Writing & Selling – Thriller Screenplays

…Okay it was me. But then you knew that, right?

If I want to read, I’ll read a book… And if I’m watching a film, it’s because I don’t want to read a ****ing book!…’

concentrates on the Hollywood model of the thriller genre, so the majority of films I discuss are British and American.

Story is king (or queen), so bar the odd actor who has become a brand in (usually) his own right, I refer to the characters in the various thrillers I mention by their own names, not by the actors who play them.

produced content and the spec pile.

There is only hard work to do in making your script the best it can be, and even MORE work in getting it to the screen. There are no easy answers, no quick fixes and no limp promises.

there are no ‘rules’!

Instead I focus on the two elements most likely to sell your thriller screenplay ‘off the page’: story and character.

LUCY V. HAY is a novelist, script editor and script reader. She is one of the founding organisers of the London Screenwriters’ Festival and Associate Producer of the dark Brit Thriller Deviation (2012), starring King of the Indies Danny Dyer and Hellboy 2’s Anna Walton. Lucy has read for a variety of production companies, funding initiatives and screen agencies as well as individual directors and producers with her Bang2write script consultancy. She owns the scriptwriting craft tips and networking site at www.bang2write.com and the online writers’ group on Facebook and Twitter, ‘Bang2writers’.

The book also considers how the screenplay might be sold to investors, looking at high concept ideas, pitching, packaging and the realities of film finance.