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August 31, 2025 19 mins

Eight spec scripts have sold so far in August 2025. That's a fantastic achievement that should energize every writer out there. It looks like audiences are eager for movies that keep them guessing, which means fresh, original stories that can still surprise and delight. Sandy reports on this genuine optimism for screenwriters in an industry that has recently been taken over by existing IP.

The PAGE International Screenwriting Awards sponsors the WRITERS HANGOUT.
Executive Producer Kristin Overn
Creator/Executive Producer Sandy Adomaitis
Producer Terry Sampson
Music by Ethan Stoller

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Hello, my name is SandyAdamidis, the social media
director for the PageInternational Screenwriting
Awards and your host for theWriters Hangout, a podcast that
celebrates the many Frominspiration to the first draft,
revising, getting the projectmade, and everything in between.

(00:32):
We'll talk to the best and thebrightest in the entertainment
industry, and create a spacewhere you can hang out, learn
from the pros, and have fun.
Hey, writers and friends, it'sSandy coming to you on a hot day
in August from the San FernandoValley with another heat

(00:52):
advisory on the horizon.
So I was sitting outside theother day reading.
Because I don't wanna brag, butI love to read and I smelled
smoke.
I didn't hear any sirens or seeany helicopters circling above.
So I continued to read for a fewminutes.
Then I went inside.

(01:13):
I immediately turned on the airconditioner, which I don't know
about you guys, but I have alove hate relationship with my
air conditioner.
I love it, but it's too loud.
Someday I will have central Air.
Okay, so a few minutes later Isaw an online emergency post
stating that five or nine, Ican't really remember, fire

(01:36):
engines were responding to afire in a closet in the condo
next door.
So when people ask me, Sandy,what is going on with writers in
Hollywood?
Trust.
I always know what's up andnothing gets by me.
This all leads to something wethought was dead in Hollywood

(02:00):
but has come alive just in timefor Halloween.
The spec script, I know right.
That is a shock.
Let's step back and quicklydefine what a SPECT script is.
A SPECT script or speculativescreenplay.
Alexa, stop.
is a story written without acontract or prior request from a

(02:21):
studio or producer.
with the hope of selling it fora profit or using it as a sample
to get paid writing work.
Now, here's what the dailies hasto say.
if you don't know about thedailies, It's a newsletter and
it says it keeps film slash TVprofessionals in the loop.

(02:43):
And also says, our readers workat Warner Brothers Universal
Disney, Netflix, Amazon,C-A-A-W-M-E and more.
You can get thatnewsletter@newsletter.read the
dailies, N-E-W-S-L-E-T-T-E-R dotR-E-A-D-T-H-E-D-A-I-L-I-S dot CO

(03:14):
m.com.
Okay, this is what the articlesays.
I Shall Begin.
Hollywood Studios are finallyopening their wallets for
original scripts again, andwriters who've been collecting
passes and sustaining on Ramen.
Might want to sit down for thisone.

(03:34):
Eight spec deals have closed inAugust 20, 25 alone.
That's the highest monthly totalsince March.
Wanna guess?
Wanna guess?
2017.
To put this in perspective, thespec market hit rock bottom with
just 11 deals in all of 2023.

(03:57):
Industry Vet Scott Myers.
whose tracked specs since 1991.
Notes that during the ninetiesGolden Era Hollywood averaged 12
to 13 deals per month.
In recent years, we've seen anaverage of just one to two per

(04:17):
month.
But 2025 is already lookingstronger with 19 total deals so
far.
Surpassing 2020 fours, year todate numbers some of the deals,
making waves this month.
With the eighth pick, so this isa script called with the eighth

(04:41):
pick a spec script.
It went to Warner Brothers.
The script was written by AlexSoen and Gavin Johansen
pineapple Now.
The two names Alex and Gavin areseparated by the word, and, I'm
sure you all have noticed thatwriter's names are separated not

(05:02):
only by the word and, but alsowith an ampersand.
An ampersand to me looks like ahappy anchor.
And ampersand between twowriters and names indicates a
writing team who collaborated onthe script.
The word and A and d shows thatthe writers worked on the script

(05:26):
independently of each other.
So maybe one writer wrote acouple of drafts, the studio.
Uh, was unhappy for a reason andthey brought on another writer
or the studio decided to go inanother direction and had to
bring in another writer.
When we, talk about thesescripts, let's play a game and

(05:48):
come up with the plot of themovie based on the title.
Then I'll look up the realsummary of the movie with the
eighth pick.
Okay.
That's what we were just talkingabout that went to Warner
Brothers with the eighth pick.
I like the eighth pick betterwith.

