There are no for-sure ways to break into the industry as a writer. But if you've never sold a script before, you might want to start by looking at the holidays.
At least, that's the advice from filmmaker Courtney Miller, who got his start through the holiday movie circuit. In an interview with Film Courage, Miller walked through the business realities of writing holiday films and why they might be your best shot at first getting paid as a screenwriter.
Between Lifetime, Hallmark, Ion, Bounce, and now Netflix, roughly 60 to 70 new Christmas movies can get made every single year. This year it was close to 100. If you understand the formula, those numbers present a huge opportunity.
"I keep telling all my friends who've never sold a script before, you want to sell a script, write one of these," Miller said. "Go watch a few, learn the beats. It's all the same stuff."
Miller's experience in this realm began when he was hired to write what would become A Stone Cold Christmas for a network. It was, as he puts it, "completely a business decision."
"At that point, I hadn't written or directed anything on a professional level quite yet," Miller said.
If you're curious about the specific tropes that drive these stories, we recently covered how to use (or break) them effectively.
Check out the full interview here.
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The Customer Is Always Right
Miller frames holiday movie writing as a business decision first and a creative exercise second. When asked about writers who want to subvert the genre's tropes or bring a Paul Thomas Anderson sensibility to Christmas romance, he draws a line between business and art.
Networks know their audience. They've been doing this for years, and they know what works. If viewers want a woman who returns to her hometown, reconnects with an old flame, briefly loses him, and then wins him back just in time for a snowy finale kiss, then that's what you need to give them.
"The customer is always right," Miller said.
He acknowledged there's an artistic side too. If you want to write something radically different, "Go write it, but don't expect to sell it."
The networks have specific mandates, which are documents outlining exactly what they're looking for. You can't get these from a website. They're passed around between assistants or other people who've worked with the networks, or given to you when they hire you. If you don't deliver what's in those mandates, they won't buy.
If you want to make your edgy Christmas movie, you'll probably be doing that in the indie space, not at Hallmark. But if you're trying to break in and get paid, learn the rules first.
For more on the storytelling principles behind popular Christmas movies, check out our deeper dive into what makes these films work.
Study the Beats
Miller takes a methodical approach. He watches existing holiday movies and maps out their structure. When does the meet-cute happen? When do they start respecting each other? When does the complication happen to threaten everything?
"I'm really big into looking at the beats, understanding what's going on," he said.
The formula rarely deviates. A character who either lost their love of Christmas or lost faith in romance travels to a small town (or finds themselves in an unfamiliar place). They meet someone and initially clash. Through shared experiences—dealing with family, brokering a business deal, running an animal shelter, you name it—they fall for each other. The new relationship falls apart—maybe an ex shows up, maybe one character overhears something they don't like, maybe they think they have their heart set on taking a different job in a different town. But by the end, love conquers all.
The ending must be happy. Not ambiguous, not bittersweet. Clearly, definitively happy.
"The ending always has to be a happy ending," Miller said. "Always happy, always, always happy. You will not sell a non-happy ending."
Miller starts his scripts from the ending, then makes his characters the exact opposite at the beginning. That's how he guarantees a character arc.
The character arcs typically follow one of two paths. Either someone loved Christmas, lost that love, and rediscovers it. Or someone was hurt in the past, closed themselves off to romance, and learns to love again. Sometimes, both arcs happen in the same character.
If you're looking for inspiration to get started, we have 20+ winter holiday movie writing prompts that might help.
If you want to work in this space, know that the turnaround can be ridiculously fast. Miller delivered a first draft in about two weeks.
'The Princess Switch'Credit: Netflix
Finding Your Twist
You might think this all sounds kind of rote and formulaic, but you could say that about almost any mainstream movie built to tick its genre boxes. Audiences have expectations for what a story will give them. For writers, the creativity lies in the details.
Miller suggested going left when audiences expect you to go right. When you know the tropes, try to subvert them. As Miller points out, maybe you introduce a character in the typical way a love interest would be, but that person isn't the main love interest at all. Maybe the story takes place in an unexpected location (as long as it's within your budget and appropriate).
"They're never going to meet at a strip club. That's not what Lifetime does."
The structure remains the same, with some limitations, but you can operate within that framework.
Learn about our favorite rom-com tropes.
Know Your Audience
The demographic for these films is typically women ages 25 to 54 who watch Lifetime or Hallmark. That informs everything from casting to conflict.
"You want the guys to be hot. You want the girls to be flawed but lovable," Miller said.
What does flawed but lovable mean? Miller said the character will make mistakes, care too much, or give up on something important. Through the story, they learn to embrace what they lost.
Everything stays family-friendly and optimistic. These movies are comfort watches, and the networks protect that brand carefully.
How to Actually Sell One
Miller recommended watching recent holiday movies on the target networks, identifying their producers via IMDb Pro, and then reaching out.
"Find the producer, because a lot of them are working, but they're not famous, so they'll take a phone call or an email."
Don't—we repeat—do not send unsolicited scripts.
Instead, you might contact producers with something like, "I loved this movie you made, and here's why. I have a completed script that aligns with your work on this network. I would love to explore opportunities to collaborate/would you be open to a read/could I pick your brain about the best way to get this made?"
If you have a manager or agent, they can make these introductions. If you don't, you'll need to do it yourself.
Don't pitch treatments or ideas. These need to be as close to production-ready scripts as possible, ones that have been reviewed and polished.
Understand the Industry
Sure, writing a holiday romance where a chaste protagonist meets her soulmate while decorating gingerbread houses and never kisses him until one key, late moment might not be your ultimate artistic goal.
But it could be your first paid writing job. It could be the credit that opens other doors. It could be the proof that you can deliver on deadline and work within commercial constraints.
The formula might feel restrictive, but how can you get creative? Can you tell a meaningful story about loss and renewal within these parameters? Can you make it funny? Can you invent new, never-before-seen characters to populate this world?
Those are useful muscles to develop, whether you're writing holiday movies forever or using them as a stepping stone to other work.
