What Is a Writers Room for Movies?

There really isn’t a writers room process for movies. At least not in the traditional sense that we’ve come to associate with television writing. Feature films are collaborative endeavors. But the development and writing process is very different from what happens in the television industry.

Feature screenwriters don’t gather in a room with a dozen other writers to break stories, develop characters, and write scenes together. Instead, they work independently (unless they are part of a writing duo). They then eventually collaborate with producers, development executives, and directors (and sometimes major actors) through a development process that can involve multiple drafts - and sometimes multiple writers working independently on their own after other writers have come and gone.

Hollywood has experimented with the writers room approach for major film franchises and cinematic universes, but those are very unique exceptions that have yet to truly work and catch on for anything beyond major studio intellectual properties.

Let’s take a look at the difference between television and feature film writing, and then delve into the three most common ways feature screenplays are developed, written, and produced. We’ll also discuss what collaboration looks like on the feature screenwriting end.

Television Is a Writer’s Medium - Film Is a Director’s Medium

The old Hollywood adage tells us that television is a writer’s medium while movies are a director’s medium. It’s a pretty accurate description of how these two storytelling mediums operate.

Television

The TV writers room is the creative engine of a series. Under the leadership of a showrunner who oversees the creative direction and production of the series, a staff of writers works together to develop season-long story arcs, individual episodes, characters, character arcs, etc.

Ideas are pitched, debated, rejected, embraced, developed, and refined through a collaborative process that continues throughout the season, and hopefully throughout multiple seasons that encompass a whole series run.

The writers work as a general established hierarchy ranging from staff writers and story editors to producers and executive producers. There are below-the-line positions as well with writing assistants and other entry-level positions.

Individual writers or writing duos are assigned to write individual episodes. But the overall creative engine is run by the collaboration of writers working under the hierarchy dynamics of the writers room. You may be a staff writer that successfully suggests a major plot twist during discussions, but never receive credit because another writer was assigned to write the actual script. That’s all part of the writers room process for television though.

Feature Films

Feature film writing is very different. In film, the director is the creative force behind a movie once it goes into production, with the main producer handling development beforehand and then helping the director realize their vision. Directors work with producers, actors, cinematographers, production designers, editors, and countless other department heads to bring a screenplay to life.

The screenwriter is vital. There’s no movie without the script. But once the script is handed over to the director, it’s a director’s medium. The director has full power to make changes to characters, story, plot, pacing, dialogue, scenes, etc. The screenwriter is often tasked with addressing any notes, needs, and wants.

So, unlike television where the showrunner and writing staff maintain most of the creative authority over the series, feature screenwriters don’t usually have the same level of control over the finished product.

This is all a very important distinction for screenwriters to understand as they navigate their screenwriting careers. Now, let’s look at the different dynamics of feature-length film screenwriting.

1. The Spec Script Development Process

A spec script is written on speculation that their script will be sold and produced. The screenwriter develops and writes the screenplay without being hired to do so. They do this with the hope that someone within the industry will purchase and produce it.

You come up with the concept, you develop it into a story, you populate that story with characters, you give those characters arcs and depth, and you write a cinematic screenplay using the basic formatting and structure guidelines and expectations you’ve learned by reading produced scripts, studying screenwriting educational books, watching tutorials, taking classes, or working with screenwriting mentors.

Once you’ve polished a script to the best of your abilities, you begin marketing it to managers (agents generally only come into play when there’s a deal to be brokered), producers, production companies, development executives, studios, networks, and streamers. You can also submit your scripts to major contests and fellowships like Final Draft’s Big Break, where industry insiders get a chance to read and consider the best of the best.

If somebody within the industry loves your script enough, the development process begins.

• The writer signs a contract, which usually entails upfront commencement money and additional fees for rewrites.
• If the script is produced, they’ll get more money based on a full contract amount.
• The original writer usually gets notes from development executives, producers, and possible directors for rewrites.
• They then apply those notes for the first rewrite of the script.
• The powers that be will then continue to offer notes for additional rewrites written by the original writer or they may decide to bring in another writer to take over the writing duties.
• To receive an onscreen credit, a screenwriter’s work must entail at least 33% of the shooting script.