(06:11):
I'm not sure why with is therePlus it just, let's go see the
movie with the eighth pick.
I don't know.
It's kind of clumsy to say, butI'm gonna go with, this is a
country movie.
About a loner who travels thecountry.
Yes.
I use country twice in asentence.

(06:34):
He, uh, he or she, travels thecountry picking guitars at night
and safes even later.
gotta work on that part Untilthis picker meets the one lock
that won't open the daughterthey left behind.
Okay.

(06:54):
That's what I think it's about.
Let's look it up.
Where do you think it waswriters?
Okay.
The Hollywood Reporter says.
Warner Brothers acquired thespec script about the behind the
scenes, 1996 NBA drafting ofKobe Bryant's.

(07:14):
Okay.
I am guessing the basketballfans are just laughing at me so
hard and they knew immediatelywhat the title meant, but I did
not, and I could not be morewrong about.
What with the eighth pick isabout?
How'd you guys do Okay.
Back to the article.

(07:35):
Next up Bald Eagles from BrandonCohen.
Landed at Paramount for sevenfigures in a preemptive deal.
Wow.
Um, also preemptive deal,meaning they bought it before
other studios could bid.
They just showed up at thiswriter.

(07:55):
Brandon's, I don't know, condohouse in the hills.
Uh, Griffith Park.
View of the Hollywood sign abodeand backed up the money truck.
Okay.
what do you think Bald Eagles isabout?
I am gonna go with older ex.

(08:22):
Eagles players, footballplayers, older ex eagle players,
sabotage a terrorist attack atthe Super Bowl.
I don't know this might be setin the future.
That is just so corny.
I know.
Um, Taylor Swift to Star as themusical guest at the halftime
show, Abby, and it's TravisKelsey makes his acting debut.

(08:49):
Okay, let's look it up This isfrom the Hollywood Reporter.
Paramount has aggressivelypicked up bald Eagles, a comedy
speck by rising scribe, BrandonCohen.
Details on the deal and scriptare being kept in the aria, but

(09:11):
eagles is described as a R-ratedhigh concept workplace comedy.
Okay, well, I didn't say theex-football players worked at
the Super Bowl, but in my headthey did work at the Super Bowl,
I'm going with the win on thatone.
Now back to the article.
The pirate sold to Amazon MGMwith Jason Momoa attached to.

(09:36):
Produce and potentially star,well, first off, Amazon.
MGMI don't think that's evergonna catch on.
Um, Amazon.
Uh, Amazon, that's what weshould call it.
Amazon, MGM, you are theclassic, you are the icon.
Unfortunately, Amazon is in thebloodstream of Americans.

(10:00):
what do you think the plot isfor the pirate Now?
I'm thinking Jason Momoa being aactual, I, I matey kind of
pirate is too on the nose.
Hmm.
You know, movies on the waterare so expensive to shoot.

(10:22):
But if you have a Jason Momoa,why not lean into his strengths?
Okay.
The pirate is about a famouspirate he's trying to retire,
but the daughter he never knew.
He had shows up at the bar heonce hung out at, but now owns

(10:44):
the original owner died.
I'm not laughing because that'sparticularly witty or funny.
I'm laughing at how corny I'mgonna make this next line.
The original owner dies and hewalked behind the bar and took
over.
The daughter has a treasure mapand tries and convince Jason to

(11:05):
take her through troubled deadlywaters, filled with pirates.
A ay Okay.
Let's look it up.
You guys ready?
What did you come up with?
This is what deadline says.
Plot details are vague otherthan it being described as the

(11:27):
raid, set on a pirate ship.
Yep.
Okay.
That's cool.
I've never seen the raid, whichlooks really good, but too
intense for me.
It's about in a Indonesian,tactical police tactical squad
that is sent to raid a druglord's apartment.

(11:47):
I don't know if it's just like abig apartment or the whole
block, but it's in the slums ofJakarta, they are surrounded by
all the bad guys and they haveto fight their way out of the
complex.
That movie reminds me of a movieI did see Precinct 13.
It's a 1976 movie written,directed, scored, and edited.

(12:11):
By John Carpenter.
It takes place in Detroit wherea precinct Precinct 13 comes
under attack by a messy, violentstreet gang.
It's a really good movie.
Um, I think when I watched it, Ithought they were in New York,
um, the Bronx or something likethat.
Okay, back to the article, thenext one up.

