Why It's Bad To Sell A Screenplay For $1 Million Dollars - Jeffrey Alan Schechter

I'd take the million in a heartbeat. That amount would cover my bills for a long time, allowing me to focus on writing and other career pursuits without the monthly existential dread.

The lesson here is have a good agent.

You can’t fall in love with your script unless you intend to direct it yourself.

If I could sell one screen play so I could just keep creating, I would be willing to sacrifice one of my creations to help more live.

This is an interesting interview if you can get past the title. It's not about a starving artist living on the streets turning down $1 million, it's about someone already in the industry realizing that the lucrative deal made him forget what it takes to maintain a long-term career. I'm sure Film Courage wouldn't air an interview where a wealthy screenwriter advises someone with no film credits or industry contacts to turn down a suitcase full of cash because they want to save their currently non-existent career. That would be crazy whack.

Whether or not you would sell your script for a million would heavily depend on the health and the financial situation of each individual writer. Though it may have been a bad choice for Jeffrey Schechter, it may be a breakout from a dire situation for others.

I don't know, I'd take a million on a script so i can finance my dreams and quit my job finally.

A lot of people fantasizing on a $1m payday clearly didn't listen to the man. 30% of that check went to the agents and managers, and then 40% of what was left was devoured by taxes. He went home with like $300k. It's nice money, it's just not a million dollars

When you get a large sum of money you have to carefully manage it and not over spend. A writer I will not name sold a TV series to HBO for a lot of money and bought a big house with a big mortgage, but eventually the TV series ended and the money stopped coming in. Had he bought a smaller house with perhaps a lower or no mortgage, he would have been fine. But came the day he couldn't make his mortgage payments any more and he lost the house and became homeless and had to go on line and beg for money. That's what comes of mismanagement.

Would you rather have a screenwriting career or sell a screenplay for $1 million dollars?

Ngl I’m still dreaming of that day! 🤣🤣 I remember hearing of the Eszterhas and Black spec sales and one day dreaming I’d join their ranks. They say the days of the multimillion-dollar spec sales are gone forever — but who knows? Maybe we can engineer a revival. 😁

Good Lord. No one wants to hear about a guy making a million dollars and saying if he could do it again he wouldn't take it.

In the 90s and the 2000s,hearing how Joe Eszterhas,Amanda Silver,and Shane Black getting paid over $2 to $4 million for their screenplays brought a lot of people to overcrowd the scriptwriting business for the lure of greed for that multi million pay,which is ridiculous since it kills off creativity in bringing in the terrible scriptwriters with barely any talent to oversaturate and sink the business.

I understand what he’s saying. He is talking about life and the journey. If you place your value of who you are in monetary value. Your life will be a roller coaster of your own doing. Having a career and doing what you love making while making a living is the true value.

H.H. said it right, better to make a story world than sell a spec script... 😮

Wow. I know there’s a lot of talk about script sales. But all I heard is that you need to write one script in 3 months 😢

Gold dust! Thanks so much to both of you! 🎥🎥🎈🎈

Good for him 👏🏼. Lol, it would be a nice dream to sell 3-4 scripts for a million a pop and then dip out of Hollywood. This town is a cesspool and you have to have a thicker skin (especially dealing with the negative environment). I APPLAUD to any screen writer who makes a living- especially from those able to sell while living in another state. Bravo!

Jeffrey Alan Schechter is the real deal. Thanks Film Courage!

That zany sports comedy must've had a great dramatic ending if it brought its own writer to tears