FAQ

what's
the deal?

FAQ:

WHO IS RICH WILKES AND WHY DO I CARE?

I'm a longtime screenwriter, thirty plus years. I've got a bunch of movies made.

HOW HARD IS IT TO GET A MOVIE MADE IN HOLLYWOOD?

There are tens of thousands of screenplays written every year. Year after year, all over the world. By amateurs and professionals alike. Only a tiny fraction get read. A tinier fraction find their way into the hands of someone who can actually get the wheels rolling. Then the planets have to align and various miracles have to happen for it to come together in a meaningful way. Money, actors, director, producers... Each step forward is a crazy miracle. But at any moment, at any point in the process from writing to finished film, the whole thing can explode in your face for any of a million different reasons, none of which you can control. So the odds of getting a screenplay actually made into a movie, actually seen by an audience, are unbelievably small.

IS THERE A METHOD TO THE MADNESS?

The method is luck. Most of what you need to survive in Hollywood is luck. You work hard, you treat people well, and you hope that one day things line up and you get a break. Then you do it again, because while what you did last summer is nice, what matters is next summer. That goes for everybody. It took 15 years for Steven Speilberg to get his Abraham Lincoln movie made. Read that again.

HOW MANY MOVIES HAVE YOU GOT YOUR NAME ON?

I have screenwriting credit on a dozen movies. Mostly for writing, some for co-writing, some for "characters created by". Those movies are spread out over more than thirty years. I've been doing this since 1993, I've managed to have a career. But, like every other writer, the vast majority of what I write never sees the light of day.

ONCE YOU GET A MOVIE MADE, AREN'T YOU "IN THE CLUB"?

I always thought so. Turns out not. This guy Stephen Fellows did a study of all produced screenwriters over the course of 70 years. He says if you get a movie made, there's a 66% chance that the first will also be your last. He says only one in five produced writers get three or more movies made.

SO HOW DID YOU GET TWELVE MOVIES MADE?

First, I got lucky and someone read my third script and liked it. That movie got made, it was a miracle, and while I had some momentum, I kept pushing. Somehow I managed to my next five scripts made, which is crazy. The movie industry doesn't move like that anymore. That was the '90s. Getting to twelve took over thirty years. I've written, or co-written, over 50 screenplays. That's what you need to do. Sometimes nobody wants what you're selling. You keep writing. If you're a writer, that's what you do. You are driven to write, no matter what. It took 17 years to get The Dirt made. You just keep going, you never know what's going to happen. You can't control luck, all you can do is make sure you're still standing there if and when it comes around.

didn't you do a documentary?

I did, yeah. I have more than twelve screen credits, now that I'm thinking about it. I also finanaced, wrote and starred in a documentary. I've had dry spells that have lasted for years. But I'm always working. Sometimes you can't get anyone interested in your stuff so you have to figure another way, like I did by financing my own movie.

has being a white man in hollywood helped?

When has being white and male ever hurt?

what's the deal?