Aspiring Screenwriter's Rant

I’m not sure I’ve mentioned it before on this site but I’m an aspiring screenwriter.  I’ve been writing screenplays with a friend for about two to three years now.  We have three completed and are now revising them so we can try and get some industry folks to read them and give us money for them.  Right now, I view this as more of a hobby than anything, because I’m not going to quit my job, move to Hollywood and pursue a screenwriter’s career.  Instead I’m writing at my leisure and if my “big break” happens, great.  My problem is why is it so hard to get someone to at least read my screenplays?  With all the crap that gets made nowadays and the unoriginality in the movie business, why wouldn’t studio producers and executives read more amateur screenwriters?  Maybe it’s me but if the people that wrote Strange Wilderness and all the latest crappy spoof movies get a chance, how come I can’t?

I’m not saying I’m a better writer than the people that write crappy movies, I’m just saying I can probably write a better movie than Strange Wilderness or Grown Ups.  It just seems like you have to know someone to get your screenplay looked at or produced.  My partner and I have really good ideas and are fine tuning our craft as we speak but are we doing it for nothing?  Is it just a waste of my time?  I guess since it’s something I enjoy and I’m not banking on it for income that it will never be a waste of time.  I just hope that my ideas one day are at least read.  If they’re crap, great, tell me, but how do I really know?

Maybe it is me.  Maybe I’m not doing enough.  After the new revisions and final drafts in the next couple of months, I think I’ll enter some contests.  Most contests read every script and provide feedback.  With the feedback I can at least see if my writing is any good and if I should continue this as a hobby or get more involved.  This will at least give me some honest feedback and get some reads on my scripts.  I can’t even get my own wife to read them.  I’ve had a couple friends read them but are they really giving me honest feedback?  I doubt it.  And truthfully, how could they give honest feedback, they’re not fine tuned writers or producers.  What do they know?

I guess this is just a frustration rant but it really irks me when I go to the movies and see trailers for crap like Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Tooth Fairy, Spy Next Door, Cop Out, The Bounty Hunter, and The Back-Up Plan.  Though I’ve never seen these movies, the reviews and box office haul indicates they just aren’t very good.  Maybe it’s me but give some aspiring and amateur screenwriters a chance.  We have some great ideas and could really help Hollywood right now.