| > | | | | gatekeepers. This isn't to infer that becoming a |
| Considering training for screenwriters. | | | | paid screenwriter is an impossibility as it's clearly |
| Among the general public, not much thought is | | | | not, but there are challenges involved. |
| given to the screenwriting profession. The typical | | | | One of the forms people take to establishing |
| person watching a television show or feature film | | | | screenwriting careers is to get screenwriting |
| isn't going to give much consideration to how | | | | training at a university. Various university |
| actors come to say what it is that they say. | | | | screenplay writing programs exist, with the |
| From the average person's perspective, actors | | | | programs that have close connections to the |
| may just make things up to say as they go along. | | | | entertainment industry being the most |
| The reality however is that actors don't make up | | | | competitive to gain entry into. The southern |
| what they say: they recite lines of dialogue, which | | | | California schools UCLA and USC both have |
| is written by a person typically referred to as a | | | | established and competitive screenwriting |
| screenwriter. | | | | programs. Since these schools are located in what |
| The rare person who does have some form of | | | | is essentially the capital of the entertainment |
| interest in screenwriting often hopes to be a | | | | industry, the immediate area around Los Angeles, |
| screenwriter him or herself, presuming they aren't | | | | they have an inside access schools located |
| one already. The fact of the matter is, there are | | | | elsewhere don't have. This geographic advantage |
| a variety of ways for one to become a paid | | | | adds greatly to the prestige of these schools' |
| screenwriter. Notice the usage of paid here. | | | | screenwriting programs. |
| Virtually anyone has the capacity to write a | | | | It is absolutely not mandatory to attend university |
| screenplay. A small number of people have the | | | | screenwriting training. There are and have been |
| ability to write a legitimately good screenplay. And | | | | many screenwriters who've had careers, |
| some few literally earn money by writing | | | | sometimes very successful careers, without |
| screenplays. | | | | getting any formal training in screenplay writing at |
| All things considered, the number of people who | | | | all. At the end of the day, all that's required to |
| are paid to write screenplays or television scripts | | | | become a professional screenwriter is to have a |
| is small. Screenwriting is a competitive industry in | | | | screenplay that the industry wants to buy. No |
| the sense that more people would like to get in | | | | one in the entertainment industry cares much if |
| than are needed, and that it's often difficult to | | | | at all about how a screenwriter learned their |
| connect with people who pay for scripts: the path | | | | trade. The only bother at all is for the final output, |
| to established entertainment industry professionals | | | | the screenplay, the thing that matters most of all |
| who regularly pay for some form of | | | | in screenwriting. |
| screenwriting is blocked by any number of | | | | |