(12:35):
Incidents.
That's the name of the script,sparked an 11 studio bidding war
before Searchlight one.
Oh my, I didn't even realizethere were 11 studios left to
bid.
Nevermind.
Being a war.
This psychological thrillercomes from William Gilles, who

(12:57):
wrote the Acclaimed Hall Road.
Okay.
All right.
Let's think it's a psychologicalthriller.
Like when I talk slow, becauseI'm thinking, okay, I'm gonna
say bad things begin to happento a therapist right after they

(13:22):
let.
A high, uh, strong, I'm gonnasay difficult client go.
And then suddenly these, there,there's these series of Satanic
murders, and the therapistsbecomes the number one suspect.

(13:43):
Why?
Because all the killings areformer.
Patients of hers and the taglineis next.
Okay, let's look it up.
this is from Going to the Story,which Scott Myers, that's his

(14:06):
website, we mentioned himearlier.
The story centers on a woman whoescapes an abduction and then
sets out to find her attackerand understands the motive
behind the attack.
much better than what I said.
Yep.
Okay.
Back to the article, theSurvival list went to Lionsgate

(14:29):
with Blake Lively attached.
Hmm.
Have to do another Blake Livelyupdate soon.
what do you think the plot willbe?
I'm thinking.
Blake Lively.
Heads up a tactical team.
Yes.
You heard that.
I'm literally stealing from thepirate, which stole from the

(14:54):
raid.
You hire to go to hotspots andpull out hostages.
Okay, let's look it up.
Couldn't be more wrong.
An action.
Romantic comedy.
What did you think writers, didyou even get the genre right?
Survival List tells of ahighbrow reality TV producer

(15:17):
named Annie, who against herwishes, is a sign to a new show.
Hosted by a famous survivalexpert.
Okay.
No, not too far off ChopperLane.
Okay.
Back to being very far offChopper lane.
Hmm.
What an a, however, when ashipwreck strands them on a

(15:40):
desert island.
Annie discovers chopper is afraud and knows nothing about
survival, Leaving her in chargeof figuring out how to keep them
alive, forced to work together,they begin to discover an
unlikely chemistry.
Aw, sounds cute.
Now the article goes on toreport several signs suggest

(16:03):
this could be more than just alucky month.
Original films like Sinners andWeapons came outta nowhere to
become genuine hits.
Meanwhile, the TV pilot markethas dried up, so managers are
generally pushing their writerstowards features as a cleaner
path to breaking in.

(16:24):
after years of throwing money ateverything, studios are getting
more selective, which makescomplete ready to shoot scripts
suddenly look more attractivethan vague concepts that need
years of development.
we'll see whether this momentumcontinues through the rest of

(16:45):
2025.
But for screenwriters who'vebeen hearing IP only for years,
intellectual properties, uh,that's what they mean a book a
treatment based on some ofsomething else.
August's numbers offer some realoptimism.
Well.

(17:05):
That really is good news.
Just keep writing.
Like we say, the world needsyour stories.
Now I have a challenge from you.
You can be a writer, you can bea friend.
Anyone can do this.
I came across a post from LadBible.
It shows the arrest photo of,uh, a guy with the caption

(17:28):
prisoner who died and comes backto life argued he technically
served his life sentence.
You know, it made me pause andthink about it for a moment.
Now I challenge you guys towrite one scene from that movie
and send it to me.
Send it to me at the writershangout podcast.com We're

(17:54):
talking a half a page or longer.
Write the first thing that comesto mind and just go with it.
Uh, I showed you come up withthose plot lines, just right
from that, come up with a title.
and just write one scene basedon the prisoner who died, comes
back to life and argues hetechnically served his life

(18:18):
sentences.
I'll read some of them on thepodcast.
If you don't want it read, letme know.
Just say, please don't read thison the podcast, but otherwise.
Send it.
I'll read it.
I think that'll be really fun.
Come on you guys.
You know you wanna do it.
Take a chance and have fun.

(18:38):
And that's a wrap for theWriter's Hangout.
Thanks so much for listening.
If you enjoyed the show, pleasetake a moment to leave us a
review on Apple Podcasts.
Your positive feedback will helpus keep the show going so we can
continue bringing you morefuture episodes.
Remember, keep writing.
The world needs your stories.
The Writers Hangout is sponsoredby the Page International

(19:01):
Screenwriting Awards, withexecutive producer Kristen
Overn, producer Sandy Adamides,and myself, Terry Sampson.
And our music is composed byEthan Stoller.
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