What Are the 3 C's of Spec Selling?

The 3 C's of Spec Selling

Selling a screenplay in Hollywood is incredibly hard. You have to have a screenplay that everyone thinks is incredible, but you also need a few more things.

I think this tweet summed the entire thing up so very well.

If you failed to expand the whole tweet, it said:

"To sell a spec you need three "Cs" A champion. An exec who likes your script so much they're willing to go to bat for you, pitching it to their colleagues, and trying to push it up the ladder. This is about more than making money. They're passionate about the project which means your passion for telling the story shines through. Unfortunately, people do move around a lot or get fired which means if they leave the studio or prod co often times what they're developing dies on the vine. Because no one wants to take the blame for someone else's flop and you don't get credit for the other guy's success. A consensus. This means everybody on the development team gives it the thumbs up but it varies from place to place. It's a little tricky – not just because everyone has their own unique tastes but also because they want to feel like they're making a safe bet. In some ways this is in tension with the first C so it's a hard needle to thread. Cashflow. This one goes without saying but I believe in the rule of threes and couldn't think of anything else. In general people don't want to blow their acquisition budget too early in the year, they're gone during the summer, and nothing's happening around the holidays so that pretty much leaves a few weeks in spring and fall. Open to suggestions on a 4th "C.""

So what does this all actually mean?

I'll go one C at a time to expand on it for you. I'll go over what's said here and add some new ideas, but mostly this is literally the best way I've heard it broken down, so I wanted to share that with you.

1. A Champion

If you want your screenplay to get any heat in Hollywood, it needs to have a champion who is willing to showcase it far and wide. And to pick up the phone and actually call people and get them on board.

This is an exec at a studio or production company who reads your script and just gets it. They don't just "like" it; they're passionate about it. They're actually staking their job and name on how good your movie is, so it means something to them.

They are the ones who will try to push your boulder up the corporate ladder. and also the ones who get the most valuable reads, because they have an intention behind championing it, they want to make it.

Now, this is about more than just making money for them (though that's part of it). It means your passion for telling the story successfully leaped off the page and infected them. It can also help their career, they maybe have found a new voice or person they want to be in business with for years to come.

But here's the reality of these kinds of situations. This industry is volatile, and people move jobs all the time. They get promoted, they change companies, or they get fired. If your champion leaves, your script—which was their project—often dies on the vine. Why? Because no one wants to take the blame for someone else's potential flop, and you certainly don't get credit for the other guy's success.

So it's not enough just to have a champion.

2. A Consensus

This is where it gets tricky. Your champion can fight the good fight, but they rarely get to make a decision in a vacuum. You need a consensus.

You need everyone in town to really buy into what the champion says. Everyone has to be united around this script and how good of a movie it could be.

This means pretty much everyone on the development team has to give your script a thumbs-up. This varies from place to place, but it's a huge hurdle. It’s not just that everyone has their own unique tastes (and they do), but it’s also that a studio is a business. They want to feel like they're making a safe bet that will bring in a lot of money for everyone involved and make them all look good.

Now, you can see how this would interfere with your champion's passion. They may believe in the project because it's totally unique and feels specific.

So how do you get the rest of the town on board with that idea, too? Especially when the consensus leans toward what's safe and proven?

Threading that needle—being passionately original and a safe bet—is one of the hardest parts of this job. Sometimes it feels like luck, but often it's just writing a movie that even if unique, could have a bunch of stars in it, or maybe could attach a director big enough for people to want to take a chance.

That's where the next C comes in.

3. Cashflow

In order to make any movie inside the studio system, there has to be real money in place. It's boring and it's practical, but that's the truth. someone has to want to foot the bill for your creativity.

How much does your masterpiece cost? If it's north of 100 million, you may find a lot of people liking your idea, but maybe not making it. That could lead you to work on established IP, but it won't get your movie made.

Cheaper tends to be better in spec markets, or at least more likely to get made. But there are lots of contradictions to that rule.

On top of all this is the timing.

Studios have budgets and calendars. As the post said, in general, people don't want to blow their entire acquisition budget in the first few weeks of the year. Then, from about July 4th to Labor Day, the entire town high-tails it to Europe, the Hamptons, or just turns on their "out of office" reply.

And once Thanksgiving hits, forget it. It feels like nothing gets done until after the New Year.

That leaves a few precious weeks in the Spring and the Fall to get things budgeted and to attach huge names in order to find financing.

So timing with your reps is everything. And if they can land the spec on the Black List, you might be able to extend its life into the following year in order to find these Cs all over again.

Summing It All Up 

Aligning all three of these "Cs" is the real magic trick. It's why selling a spec is like capturing lightning in a bottle. There may even be a 4th C, but I'll leave that debate for Twitter. Here, I'm just concerned with all of you getting your ideas out of your head, onto the page, and then out into the world.

After that, it's all just hoping for the best and starting the next spec script.

All you can really do is keep writing and hope for the best!