Published: September 9, 2024 | Last Updated: September 19, 2024
There are many different avenues to becoming a television screenwriter. Still, the most straightforward are the following three methods:
- become a writer’s assistant on a TV show and get promoted to staff writer on the show
- write an original pilot that gets you signed with a manager who can set up meetings for you with showrunners
- partner with a production company that will option your show and takes it out to buyers, who may purchase and produce your pilot.
So, if you’re considering television writing as a career path, keep reading. It doesn’t matter if you’ve gone to film school or are a self-taught screenwriter. We’ll cover everything in more detail below.
You might also be interested in How to Become a Writer for Netflix.
How to become a TV writer.
The goal of becoming a TV writer is to get hired into the writers’ room or the team of writers who develop the story arcs for the season and then write all the episodes for the TV show.
But before you get to the point where you can impress a manager or a showrunner, you need to develop the skill of screenwriting. Impressive writing skills are a prerequisite for any job writing in TV.
If you haven’t yet learned how to write screenplays, there are a few options:
Option 1: Go to Film School to build a Network
We wrote an entire article on whether or not you should go to film school or become a self-taught screenwriter here.
The short version is film school, which is great for networking and meeting other writers who could help you by reading your work, having you read theirs, and eventually helping you get a job.
However, going through an official college degree program (like a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree) is not necessary to become a professional writer.
On the last point, if you develop a wide enough network of close connections, you may meet someone (or many others) who could become a TV writer before you, and they could introduce you to managers or showrunners you wouldn’t otherwise meet.
They might even become showrunners one day and theoretically hire you to write for them. While statistically unlikely, TV writing is all about “who you know.” Therefore, it’s good to meet as many open-minded screenwriters as possible. Film school is a great place to do that.
Film school is not just about screenwriting. However, most good film school programs provide equipment to help students produce their short films, so try to direct your material to meet collaborators or directors with whom to collaborate and write short films.
These connections could be equally helpful later on. You might meet a lifelong collaborator and become a writing team. If you do a good job, you might meet directors who will remember you and think of you first when they need to hire writers for commercial work in the future.
Option 2: Read scripts and take Online Classes.
Reading produced screenplays is one of the best ways to learn the craft of screenwriting, as these are the scripts that “made it” – i.e., got made. By learning from the greats and reading material that got sold and then produced, you will pick up on what makes a screenplay sellable and producible in the eyes of buyers and producers.
Online classes can also be a great way to structure your learning process. These could be a college course or a third-party course provider.
One of the benefits of film school is the opportunity (and requirement) to write – and then have that work read, critiqued, and rewritten. Practiced time management is one of the most important skills required of episodic television writers, so honing the ability to write consistently on your own time as part of your creative process is critical.
If you take online classes, ensure they require you to write and then have that material read. Writing and getting feedback is the only true way to learn how to write screenplays.
Option 3: Work on a TV show
After you go to film school or take on a couple of paid internships, you may be able to get a job as a production assistant or script coordinator for a real-life TV show.
We get into this more below, but this type of role could be leveraged via hard work to become a writer’s assistant, where you can learn the craft of writing for TV firsthand from professional writers in the writers’ room (be they showrunners or executive story editors).
This is also one of the best (and tried-and-true) methods of becoming a working TV screenwriter, so don’t rule it out.
However, I wouldn’t rely on working on television productions as my only screenwriting education. If you want to become a writer’s assistant, the showrunner who hires you will want to know you have some interest (and experience) in writing your scripts.
The general rule of thumb is that the writer’s assistant role is considered the first entry-level position on the track to becoming a TV writer. This means that they’ll want to hire someone with the potential to become a staff writer (either on their show in a later season or another one after you leave this job).
It usually happens like this: if the writer’s assistant proves themselves in the room with good idea pitches in their first year, they could be rewarded with the opportunity to write an individual episode for the next season (or even, in some rare circumstances, the current season).
Join the Writers Guild of America (WGA)
Once you have gained some writing credits, you can join the Writer’s Guild of America or WGA. The WGA required certain units to be obtained before an associate or current membership can be accepted.
You can obtain these units each week you are employed within the Guild’s jurisdiction by a “signatory” company with which the Guild has signed a collective bargaining agreement or through the sale of an original idea, feature scripts, or television scripts.
You can check out the Schedule of Units on the WGA website to understand how units work.
However, to do that, you typically need to acquire official representation first, which can set up the meetings and opportunities that will allow you to pitch showrunners and get hired based on the quality of your original TV scripts.
You must impress the managers with your first script, either an original sample script or multiple high-quality individual television episodes.
High quality means you’ve spent a lot of time writing, rewriting, and polishing them, you’ve had them read by your network of writer friends multiple times, and you’ve received the approval from some mentor in the industry that they are ready to be sent out as a sample.
How do you get representation to become a screenwriter for TV?
You can get representation, or reps, by connecting with and impressing a manager or agent enough to get them to offer to sign you as a client.
There are several different ways to do this, but the primary method is to write a script, usually multiple scripts, that reads as profitable. If you write the types of scripts that can do that, then (and only then) the manager can sign you because they can make a case for selling you.
