One fine sunny Los Angeles afternoon, William was sitting in an assistant’s office, waiting for the producer, and her door was closed. Killing time, he looked above the assistant’s desk, and there were two shelves overflowing with screenplays. They ran around three walls of the room. For mental gymnastics, William estimated how many scripts there were. 1,400. One thousand four hundred screenplays, and they all had agents.

It is nearly inconceivable to an outsider, to someone at a typewriter or a computer in a city other than Los Angeles, far from the agent’s desk, or the producer’s office… the staggering volume of material the system has to contend with. The number of scripts that gushes over the transom of every producer, or agent, or executive, every week, boggles the mind. You’re one writer sitting in your room, or at a park, or coffee shop, writing your screenplay. There are thousands of people sitting in parks all across this great land of ours, writing screenplays too. So, what you’re writing has to be really good.

While the competition you face is gigantic, it is not monolithic. There are chinks and cracks in the armor, and a well written script can wriggle through. But it has to be extremely well written. If your script isn’t perfect, or as close to perfect as you can get it, then it doesn’t stand a chance. It is supremely arrogant to think that something you dash off in a couple of weeks, and don’t rewrite, is anything more than a waste of your time.

It is monumentally difficult to find someone “real” to read your material.

If you ever get that chance, you don’t want to mess it up.

You don’t have to be a good writer to be a good teacher, but knowing how to write doesn’t hurt.

William Akers knows how to write.

An executive at Universal told him, “I was a reader here for three years. When they promoted me, I went back and read all my old coverage. There were five good scripts. Two were yours.”

He’s a Lifetime Member of the Writers Guild of America, a distinction earned by only 10-15% of WGA members.

William’s books, including a children’s novel, have been published by traditional publishers. Three films have been produced from his screenplays. Sure, one was an Ernest movie, but his house is paid for.

He’s worked as a script consultant for almost two decades. Two Key to Storytelling clients have reached the semi-finals in the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship. A top Hollywood script guru asked William for notes on their screenplay. The writer of the most successful independent film in movie history came to him for notes on the sequel.

William taught university-level courses and seminars about writing for over twenty years. His students have gone on to work for major Hollywood studios, production companies, and agencies.

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