Flashback to: Christmas 2017. While visiting family for the holidays, I found myself watching a ton of made-for-TV Christmas movies. Like many of us, I’m a sucker for them when the season rolls around. More importantly, I also realized the following: (a) the number of originals being released year after year was increasing as streamers entered the fray, (b) I had a good idea for one, and (c) I had the gumption to think, “Yes, I can do this, and there is a very good chance it will get made.”

Cut to: Present day. I now have an original screenplay set up at a prominent streaming service slated for a future Christmas release. I can’t say much more than that for now, but here are six tips I can impart to any writers out there looking to get into the (screenwriting) business of Christmas.

1. DO YOUR RESEARCH
There are two types of research. On the creative end, I watched endless amounts of Christmas movies to the point of total brain saturation. I noted commonalities, tropes, listened to podcasts, and even found people online who invented their own drinking games based on said tropes (which are hilarious and fun). There’s a huge fan base out there and this basically comes down to knowing your audience.

On the business side, I noted the companies and producers in the credits who made similar movies, looked up articles in the trades, especially ones where the big networks unveiled their holiday slates with titles and loglines, and again: podcasts. Most notably, one hosted a development exec from Hallmark, wherein she shared with me point blank what their yearlong development/production cycle is, what they look for, and how they structure their movies.

I’ve heard this many times before but in this case, it's 100% true. Early on, the idea I started with was not an easy pitch and focused on a male lead character. In short, a husband caring for his injured wife. As I was about to pitch it in an online writing class, I knew instantly this was too complicated based on my research. So, I revamped it on the spot, invented a far simpler concept, retained some basic elements, and centered it on a female lead character. It became a much cleaner, instantly “gettable” pitch as a result.

Research is passive. Homework is active. Once you have a working concept, you can dive deeper into more specifics. The single most impactful thing I did was, again, something I’ve heard many times before — find movies like yours, watch them, and reverse engineer — i.e., outline them. I chose three I felt would have similar themes, plots and structures: a Hallmark Christmas movie, a Netflix Christmas movie, and a non-holiday theatrically released rom-com. In TV movies especially, the act structure became clear. Three acts = seven sequences = six commercial breaks. After this, I had an invaluable road map to follow.

4. DON’T PITCH BEFORE YOU’RE READY
Whether you’re cold querying, going to someone you know, or connecting via referrals, there are a few things to have ready at minimum: a catchy logline, a one-page synopsis, and the spec treatment (and/or script). In my case, when I first set out to pitch, I had only a logline and a 15-page scene-for-scene treatment. From a referral, I emailed a high-ranking TV network exec. I kept it brief, included the logline, and figured this person is so busy I might not hear back for days, if ever. Instantly, I received a one-line email reply: “Send me a short synopsis.” Thankfully, even as the panic set in, I knew my story front to back and was able to crank out six very succinct paragraphs on the spot. The exec wrote back: “Sounds adorable, but we made something similar last year. Sorry.” I took a lump of coal in my stocking there, but hey, that’s the biz. From that process though I learned which story beats were essential, and which could be trimmed or eliminated. It was a great exercise and lesson.
*NOTE: I am not suggesting you send cold emails with your script attached to executives and producers. This is not only unethical and seen as presumptuous, you could be putting the recipient in a possible legal situation. Either way, you ultimately burn that read and relationship.

5. DO FOLLOW YOUR OWN NORTH STAR
I think it’s important to establish your own parameters before you endeavor to do something. Meaning, answer for yourself: why are you doing this (is it a passion project, something commercial, something for fun, etc.)? How much time are you willing to invest? And what is the best case/worst case outcome you’re willing to live with? Honing in on this is like having an internal compass to follow along the journey. During the concept phase, my first idea didn’t match my end goal, so I pivoted.

During the drafting phase, I knew from my research what the timetable (and pressure) would be, and that I could deliver. During the deal-making phase, based on my work history and education, I had a predetermined threshold of what I was willing to live with or walk away from. Setting your parameters at the start really helps you see things more clearly at every step. Not to mention at this level, it’s helpful to know us writers are not Santa Claus. We’re merely elves in the workshop, just doing our part to get the toys out on time.

This business is often very much like a contest. Your project moves through rounds and passes through judges until the final round, when a studio plucks it from a pile and issues a greenlight. After I submitted the first draft, my project made the rounds, but in the end, different winners were chosen. The only feedback I received was, “They really liked it, and thought it was a lot of fun, but ultimately went with something else.” Six months later (again, knowing that development cycle) I picked up the script and saw ways to cut/combine/consolidate parts and make it better. I rewrote it on my own accord, submitted it once again, and lo and behold, one year later, it was picked up. Time will tell what happens with all productions moving forward, but with any luck, by next Christmas, I’ll have a nice gift under the tree to share with you all. Until then, I wish everyone a safe, healthy, happy holiday season, happy Christmas movie watching, and happy movie writing.