’t master the craft of screenwriting. Never allow yourself to be seduced into the trap of screenwriting for fame and fortune. You’ll waste so much precious time chasing that elusive ghost and end up either emotionally or financially broken—or both. Hollywood is notorious for its unforgiving dark side that has gutted and chewed up many a naïve dreamer. You must always strive on making your screenplay a showcase of your talents. The only real chance at success isn’t based on where you live but your words on the page.

Keep writing because if you stop—you’re guaranteed never to have any chance at success.

Scriptcat out!

Subscribe to my YOUTUBE CHANNEL for over 145 videos with weekly tips to help you survive in the trenches.

Blog readers take advantage of my end of the year discount — take $25 off through February 28, 2026 with discount code MY BLANK PAGE when scheduling your feature package or TV pilot package. You never get a second chance to make a first great impression so take the time to get it right.

Click on the book cover above for the link to Amazon and more information.

The only good writing is intuitive writing. It would be a big bore if you knew where it was going. It has to be exciting, instantaneous and it has to be a surprise. Then it all comes blurting out and it’s beautiful. I’ve had a sign by my typewriter for 25 years now which reads, ‘Don’t Think!’”—Ray Bradbury

“Reading, in the showbiz game, is work. Drudgery even—antithetical, I might argue, to why most writers toil. We write to be read. Hopefully enjoyed. Even to later be complimented. But most importantly, we’d like to know that we entertained. That the reader either laughed or was moved to tears or struck by some worthy emotion summoned by the strings of words we’ve chosen.”—screenwriter Doug Richardson.

“You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen”—Joseph Campbell

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