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Screenwriting For DVD Releases

By Zinn Jeremiah

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 31Aug2007
Word count: 525
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The term screenplay is a shorthand way of referring to a script for a full-length movie. Full-length movies, at least at one time, were movies that were distributed to and shown in movie theaters. In this day and age, however, not nearly every full-length movie is shown in a movie theater. Today any number of movies, some with "name" actors in lead roles, never see a movie theater at all, and instead are released straight to DVD.

One of the benefits of straight-to-DVD releases is a reduction in marketing costs. Marketing costs for a theater release film are not at all insignificant. A marketing budget for a film being shown in theaters can reach thirty million dollars without much difficulty, and can go far higher than that.

Consider that virtually every theater release film is advertised in some form of print media, and often on television as well -- mostly at so-called prime time hours, where the greatest reach occurs but where costs are also highest. And costs for television advertising can be astronomical. Super Bowl advertising is now in the region of a million dollars for thirty seconds. Given that, it's not at all difficult to envision spending three hundred thousand dollars for one, one, thirty-second ad spot on a prime-time television show that has a good market reach.

The straight-to-DVD film can spend on advertising, but it's not especially typical. The straight-to-DVD film is advertised to a great degree through its box cover. The DVD box cover sits on a shelf in a video franchise store, customers walk past, see the DVD box, make some form of a choice about the film, and make a purchase or not. This is why having a name actor can be critical to a straight-to-DVD's commercial success: the name actor serves as a selling point, and will be always featured prominently on the DVD box cover. This sort of leverage makes for potential profit points in addition to a salary.

The screenwriter for a straight-to-DVD production will likely see no profit points, and will receive a lesser salary than the screenwriter writing for a major theater release film. This should not be seen in a pessimistic light. Writing a script for a straight-to-DVD release that has a good amount of push behind it will generate a pay of tens of thousands of dollars, at least. It will additionally be a career achievement, and career achievements always count in getting further work in Hollywood -- and in every other industry for that matter.

Writing a screenplay for a straight-to-DVD release is also an introduction to the straight-to-DVD industry. Straight-to-DVD movie production is a profitable industry, and the only proof one needs of this is that straight-to-DVD movies continue to be made. In the entertainment industry if there is no profit, there is no product. The screenwriter for a straight-to-DVD movie is now part of a profit niche, and gets access to all the potential opportunities that comes with that.

Zinn Jeremiah is a freelance writer. Read more of Zinn's work at article exchange. Find resources about screenwriting at screenplay writing.

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