While managers want to develop you creatively, they also need to develop you professionally and get you paid – because that’s how they get paid.
How can you get a manager or agent to see your work?
We’ve covered this a bit before. However, you can get an agent or manager to see your work through personal or mutual connections, wowing with a third-party award, or working with a third party that connects agents and managers online.
Getting your script in front of a manager or agent in one of the above ways is difficult but not impossible.
Here’s a little more about each, including some tips from Audrey Knox, an actual working manager at the full-service management and production company The Cartel!
Personal or mutual connections.
Meeting them is the most straightforward way to get a manager or agent’s attention. Networking is a huge part of how writers get connected with representation. It’s all about “who you know,” after all.
Contact your network to find out if anyone you know works in the entertainment industry or related fields. Do they know any managers, agents, directors, or producers themselves? They might be able to connect you.
Ensure you have three solid sample scripts ready so you won’t waste your time or make your friend look bad for introducing someone unprepared.
The Cartel manager, Audrey Knox, recommends,
I’d actually say two solid samples in the same genre are what a writer needs to land a rep (two half-hour comedies, two-hour-long dramas, two features, etc.). That third sample can diverge from what they usually write to show range.
– Audrey Knox, manager at The Cartel
You might not physically live in Los Angeles, New York City, or another film-focused city. There are plenty of online networking opportunities to meet people over the internet, especially in today’s Zoom calls and social distancing.
For that issue, try one of the below options.
Third-party award or recognition.
The most direct way that every writer can take advantage of this, no matter where you live, is by submitting to specific online contests or submission platforms. These contests have a good reputation for getting the winners or runner-ups connected and signed by managers.
Contests run by Screencraft through the Coverfly platform, the Academy Nicholl Fellowship, the Tracking Board, and Final Draft Big Break competitions have a pretty good track record of getting their winning writers’ meetings with managers and agents.
Remember: not all platforms or contests are read by managers and agents, so make sure you submit to the right contests. Managers usually only pay attention to the winning scripts, and even then, they’ll probably skim the loglines to decide whether to read more.
However, because the odds of winning one of these contests are few and far between, there are a few other avenues you can take, under which umbrella I’m calling…
Third-party connecting services.
Like The Black List, there are many resources, which is my favorite, where you can host your work and get it reviewed by professional readers who will rank your script and put it in front of actual managers and agents.
Putting material on The Black List is a great way to get your work seen and reviewed, but don’t expect to host it online and sell it to Netflix straight off a website.
While The Black List started as a list of the best-unproduced screenplays of the year, it was always intended as a way to showcase underrepresented writers and material to the industry at large, so it’s a great avenue to get your work seen and get your name out there, if only just for the extra exposure.
Other services out there, like Roadmap writers and Stage 32, provide writers with opportunities to get their work read by producers, execs, and managers looking for new writers. These services are great for writers with no connections but come with costs attached, so be mindful not to throw money at your scripts if they aren’t ready to be read.
What’s a manager’s number one piece of advice?
Audrey Knox’s #1 piece of advice to upcoming writers looking to secure management and succeed in the film industry:
Be a fun, funny, nice, agreeable, interesting, pleasant, entertaining, humble, thoughtful, kind, and otherwise great person to work with and know. Charm your meetings with your personality. Make friends. Take notes to heart. Show that you’re willing to show up and do the work and make everyone (from reps to execs to fellow writers) feel confident that you’re someone they’ll want to share their life with on a daily basis by hiring you.”
– Audrey Knox, manager at The Cartel
I have reps – now what?
Once you’ve wooed the reps into wanting to sign you, you will work with them to continue developing your current samples or create new work that will interest the current market.
This means you’ll likely spend time writing and turning around drafts before taking your work to the masses.
Your representatives can use your samples to get you meetings with producing partners, see your work by executives looking to take pitches on IP they are developing or see your work by writers looking to staff up their TV shows for their latest seasons.
What to do if you don’t have a full script for every idea?
In the same way, you could write a query letter to potential publishers to sell a book, you can use treatments to sell ideas to development execs or producers looking for new content.
You don’t always need a full script for every project to generate interest.
This would work like this: your manager or rep sets you up with a general meeting with someone in TV production development. The executive or producer you meet with has read one of your scripts, so they ask you what else you have. You then pitch them the idea.
If they are interested, you can offer to send the treatment over to them.
This document should preferably be a two-page treatment with a general story overview.
For more on what a treatment is and how to create it, check out our piece on treatments here.
What if you pitch something you’re noodling on but don’t have a treatment for? While I wouldn’t advise pitching something you don’t already have a treatment for, it happens.
Just be ready to write it quickly and share it with your reps for approval before sending it to the exec. If the exec in question liked your treatment after reading it, they will either ask you for the full script or develop the story with you, in which case you should refer to your manager on how to move forward.
Don’t work for free!
Never do free work – but be smart about the input you get. If it seems like genuine constructive feedback, it may inspire you to continue to draft pages for your benefit, so it could be worthwhile to do anyway.
Remember that if you take an exec’s notes, they may want to come on as a producer. Again, defer to your reps on how to accept their feedback.
