The Business of Screenwriting in 2025

Screenwriting has never been easy, but in 2025, it feels like navigating a battlefield. Writers are dealing with a triple threat: a volatile streaming economy, AI disruption, and shrinking development slates. If you ask studios, the writers are to blame because of the strike, if you ask the writers, the studios are to blame because of their obession with IP, and their risk averse nature. Yet amid the chaos, there are signs of creative rebellion, innovation, and resilience. Writing after all, is a vocation; a calling. But it's also tough, so buckle up and take in the good, bad and hopeful.

1. The Streaming Correction The golden age of blank-check content is over. Platforms like Netflix and Amazon are cutting back on volume and doubling down on global franchises. Development slates are smaller, and buyers are risk-averse. This means less room for mid-budget originality—but more hunger for great writing that breaks through the noise. BUT there are always exceptions to this and while no one wants to hear this, casting relationships can go a very long way here.

2. AI Is Real, But So Are You The rise of AI tools like ChatGPT and Sora has sparked both excitement and existential dread. Some execs are toying with using AI to generate outlines, treatments, even first drafts. But here’s the truth: AI can remix tropes, but it can’t generate voice. It can't elevate your point of view. It can't generate dialogue like, "What is grief, if not love, persevearing." These are things that come out through conversation, careful thought and actively failing and re-writing. It is imperfect, but that's what makes it human. AI can simulate formula, but not humanity. The writers who thrive now are those with a singular POV who are taking familiar tropes, turning them on their head, and giving us a specific view into a universal theme.

3. Indies Are Back As Hollywood tightens its belt, many writers are going scrappy. Crowdfunding, self-distribution, newsletter-based IP development, and micro-budget collaborations are on the rise. The tools to produce and promote your work have never been more accessible. AND YET, one has to acknowledge that Indies are only back to people with means or access to means. The "great democratization" of creation is not created equally for everyone. Sure, if you're a big filmmaker with access to hundresd of thousands of dollars in specialized rigs, you too can make a kick ass movie on your phone. So yes, you can create, and you can be your own distirbutor. If you want to make something that others take seriously, you do need resources. However, if you're up for hustle, you're in a good spot to go for it.

4. Pitching Is About Community Now Hollywood has always run on relationships, but today’s writers must be marketers too. Building an online presence, cultivating champions, and building narrative ecosystems around your work (via Substack, Discord, Patreon) are increasingly part of the hustle. Beyond that, you also need to build on previous work as you build your brand. Yes, you can do horror and rom com, but not when you're starting out. When your'e starting out, it can be helpful to specialize and then branch out.

5. Writers Are Union-Strong The 2023 WGA strike reminded the world: writers are the industry’s engine. That collective power is now being used to demand AI regulation, better residuals from streaming, and improved access for underrepresented voices.

Despite the uncertainty, storytelling remains a human need. If you have a voice, if you have something to say, the audience is still out there. It may not look like the 2010s Netflix boom, but it’s a new world—and you get to help shape it.

Now is the time to write bold, human stories. To rebel with purpose. To bet on your own weird, brilliant voice. Because that’s the one thing no algorithm can replicate.