If you spend enough time around working screenwriters, you will hear the term OWA thrown around constantly. Short for Open Writing Assignment, an OWA represents one of the primary engines of studio and production company employment. Instead of buying an original spec script you created from scratch, a buyer—whether a major studio, a streamer, or an independent production company—already controls an underlying asset or concept and is looking to hire a professional writer to execute it. This could be an adaptation of a book, a reboot of catalog intellectual property, a rewrite of an existing draft that stalled in development, or a pitch based on a high-concept headline.
Understanding how open writing assignments (OWAs) work is essential if you want to build a sustainable, durable screenwriting career. The process is intensely competitive, highly structured, and governed by unwritten industry customs. Securing one requires far more than solid screenwriting mechanics; it demands executive-level commercial instincts, speed, the ability to diagnose what a buyer feels is missing, and the discipline to pitch your vision with complete clarity the moment you walk into the room.
The Anatomy of an OWA: Where Assignments Come From
Open writing assignments generally fall into three distinct buckets. The first and most prominent is underlying IP (intellectual property). A studio or production company options a novel, an article, a video game, or a comic book, and needs a screenwriter to translate that material into a two-hour feature or a pilot. The second bucket is the rewrite or polish. A project is already set up and may even have a director or star attached, but previous drafts have not solved structural issues, dialogue tone, or third-act pacing. The third bucket is the internal studio concept: an executive or producer conceives a premise in-house and seeks a writer to flesh it out into a full pitch.
In all three cases, the buyer already possesses equity in the idea. Because money has already been spent acquiring the rights or developing earlier drafts, executives approach OWAs with specific anxieties. They are under pressure to justify the investment to their department heads. When you walk in to compete for the job, you are not simply sharing your creative imagination; you are offering a safe, compelling solution to an executive's development problem.
How Reps Track and Access Open Assignments
You rarely find OWAs advertised on public job boards. Access is tightly gated by relationships, agency tracking departments, and management networks. Literary agents and managers continually communicate with studio creative executives, independent producers, and packaging heads to monitor what projects are actively looking for writers. These assignments circulate via internal agency tracking grids, covering what IP just came in, what draft was rejected, and what budget tier the project is targeting.
To be put up for an OWA, your representatives must pitch you to the executive in charge of the project. They submit your sample script—not because the studio wants to make that specific script, but because it proves your voice, pacing, and facility with the genre match the needs of the assignment. If the executive responds positively to your sample, your rep secures a meeting, granting you the opportunity to prepare and pitch your 'take.'
- Tracking grids: Internal agency and management documents that monitor project status across town.
- The calling card sample: A representative sample demonstrating mastery of the specific tone and scope required.
- The setup meeting: An initial conversation to hear the producer's vision and review the source material.
Developing Your 'Take': Finding the Angle That Wins
Once you receive the source material or earlier drafts, your real work begins: crafting your 'take.' A take is not a scene-by-scene beat sheet. It is your unique authorial diagnosis and creative vision for the project. You must determine who the central protagonist is, what emotional engine drives the narrative, how the theme connects to a contemporary audience, and why your approach makes the property commercially viable.
A common mistake writers make at this stage is trying to please everyone by guessing what the producer wants. While you must honor the core parameters of the assignment, executives do not hire passive order-takers; they hire problem solvers with a point of view. If an underlying book is sprawling and internal, your take must boldly carve out a focused narrative drive. If a rewrite draft has flat supporting characters, your take should demonstrate how sharpening the antagonist revitalizes the central conflict.
“Marc Pariser was my very first television agent, got me my first job, and guided my career in the important early stages. When he sniffs the air and says ‘I smell money’, you know he’s bringing you a great opportunity!”
The Pitch Meeting and the Dreaded 'Bake-Off'
Securing the assignment usually requires surviving what the industry calls a 'bake-off.' A studio or production company will rarely hear just one writer; they will invite anywhere from three to ten writers to pitch their respective takes for the exact same job. Each writer is given the same raw material, meaning the executive will judge you entirely on your clarity, tone, originality, and commercial viability.
How you open the meeting sets the tone for everything that follows. Executives listen to dozens of pitches weekly, and cognitive fatigue is real. If you spend the first five minutes fumbling through small talk, meandering through your personal backstory, or getting lost in backstory context, you lose command of the room. You have mere seconds to anchor the room with your hook and establish authority before launching into your act structure. Deliver your concept with energy, paint vivid pictures, and show them precisely how you will deliver a draft that gets greenlit.
Navigating Free Work and Protecting Your Momentum
Because OWAs are so competitive, writers often feel immense pressure to over-deliver before being hired. Producers may ask for multiple rounds of informal conversations, detailed treatments, or revised outlines before officially committing to a deal. You must learn the delicate balance between showing your passion and protecting yourself from unpaid development marathons.
Your reps should handle the business perimeter, ensuring that once you present a compelling pitch, the conversation moves directly toward contracting under Guild guidelines rather than endless speculative homework. Even if you do not win a specific bake-off, a stellar, well-articulated OWA pitch frequently leads to other opportunities. When an executive sees a writer command a room, articulate character dynamics instantly, and handle notes with grace, that writer goes to the top of the list for the next assignment on their slate.
Key Takeaways
- OWAs exist because studios and producers need skilled solutions for IP they already own or are actively developing.
- Your sample gets you into the room, but your diagnostic 'take' is what wins the job.
- You will almost always compete in a bake-off; capturing attention in the first seconds of your pitch is critical.
- Treat every OWA meeting as a dual objective: win the assignment if possible, and build a lasting executive fan for future work.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a more genuine, decent and experienced guy than Marc Pariser. He has an uncanny, instinctive feel for the business and knows how to present it. He understands its ebb and flow, its yin and yang. He knows the hood, and the hood is Hollywood. I used to follow Marc around in disguise and steal his advice. But you don’t have to do that now. You can just give him a call.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have to be in the WGA to get an Open Writing Assignment?
While major studios and signatory production companies hire through Writers Guild of America (WGA) contracts, non-signatory independent producers also use the OWA model. Securing an assignment with a signatory company will typically qualify you to join the Guild.
How long do you usually get to prepare your take for an OWA?
Timelines vary depending on project urgency, but writers generally get anywhere from one to three weeks between receiving the source material and pitching their take to producers or executives.
What is the difference between an OWA and pitching an original project?
With an original project, you bring the concept and intellectual property to market. With an OWA, the buyer already owns the underlying rights and is interviewing writers to adapt, develop, or rewrite that specific asset.
