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The words spoken by Donald Sutherland at the Academy Awards sent a chill down my spine. As Julian Fellowes won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for "Gosford Park", Mr. Sutherland read this as Mr. Fellowes walked to the stage: "This is Julian Fellowes' first Produced Screenplay."
The reason a chill went down my spine is due to the fact that every class I teach, I have those students who somehow think that this script they're writing is going to win the "Hollywood Lotto". That, somehow, their written words are going to transcend conventional wisdom and Mr. Big Producer from Really Big Studios is going to write them a check thirty seconds after reading their brilliant script.
What most first-time writers don't realize, is that this may very well be his FIRST produced screenplay, but if you look up his name on www.imdb.com you will find that he's been an actor in number of productions, written a mini-series for television, and produced "Gosford Park" too. So he's got a full rolodex, or Palm Pilot, that most first time screenwriters don't have.
Every class I teach, someone brings up Ben Affleck and Matt Damon winning for "Good Will Hunting" and, once again, I have to remind people: "Selling a screenplay doesn't occur in a vacuum." You need talent, you need connections, you need support, you need to create relationships. Some writers, indeed, think that the words they place on paper are somehow going to turn into gold. It's a looooong way to the gold with lots of miss-steps along the way (the Academy Award winner for "A Beautiful Mind" - Akiva Goldsman - also wrote: "Lost In Space - the Movie" which was universally hated by critics and a failure at the Box Office).
The sooner the new screenwriter realizes that writing and selling a screenplay is something that takes time, energy, persistence and, most importantly, a realistic and honest look at the way Hollywood works - the better.
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