Even with a treatment, you’ll still need writing samples to show you can write in the format or genre of the script you’re pitching, so don’t let a solid two-pager confuse you.
If you want to be the one writing the script, you’ll need to prove you know how to write.
How do you get hired by a showrunner to write for TV or Netflix?
The next option is to get hired by a showrunner to write for their show directly, which you can do either by getting a meeting set up by your reps or working as a writers’ assistant.
There are many avenues to becoming qualified as a writer’s assistant, so I’ll briefly summarize a few of them to give you an idea of how it works. In any case, you have to accept an entry-level position when starting.
Start as a production assistant.
One of the first entry-level positions available to you is a production assistant or PA.
You can work as a PA on television shows and, hopefully, work your way up the production chain until you get promoted.
This path is beneficial because, if you work on a hit show (especially if you stay on for a second year), you can learn the production process and build a great resume.
However, you’ll usually need to switch shows to get a promotion when it’s one of your first jobs. There may already be a hierarchy with PAs ahead of you, especially if you join a show in its third or fourth season.
Jumping from a PA to a Head Set PA to a Writer’s PA is one of the most viable pathways to becoming qualified for your next job as a writer’s assistant. Viable, but not easy!
Read more about above-the-line film set roles.
Start at an agency or management company.
You can prove your qualifications by starting in an agency’s mailroom or as an assistant at a management company to learn how the industry works.
Hopefully, this first job position will qualify you to be hired as a writer’s assistant. It also has extra benefits because you’ll be able to meet and network with people who might one day be able to represent you!
Remember that you cannot pitch yourself as a viable client to the agency or management company you are working for. Instead, you’ll have to leave the company and get a modicum of success on your own, then circle back and reach out to your friends who used to be assistants but have now been promoted to execs or managers.
Start as a personal assistant.
Another avenue is to go the personal assistant route by responding to open interview requests from producers and executives looking for personal assistants.
The tricky thing is that no one wants to hire an assistant who has never been an assistant, but everyone who’s ever been an assistant wants their next job not to be an assistant.
You’ll have to use mutual connections or great letters of rec to break through the noise and stand out in a crowded field of candidates.
Start at a production company or studio.
Another avenue that’s much easier if you are privileged enough to take an internship, starting at a production company or studio, is a great way to get qualified to become a writer’s assistant. But, again, I won’t recommend working for free!
If you have previous experience doing any of the above, you should be able to get an interview at a company like this. If not, you’ll again have to use mutual connections or an impressive resume outside the industry to break through the noise and get an interview.
Is experience all that’s needed to be a writer’s assistant?
With any of the above experiences under your belt, your resume should be able to get you at least considered to be a writer’s assistant.
But you’ll need at least one sample pilot / existing story / standout spec script of an existing television show to show the showrunner looking to hire you that you have potential as a TV writer.
Impress in another field to become a TV writer.
By succeeding in another creative avenue outside of TV and film production, you can sometimes leverage your intellectual property or creative voice to pitch yourself as a TV writer to executives, managers, and showrunners.
There are now many avenues for creatives to get their voice out there. You might write and produce your feature film or an award-winning indie play. You might be a viral TikTok personality or create your own comedy, educational, or true crime narrative fiction podcast.
You could be an author, a web series creator, an essayist, or a viral Instagram creator. You may have had a series of short stories published or written some material for video games that became popular.
If you can generate enough interest in another creative field, you can use that interest to leverage attention from managers, producers, and creative executives – even from companies like Netflix.
However, the way that big-time names get development deals is by being just that – big-time names.
While creating buzzworthy content outside the TV industry can get you potential meetings, don’t expect those meetings to become a career without doing the work.
You also have to develop your voice as a TV writer, or you’ll never be the one doing the TV writing.
Expect that if you do team up with a production company or producer to option an idea, they will want to partner you with a working, produced writer or showrunner to make your creative writing more palatable to a potential buyer.
Audrey Knox at The Cartel says,
You don’t always have to go through a prodco if you know an EP (or your manager reps one) who also responds to the idea. In fact, that’s probably even better than a prodco these days, who’d want to probably also attach a showrunner anyway.”
Audrey Knox, manager at The Cartel
The only way you control your power in the television industry, even with a great idea, is to write your material.
So, no matter what route you take to becoming a TV screenwriter, you should first write your TV pilots.
What’s the number one rule to make it as a screenwriter for TV?
Writing may seem trivial when no one asks for your work. It may seem impossible to get your work read. It may seem frustrating that no one wants to buy your brilliant idea and let you be a first-time writer, director, or auteur showrunner at 24.
It doesn’t matter – keep writing your scripts! Keep reading other people’s scripts. Keep absorbing advice. Keep trying to better yourself and learn new strategies to break into the industry.
You may not have done it yet, but the only way to succeed is to keep trying. So, what’s the number one secret to becoming a TV writer? What’s the best way to break in? What’s the secret behind all skilled writers? Keep writing!!
P.S. If you find helpful information here, follow Audrey Knox on Twitter! She is an extremely talented writer and a manager at The Cartel. She often talks to writers directly on her feed, gives advice, and boosts helpful threads from the community, so don’t miss out!
Up Next: What does a TV writer earn?
