Career Questions? Screenwriters Answer the Call to Help

Are you a WGAW member with a topic on your mind that only a fellow screenwriter can address? A recently launched peer-to-peer program has got you covered. In fact, the Guild’s Ask a Screenwriter program gives members their pick of more than 200 screenwriters to consult.

The program is designed for ease of use. Users can log on to Ask a Screenwriter via the WGA Platform and scroll through the roster of experienced screenwriters who have signed up to participate. Questions are submitted via email, after which the two writers can continue the conversation via email or—time and schedules permitting—they can switch to phone or Zoom.

Even with the program in its early stages, questioners and respondents have been enthusiastic about a tool that helps bring sometimes isolated screenwriters closer together. Eighteen-year WGAW member Matthew Aldrich, whose credits include Spinning Man and Cleaner, sees Ask a Screenwriter as a convenient and easy way to help his fellow members.

“I don’t live in Los Angeles, so it’s hard for me to come across emerging screenwriters and give them advice,” said the Oakland-based Aldrich. “It felt good to be of service and to be of service to the Guild.”
Aldrich has fielded inquiries from multiple members. He has talked to writers about transitioning from TV into features; discussed free work and given general thoughts to members who have reached a point of self-reflection.

Susannah Grant. Photo by Don Flood.

“It was like, ‘The business is really tough right now. How much longer are we supposed to hold out before we start looking for other things to do, and have you been in this situation before?,’ that kind of thing,” said Aldrich. “I’ve had good years and bad years, so I felt like maybe I was able to bring a little perspective and talk about those times when I was not working and collecting unemployment, and I had one little kid and another on the way, trying to figure out what to do next. I feel like I had some experience to impart.”

In the more than 10 interactions she has had with Ask a Screenwriter advice-seekers, Susannah Grant (Lonely Planet, Erin Brockovich) says she is trying keep her feedback honest without being discouraging.

“I try to give people some sort of action item, maybe some way of looking at the situation that they might not have considered,” said Grant. “I always say ‘Apologies if this feels rudimentary but have you considered X other ways of looking at it?’ I’ve been doing this long enough to have found myself in a number of scenarios that had me scratching my head, and have found my way out of some of them. So being able to share that route has felt useful.”

Dalan Musson has been contacted by six members, and the 15-year Guild member has made a point to quickly move from emailing to Zoom meetings with advice-seeking writers.

“In my experience, very few nuanced questions can be answered well over email,” said Musson, whose credits include Captain America: Brave New World and the streaming series The Falcon and the Winter Solider. “A 15- or 20-minute Zoom, I would bet, would take 100 pages of emails, and it’s so much more efficient to really get to the core of what someone’s problem is.”

Since signing on to participate as an Ask a Screenwriter resource, Musson has tackled questions ranging from wrangling reps, to project-specific questions like approaching a rewrite with a different character arc.

Dalan Musson. Photo by Abigail Welkom.

“It’s fascinating to see the different things that people are hanging up on or having trouble with from a craft perspective,” Musson said. “It’s also interesting to hear that so many people have similar issues that they’re bumping up against. It can also be helpful when I can say to somebody, ‘Hey, you know it’s funny, three other people have asked me that question, so this is something that’s going on. You’re not the only one.’”

Two of those who have sought out advice from Musson—as well as from other writers—say the experience has been extremely valuable. Matt Foss, a former wildlife biologist who has recently moved into writing, confessed to feeling anxiety over being in what he considers his “creative adolescence.”

“Ask a Screenwriter came through right when I was probably at full panic, and it was perfect,” Foss said. “Everyone responded. Everyone has been incredible, and Dalan knew right away to say: ‘First of all, everything’s fine.’”

“Instantaneously, I felt less alone, less isolated,” Foss continued. “After talking with Dalan, it was like, ‘Oh, right, I’m going to take some more audacious swings and trust I know how to make mistakes. I know how to lean into that right now and not worry about how lost I’m feeling.’”

Saeed Crumpler. Photo by Jeff Arthur.

Saeed Crumpler said he appreciated being able to sort through the credits of experienced screenwriters to help determine who he would contact. A Guild member since 2022, Crumpler is a TV writer looking to move into feature writing. He reached out to Musson and also to Micah Schraft, who has written for TV and film.

Crumpler found the advice he received to be both practical (like the importance of having a spec feature script) and encouraging. Crumpler told Schraft about a four-year-old idea for a project that he had been reluctant to pursue, and was pleased to hear the more established writer see value in his idea.

“He was like, ‘I’d want to see that. You should polish that up and put it out,’” Crumpler said. “One thing about this industry, hearing ‘no’ so much, it tears down your belief in your taste, so it’s good to meet up with writers, and they’re like, ‘No, you’re right. That is a dope idea.’ Sometimes that’s all you need.”

Matt Foss. Photo by Dirtkics.

Aldrich believes that anything that strengthens the bonds within a community of writers has the potential to be impactful.

“The writing is on the wall about the bind that writers are in right now and the shrinking landscape,” Aldrich said. “There are fewer buyers buying fewer things and so writers who are maybe junior or in that weird middle area are finding themselves pretty pinched.”

“Screenwriters have a hard time finding each other, and so anything the Guild can do to hook us up with each other is really welcome,” he continued. “It’s a tall glass of water in the desert, so I appreciate it.”

Learn more about the Ask a Screenwriter program including how to submit a query or be a resource for other writers.