One of my writing gigs is for Videomaker Magazine and as a moderator on their forums. I get lots of questions concerning production gear, shooting techniques, etc. One question that popped up recently came from a poster who wanted to know how to submit scripts to the big Hollywood Studios. I figured you who subscribe to the Mo3A Group could benefit from that answer.

Q. "I want to submit 2-minute scripts to Marvel. How should the document be formatted?

A.

Do yourself a favor, don't send unsolicited work to anyone. Producers get tons of unsolicited scripts every year and most times they won't read any of them. You also run the risk of having your work stolen. There are numerous cases in court past and present where unsolicited and solicited work were read and made without compensation or credit to the originating author.

Think of it this way, when you get spam in your inbox or junkmail in your mailbox, what do you do with it? Also, before you send off a script, have you honed it to a fine edge? Have you had a professional Script Doctor read through your work? Have you registered your work with the WGA? Do you know what that is? Have you submitted your work for copyright in your country's copyright office?

Also, a 2 minute script is fine to show you have some writing ability but if you were fortunate (and I do mean fortunate) to get someone connected to the studio system to actually read your work, do you have a feature length version ready to go if they want to see more?

Your best bet is to enter scriptwriting contests. You'll have a much better chance of someone being interested in your work in that vein than basically chucking your work at people who are not going to read it at all. There are numerous contests out there so do your research as to which one's you feel you'd have a good shot at.

I can tell you with certainty, Marvel, DC and any other big outfit is not going to waste time with your unsolicited and unknown work. They don't need to. They have thousands of proven writers under their umbrella to choose from and they already own the property so they don't have to pay anything extra for them.

It's pretty obvious you have no idea of how all this works and I
would hate to see you waste your time and effort only to quit out of
frustration. If contests aren't your thing, there's no reason you can't
partner up with others interested in filmmaking at your local level and
create your own projects. In fact, I would recommend that. Yes, it is
possible to 'catch lightning in a bottle' the first time up and be an
amateur scriptwriter and get a big movie deal (See Director Antoine
Fuqua's "Brooklyn's Finest" who's scriptwriter was a Subway Booth
Officer who's script caught the director's eye after a contest.) More
than likely, you won't. But you can develop your skill and build
relationships with other filmmakers and eventually gain the attention of
someone connected with the 'system'.

So with all that in mind, the best way to get the 'big boys' to notice your work is to make something on your own worth noticing. Something to think about.