Tweetstorm: Chris McQuarrie on the “Secret to a Rewarding Career in Film”

“It’s infinitely harder to sell a screenplays than it is to sell one’s proven abilities.”

Christopher McQuarrie won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the 1995 movie The Usual Suspects. One would think having achieved the highest accolade Hollywood can offer a screenwriter, his career was made. Not so which is one reason why he transitioned into becoming a writer-director of including such films as The Way of the Gun, Jack Reacher, Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, and Mission: Impossible — Fallout.

I have followed McQuarrie on Twitter for years and have always admired not only his willingness to interact with members of the online screenwriting community, but also his honesty in those interactions.

Two days ago on Twitter, Chris dropped a truth bomb which stirred quite a bit of interest and deserves maximum exposure. Reprinted here by permission.

19. Do it again. Agents came to me when my friends and I had done all of the above. And they helped me more effectively when I helped them — by giving them something they could sell. And it’s infinitely harder to sell a screenplays than it is to sell one’s proven abilities.

I reached out to Chris about this thread because it speaks to some essential truths about what it takes to be a screenwriter and echoes what I’ve been ‘preaching’ for years on this blog.

You really need to follow Chris on Twitter: @chrismcquarrie.

For more screenwriting tweetstorms, go here.