last month of life has been a movie i live in ca and wanna write a script and sell it to the producers what is the best way to do this?

I'm sorry, but it doesn't work like that. In fact, the chances of getting there are extremely slim.

The short answer is: Pursuing a screenwriting career.

Now to the long and REALISTIC answer.

You don't just sell screenplays, ESPECIALLY if you're inexperienced, unrepresented, and unknown. Selling is actually a rare thing in general. This is an actual business, it's not a service for anyone to submit their material.

See, it's a difficult craft, in a difficult industry. You don't just scrabble a script and then go out there. It's WAY more complex and complicated than that. So it's not going to happen anytime soon.

For starters, your skills, knowledge, and material need to be at a *professional* level. Nothing less. That's the first step. And thing is, it takes YEARS, usually SEVERAL screenplays, and A LOT of VERY hard work just to complete this first step. It can take 3 years or it can take 20 years, depends on your work ethic and natural abilities. The truth, however, is the majority don't even complete this first step, ever, not even after 20 years. For many reasons.

Once and assuming you complete this first step, you start writing your *ACTUAL* scripts based on the knowledge, the skills, and the instincts you picked up over the years. Keep the first ones in the drawer, because first screenplays suck. Continue working, get *professional* feedback from time to time, and build your professional portfolio.

Armed with professional skills, at least 3-5 professional and strong screenplays, and knowledge of this business, the best way to get your script(s) read and considered by producers is through an agent or a manager, in Los Angeles. As a newcomer, though, a manager would be the right way to go.

Since this industry is based on connections, if you don't have enough/the right connections, you cannot just get your scripts read (and considered and sold) by serious places. You see, aside from some small and indie companies no one accepts unsolicited submissions. You need a gatekeeper. Representation says you at least know what you're doing; that you're worth the producers' time. Only then doors will (start to) open.

Once again, the step will probably take a few (additional) years, and the vast majority don't ever complete it. Reps are hard to land. Pretty much all agents and most managers don't accept unsolicited submissions either. And that's another barrier to cross. So at this stage you first need to get your material read and considered by reps - SOMEHOW. Cold query if you can, win/place high in (only the major) contests, fellowships, network and try to make connections... Either way, you don't send ANYONE a script or anything else before they ask you to.

Getting reading requests is not as simple as it sounds, but it's simpler if you do your homework and know what you're doing. Reps, producers, their assistants/in-house readers can smell amateurs from miles away. So assuming you manage to get a reading request, there's a good chance the (assistant/in-house reader) will throw your script out after 1-10 pages or even before they start reading it if they see there's no point bothering.... and you will not hear back. These are very busy people. So it's important that you take your time to bring your material, your skills, and your knowledge to a professional level before you go out there, otherwise you're gonna burn bridges. You only get one chance to impress. In general, you need to be in the top 1% in order to have the slightest chance to get somewhere with your material.

Keep in mind that reps are looking for people for the long haul. So if you're not even interested in pursuing screenwriting as a career, no rep will take you on. They make money off of you after all.

Assuming you manage to land representation, now the REAL hard work begins. You will need to get experience under your belt. So once landing representation chances are you will fight to get jobs, gigs, and assignments. THAT'S what your scripts will be for, for the most part. Aside from rare cases, they're nothing but writing samples that showcase your knowledge, skills, and voice. They're basically your calling cards to get you experience as well as representation.

If you're lucky enough and if your rep has the right connections, you might get the chance to pitch and maybe even sell something at some point. But you see, in general, most of the sold and produced material in today's industry comes from already-established professionals. As a newcomer, you're pretty much (or even literally) a starving artist.

Let me explain something so you will get the industry's point of view:

Buying (and producing) ANY movie is a big risk - money, time, and effort wise. The truth is, NO ONE really knows what will turn out to be a hit and what will turn out to be a miss. By asking producers to buy your material, you're basically asking them to take this risk. No one will just take it. It's their own money and time they'd be putting on your abilities and work. For that reason, producers prefer taking the risk with professionals and people with solid proof that their material is worth the risk. People with proof that they can make money, hit deadlines, get jobs, etc. If you're not it, you're a HUGE risk. Your chances will become MUCH better once you get a solid reason for producers to put the money and effort.

Going back to the process...

Assuming you've landed representation (and gotten experience under your belt. Odds are), your rep will send out your script, book pitch meetings for you, etc. On the other hand, if your rep doesn't work out for some reason, you might start looking for a new one. If things do work out, you will then go to L.A. (you didn't say where in CA, so I'm going to assume you're not from L.A.) and pitch using what you learned and know.

Pitching is not as easy as you assume either, and it's not how you imagine it is. It's actually a whole craft by itself, a tough one. So mastering the craft itself is not enough. A writer is part businessperson. Without business skills/abilities/background and knowledge of the industry and how it all works... you don't sell if you get the opportunity to. You might not even land representation. So take care of that aspect. -Learn all about this business and its industry.

I would also like to add at this point that selling doesn't mean producing. Assuming you sell, the chances of your screenplay to be made into a movie are even smaller. Plus, there is a way bigger chance your screenplay will be *optioned* rather than sold. And that means the producers might hold onto the rights for months and even years before they decide whether or not they're going to buy the script at all. And most of the time an option ends up with no sale.

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There's your answer This is the reality of the business. Actually, just the tip of its iceberg. Point is, you're LIGHT YEARS away from getting to that point, if you get there at all. You shouldn't even be thinking about selling at this point. Right now you should be focusing on learning. Start thinking about selling in about a decade. Less if you work so very hard and if you're extremely lucky. Or two decades if you don't fully commit.

Now go write, work your butt off. Or just let it go. Pursue a screenwriting career, otherwise all the work, effort, and pain it takes to get to that point are not going to be worth it.

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Harsh? You betcha! But that's the truth. You asked, dude. If it were that easy, everyone would do it. No one would take lousy jobs and buy lottery tickets if they could just spill words on a few pages and then get $$ for it. This craft requires a lot of work and time. Fact. Besides, there's not enough time in the world for producers to look at all the material, especially considering the fact that 99.9% would be pure garbage and far from professional. Fact. Not to mention the fact that that would put them at risk of lawsuits. So there gotta be a filtering system.

This is an actual job, you know. Just like you wouldn't walk into a courtroom and act as a lawyer. You need to learn the job and become a professional before you ask people to take the risk and put money on you and your abilities. If you can't do that, that's your problem.