What's an Open Writing Assignment?

Advice from a TV writer/showrunner

I’ve made my living as a television writer, but there were a few years where I also wrote features as a side gig.

The way to do this is by either writing an original spec script with the intention of selling it, pitching an idea to a producer, or by competing for Open Writing Assignments. I did all three.

An Open Writing Assignment is when a studio announces they have some existing intellectual property that they’d like to develop into a movie. It could a sequel to a movie, an adaptation of a book, or even a newspaper clipping that they found interesting and want to develop.

They’ll reach out to various agents, make their intentions known, then invite writers to pitch their takes.

This is sometimes known as a “Bake Off” as writers compete to be chosen. Who has the prettiest cake?

Photo by parastoo jk on Unsplash

Sounds great, right?

They give you the idea. They’re obviously interested in the idea. And there’s a big bag of money waiting to be grabbed.

So what’s the downside?

Well, if you want my opinion, the downside to an Open Writing Assignment is pretty fucking big.

First of all, you’re going to spend months developing this idea. Even if you’re working from a book, there’s still a lot to figure out: the act breaks, how to compress the storylines, how to dramatize internal narration, how to fix what’s not working, etc.

Then, after figuring all this out, if you don’t win the assignment (and the odds are stacked against you) you have absolutely nothing to show for it.

It’s not your IP (intellectual property) so you can’t shop it somewhere else.

Nor can you use it as a writing sample, because the idea isn’t yours.

It’s six months of unpaid work down the drain.

Worse still, I’ve competed for Open Writing Assignments, lost the job, only to find out months later that no one won it. The studio, for whatever reason, decided not to go ahead with the project.

So not only was my time completely wasted, every single writer who competed for the job also had their time wasted.

It’s horrible. (By the way, this behavior isn’t limited to Hollywood. There are tons of industries where contractors compete for jobs, only to have the rug pulled out. It’s just business.)

In my opinion, if you’re an emerging screenwriter, there are better uses for your time. What are they?

Well, I’ve written several posts on this subject. Poke around my archives to find them. Or leave a comment, and maybe I’ll write an updated post.