The Original 'How to Write a Screenplay' Book?
The Original 'How to Write a Screenplay' Book?
This 1915 screenwriting guide might just be the first of its kind...but what does it reveal about how far screenwriters have come in being fairly paid for their work?
Through the Writers Guild of America, I recently crossed digital paths with screenwriter Leah Folta, who most recently wrote on Disney’s TV series “The Villains of Valley View”. A friend of hers had gifted her a book called How to Write for the “Movies”. It was written by Louella O. Parsons and was published in 1915, which means it’s probably the first screenwriting guide ever written. I wanted to share some pages from it with you, with Leah’s permission — as a piece of screenwriting history, but also as a testament to why the WGA exists. Be sure to the final paragraph in the final image I’ve shared here.
$25 for writing a reel of a film?!
Oh, but inflation, right? That must be, like, $100,000 in 2024 for, say, the eight reels that would go into a silent feature. Let’s go put that into an inflation calculator and—
Holy fuck, that’s only $6,359.52 in 2024 dollars!
Again, this is why the Writers Guild of America exists, to protect writers from abuses and to ensure they’re paid fairly for their work and the profit it generates. Today, it guarantees screenwriters are paid a minimum of $103,000 for a feature film script. This is also why all artists should attempt to unionize wherever they are in the world. In every market where I work where collective bargaining is not the industry standard, writers are treated like shit, disrespected, and third-classed behind producers and directors.
You can’t make a good film without a good screenplay. A good director can’t make up for that. It all begins with the writer - please don’t forget that.
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I cracked up as soon as I saw the author's name which I recognized mainly from her gossip column role. According to Wikipedia she did start out as a screenwriter and I wonder if this book was a part of her transition from participating in the industry to reporting on the industry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louella_Parsons
Jeez. The good ‘ole days were just as bad as the current day. But I gotta say, “photoplaywright” has an interesting ring to it.