A screenplay may go through several drafts and sometimes several different writers before it’s officially greenlit for production. The original writer may be involved through the whole process, or they may be replaced after their initial contract obligations have been fulfilled.

Writing duos are an exception to the process because they are hired as a team and work together on their drafts.

But this is the overall development and writing process for a spec script. Sometimes it takes months to get the greenlight. Sometimes years. And sometimes, at least in the studio system, scripts may sit on the shelf or linger in development hell.

2. The Writing Assignment Development Process

The most common feature-length script development process in Hollywood is the writing assignment. This process doesn’t start with a completed spec script. Instead, it starts with a concept.

A producer or development executive has a concept or intellectual property that they want to adapt into a feature film. They have a concept, now they need a screenwriter to develop and write it.

This is where screenwriters are hired for professional assignments.

• The writer signs a contract that stipulates an agreed upon full contract dollar amount to be paid off in payout stages that subtract from the total contract amount.
• The writer often (but not always) gets a commencement fee upon signing.
• They are then paid out in stages.
• The first payout usually comes after handing in an outline or treatment, which covers the story from beginning to end.
• Producers, development executives, and others then offer notes which the writer must address. This continues until a treatment or outline is agreed upon.
• The second payout usually comes after the writer writes the first draft of the script (often under a 1-3 month deadline, depending on the contract).
• The writer then receives notes from the powers that be, and must address them for a rewrite.
• Additional payouts come with each rewrite.
• If the original writer hasn’t been replaced by another writer (it happens), they will remain with the project until it is either produced or shelved.
• The final payout is the Production Bonus, which is whatever remains from the total agreed upon contract amount, minus the stages that have been paid out. The Production Bonus comes only when and if the script goes into production.

This is an especially common process in the world of independently produced feature films and television movies where producers, production companies, networks, and streamers develop concepts specifically designed for established budgets, audiences, and distributors.

For professional screenwriters, writing assignments can keep them employed and working without having to go through the spec script process every time.

3. Open Writing Assignments (OWAs)

The third common feature script development process is what Hollywood refers to as Open Writing Assignments, otherwise known as OWAs.

This is where a producer, development executive, studio, network, streamer, or production company has a project they want developed, but first want to explore options for who they will hire to do so.

The project may be based on an original concept, but often involves adapting intellectual property (IP) that they have the rights to. It could be a novel, comic book, video game, article, or true story.

Rather than hiring a particular writer, they may want to open the project to potential candidates to get a better idea of how their concept could be developed.

• Writers usually need representation to bring OWAs to them.
• Writers are given information about the concept, source material, genre, tone, budget, and general creative direction.
• From there, selected writers are given the opportunity to pitch their take on material in the form of treatments, outlines, or pitch decks.

This is where things get competitive. Writers are in direct competition with one another and the powers that be can utilize any ideas offered up in that competition without having to pay for the input. It’s controversial to many, but has also been a standard practice in Hollywood development for years with the philosophy that ideas aren’t able to be copyrighted - it’s the delivery in script form that counts.

• How would each writer or writing duo handle the story?
• What makes their version different?
• Does their version align with the general visual of the producer or development executive?
• Which characters would they focus on?
• What themes would they explore?
• How would they structure the story and screenplay?

Once a writer or writing duo is hired after the open writing assignment process is complete, the writing assignment process (#2) begins.

Spec Scripts as Writing Samples

Spec script sales do happen every year. The concept you conjured and the script you wrote can be purchased by Hollywood. Never lose hope towards that dream.

However, most spec scripts are used as writing samples to prove your writing skills for writing assignments and OWAs. A great script you’ve written and successfully marketed to Hollywood may not ever get made. But they can be the reason you get hired to write another script.

Feature Screenwriting Is Still a Highly Collaborative Process

Writing movies may not involve the collaborative process of working directly with other writers, but it’s still a very collaborative process.

Instead of multiple writers sitting in a room, you’ll be working with talented, visionary, and creative development executives and producers to develop a concept into a feature-length script or make a spec script you’ve written even better and ready for production.

• Sometimes the script changes hands and other writers are brought in to finish the job.
• Sometimes you may be the second or third or fourth writer brought in for rewrites.
• Sometimes the original writer is retained throughout the whole process.

These are the dynamics of feature screenplay development, and the closest equivalent to television’s writers rooms.