By policy and for legality purposes, Lifetime does not accept unsolicited pitches or materials. This is to protect them and you. They only accept pitches and materials from agents, managers, and through referrals from those they have worked with in the past.
You can't merely go to Hollywood studios and production companies with the expectations of pitching an idea and selling it. Remember, unless you have clout in Hollywood, you're an unknown with an idea for a movie, just like millions of people around the world.
If you sell an idea or a storyline, you can expect to get $5,000 on the front-end and about $20,000 on the back-end if the movie gets produced. If you sell a treatment, you should expect around $15,000 on the front end and $30,000 on the back-end.
While we genuinely appreciate your interest and desire to share your project or story with us, as is customary throughout the entertainment industry, it is the policy of Lifetime not to accept or review any unsolicited material received from individuals who are not represented by agents or attorneys known to Lifetime ...
I Have A Great Movie Idea, What Do I Do? by Thunder Levin
How much does Netflix pay for a movie idea?
Netflix typically allocates between $100 and $250 million for a single movie. This amount can fluctuate based on the specific film and the desired streaming rights, but it serves as a reliable estimate for the average blockbuster. In some cases, the streaming service may spend even more.
The way to find Producers is to look at very similar film as yours, find the production company in the credits or look on IMDB. Once you have the contact details, you need to get in the door to present your idea and prove your film is going to be a success.
In fact, most working screenwriters sell scripts on spec less often than the past and instead get paid for OWAs, which means “Open Writing Assignment.” That means they're hired liked a freelancer to write an idea the production company already has. Still, yes — you can actually sell a screenplay without an agent.
Every year, about 50,000 screenplays are registered with the Writers Guild of America. About 50 spec scripts are sold each year. Those numbers may seem daunting. Apparently, the odds of selling a spec screenplay are not even as good as the odds of being born with eleven fingers or toes (1 in 500).
One of the best ways to find someone who might be interested in purchasing your screenplay is to contact a producer or production company. If you don't already have contacts in the industry, you can start by researching development executives and potential buyers based on what type of script you are selling.
If you have an idea, game, script, screenplay, or production already in development that you'd like to pitch to Netflix, you must work through a licensed agent, producer, attorney, manager, or industry executive, as appropriate, who already has a relationship with Netflix.
Selling a script takes a lot of hard work, loads of planning, and little luck, but the good news is that people sell scripts every day. Hollywood is hungry for fresh voices and new stories. And while it can be challenging to get traction for your screenplay, there is a market for your script.
We charge $99 for your initial idea submission and $69 for any additional ideas you submit. This includes registering your idea in our database, and getting your idea reviewed by a creative executive within a week.
To pitch an idea, game, tv script, screenplay, or production in development to Netflix, you must collaborate with a licensed agent, producer, attorney, manager, or industry executive with an existing Netflix relationship. Direct submissions from individuals without these connections are not accepted by the platform.
You should prepare a pitch document that summarizes your idea in one or two pages, and includes a logline, a synopsis, a brief outline of the episodes, and a description of the main characters and their arcs.
Please note that Warner Bros. Entertainment's policy, as established by its Legal Department, prohibits considering any film, television or other story material unless it is submitted by a licensed literary agent who is signatory to the Writers Guild Of America.
Querying agents and managers can be a successful way to make connections and get your script read, especially if you don't have any existing industry connections. Querying is essentially like cold calling: you're asking agents and managers to read your script in the hope they may represent you.
For this type of screenplay, the Writer's Guild of America pays anywhere from around $70,000 and upwards of $150,000, meaning the average feature film script clocks in at just over $100,000.
By policy and for legality purposes, Lifetime does not accept unsolicited pitches or materials. This is to protect them and you. They only accept pitches and materials from agents, managers, and through referrals from those they have worked with in the past.
How much does Amazon pay for a script? The WGA reports that the median pay for a screenplay deal with Amazon in the past was $300,000, and the highest salary was reported as $5,000,000. Rewrite deals are the second most common screenwriting for traditional studios and streaming platforms.
The average? Around $110,000. There are different WGA minimums for everything, from a 15-minute episode of television, to selling a movie script, to a big budget feature film. Even then, those are divided into different prices.
As a screenwriter writing an original spec script — a screenplay written under speculation that you will sell it to someone — the moment you write the script is the moment that you own that copyright of it, which includes all exclusive ownership rights mentioned above.
Getting paid is even better. Writing for the movie industry to make money movies is a highly competitive business, with even veteran screenwriters struggling to transform their ideas and film scripts into cash. Coming up with a blockbuster movie idea is only the beginning of the challenge.
So you will need to meet producers outside of the workplace and pitch them your idea. If you don't already know producers, you can find them through research and at networking events. Networking events are held by production companies, film unions, local cinemas, film markets, script pitching events and film festivals.
Anyone can pitch a movie script. However, just being able to pitch one doesn't necessarily mean the knowhow to deftly execute it. So your pitch is done. It's ready to be told, sold and made.
