How to Become a Film Writer
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a film writer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.55 an hour? That's $44,823 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 0% and produce -100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Film Writer Do
There are certain skills that many film writers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed creativity, social perceptiveness and writing skills.
How To Become a Film Writer
If you're interested in becoming a film writer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 78.6% of film writers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.7% of film writers have master's degrees. Even though most film writers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a film writer. When we researched the most common majors for a film writer, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on film writer resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a film writer. In fact, many film writer jobs require experience in a role such as internship. Meanwhile, many film writers also have previous career experience in roles such as writer or assistant director.
Average Salary for a Film Writer
What Am I Worth?
Top Colleges for Film Writers
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
2. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
3. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
4. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
5. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
6. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Private
7. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
8. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
9. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
10. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
Top Skills For a Film Writer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 59.8% of film writers listed documentary film on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and social perceptiveness are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Film Writer Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Film Writer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Film Writer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Film Writer Demographics
Film Writer Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among film writers, 39.3% of them are women, while 60.7% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among film writers is White, which makes up 78.8% of all film writers.
- The most common foreign language among film writers is Spanish at 43.8%.
Online Courses For Film Writer That You May Like
Write a Full Length Feature Film Script In this course, you will write a complete, feature-length screenplay for film or television, be it a serious drama or romantic comedy or anything in between. You'll learn to break down the creative process into components, and you'll discover a structured process that allows you to produce a polished and pitch-ready script by the end of the course. Completing this project will increase your confidence in your ideas and abilities, and you'll feel prepared t...
In many ways Scandinavian film and television is a global cultural brand, connected with and exporting some of the cultural and social values connected to a liberal and progressive welfare society. This course deals with the social, institutional and cultural background of film and television in Scandinavia and in a broader European and global context...
Real World Film School. Learn Film & TV from someone with a 30+ year career selling Film & TV Screenplays & Producing TV...
How Do Film Writer Rate Their Jobs?
Top Film Writer Employers
Most Common Employers For Film Writer
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Savannah College of Art and Design | $66,002 | $31.73 | 1 |
| 2 | IFCO Systems NV | $61,518 | $29.58 | 1 |
| 3 | Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC | $57,850 | $27.81 | 2 |
| 4 | Livestream | $57,779 | $27.78 | 1 |
| 5 | Pop Up Post | $57,567 | $27.68 | 1 |
| 6 | Examiner.com | $57,531 | $27.66 | 2 |
| 7 | Crypt TV | $57,529 | $27.66 | 1 |
| 8 | Pitney Bowes | $57,221 | $27.51 | 1 |
| 9 | Entertainment Promotions | $56,655 | $27.24 | 1 |
| 10 | Backroads | $54,601 | $26.25 | 1 |