I read Collateral Beauty last week, I thought it was really good. Great character piece with a couple cool twists. Kinda reminded me of A Wonderful Life.

Got the script, Frankie. Yet to read it. Will push up my list.

The reason why comedy sales have been stagnant in recent years is due to the fact most readers don't know what funny is, and they make everything out it be offensive when it's not. America is too sensitive... that's why comedy is suffering. It's too easy to tick a reader off the wrong way with some "politically incorrect statement" these days, resulting in a pass on a script.

Orange Pop, since I write mostly comedy, I've tracked this trend pretty thoroughly including extensive discussions with other writers, managers, producers. There are a lot of contributing factors. The thing you mention is interesting. So you're saying that the front line of defense -- script readers -- and perhaps even CE's, many of them just don't get humor to the point where they reject material because it might offend a certain segment of society? Sort of a preemptive 'let's play it safe by passing' thing. Meanwhile we've got Louis CK, Amy Schumer, Seth MacFarlane, and others continuing to push the envelope in terms of humor and doing quite well. So perhaps a growing disconnect between established stars having a power base to be offensive, but unknowns who try it in their spec scripts get squashed by readers who are afraid to pass along a 'politically incorrect' script along with a Consider. Comedy is probably the most subjective genre there is. This wrinkle would just make things harder.

Too many readers will let one line dictate their opinion. If they see something they don't like, they don't like the writer either. They're acting like these little things can't be removed. Those details are up to the buyer, but they take it to a personal level... Which it's not meant to be. Some jokes are merely swing and misses and nothing more. Comedy is victim to this ever growing sensitive society more so than any other genre. It's making writers tiptoe over people's feelings. If the buyers found better readers, their would not only be more comedy sales, but better comedy scripts being purchased. Offensive is the new favorite word in America. I couldn't agree any more with your point on stars that are already established. That sums it up. But I'm willing to bet it would be a lot more difficult if they were upcoming stars. However, I do feel that screenwriting is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to this "politically correct" phenomena. I think buyers need to take a closer look at their readers and determine whether they're the right people for the job as gatekeepers... Especially for comedy scripts.

Thanks for that follow-up, OP. I wonder how much of this is due to the fact that actual pro script readers have increasingly been replaced by interns. Less life experience probably leads to a less nuanced sense of humor.

I'm sure hoping we'll start to see a change soon in what's coming out of Hollywood. At some point, people will want to see other things than remakebootsequels or super hero movies, even the fans. Maybe the comedy and drama spec sales point toward that future change. There are a few on that list that I find intriguing such as THE LEVIATHAN (wow, that short film!), PALE BLUE DOT, TEMPLE, THE BURNING WOMAN, AMERICAN DRIFTER (I really didn't like Bress' other script, AM. HOSTAGE, though), THE INFINITE HORIZON and, of course, FREE FALL which is so frustratingly similar to a script of my own that's in pre-production. I also read COLLATERAL BEAUTY recently and liked it a lot. Great character work. Oh, I also read THE SEARCH and liked it a lot as well. Anyway, spec sales are always encouraging even though our friends in Hollywood still seem a little risk-averse :)

Does anyone ever sell a spec without management?

These things go in cycles, Marija. I had several people tell me that when I broke into the business in 1987. I've seen it myself over the last 30 years. I've studied it in teaching my History of American Screenwriting class. The whole history of filmmaking is all about cycles. If you read the interview I'm running on the blog with Emile Gladstone, we discuss how the rise of 'financiers' is a positive thing, as they are willing to make movies the major studios aren't. Combine that with advances in digital technologies which makes filmmaking easier and cheaper, I can foresee a bright future for this type of storytelling.

It's quite rare, Michael. The main sticking point is buyers typically do not accept unsolicited material due to legal concerns. So they typically only take submissions from agents, managers, and/or lawyers. Occasionally through the whole six degrees of separation approach, a script w/o representation gets slipped to a producer who slips it to a buyer, and that consummates a deal. At that point, it's invariable that the writer then gets a manager and/or agent. The Black List website is one way for unrepped scripts to get in front of buyers and that has resulted in quite a few sales.

I'm surprised at how difficult it is to secure managers for writers. I can understand the agent side of the spectrum, but the manager side leaves me puzzled. It seems like the only way to get a decent manager is to win a contest or get a referral. I don't like those odds. Winning a contest is such a long shot, and I don't have the connections to get referrals. Another trend I noticed is that writing managers like Benderspink and Energy Entertainment (to name a few) are always trying to attach themselves as producers. Does this hurt the writers? They're more focused on this than developing young writers.

Lauren, believe it or not, there are actually more ways to get material in front of managers and agents than ever before. It also happens to be more competitive, too. Hollywood used to be pretty much a closed shop. You had to know somebody to get unsolicited material to anyone in the script acquisition and development system. Now there are contests and competitions, as you mention. Yes, the odds are long, however if you do well in the Nicholl or Austin contests, chances are you will be contacted by at least managers and possibly agents. The Black List website, as I've mentioned, has over 3,000 industry insiders and believe me, every agency and management company has someone covering their weekly postings of popular scripts. With the rise of managers, there is much more room for unsolicited material to get to people who can rep you. You mention managers as producers. That's one of the main reasons managers have grown so exponentially over the last 20 years. They can lay themselves in as producers whereas agents can't. So the upside for a writer is managers are much more motivated to find and cultivate talent than agents are. Many of them accept material from new writers. You can read this for a process whereby you can approach management companies. Bottom line, as always: If you write a script they want, that pretty much takes care of everything. When I wrote K-9 as a spec, I knew one person in Hollywood: My writing partner who was interning at 20th Century Fox at the time. He slipped the script to a couple of creative execs who liked it. The script went out on the weekend read in January 1987. Scott Rudin, head of production at the time, said at their weekly Monday staff meeting, "I love it." By noon, word had gotten around town. That night, my partner and I met with an agent (there were three interested in signing us). The next day, we signed. The script went on to sell for big bucks to Universal. And all of it because it was a strong story concept and well-executed. So you do not need to be in Hollywood to break in. I have interviewed writers from the U.K., South Africa, Australia, and Sweden, to name a few countries, who have been discovered via the Black List, the Nicholl, or some other means. Come up with a strong marketable concept. Write the hell out of it. Then use some of the conduits into Hollywood. Good luck!