How to Get Your Film a Studio Green Light

Welcome to Trade Secrets, TheWrap’s insider guide to making it in Hollywood. For this installment, we tackle perhaps the hardest hustle of all: How to get a movie greenlit. We spoke to executives, producers and financiers across the business to bring you the answers. For a lot of these veterans, getting green lights is a contact sport and one they have experience with: They’ve gotten movies made, continue to get movies made and following their advice will improve your odds of success.

Studios, meanwhile, are leaning into franchises and established IP, making it tougher to get buy-in on original ideas.

As a result, there are new sets of questions that go along with the usual prodding over story and cast. How do you break through when star power isn’t enough? Who do you pitch when there are fewer buyers than before?

To find out, TheWrap spoke to producers Todd Lieberman (“The Housemaid,” “War Machine”); Tucker Tooley (“Den of Thieves”); Roy Lee (“Weapons”); Don Murphy (“Faces of Death,” “Transformers”), Susan Montford (“Real Steel”); Nina Jacobson (“The Hunger Games,” “Crazy Rich Asians”); Mattel Studios President Robbie Brenner, DAE Light Media President Deb Evans, and former Fifth Season film head Alexis Garcia, as well as several seasoned pros who spoke on background.

Here are some key insights:

• Outside of having a great script, buyers want you to show what the movie will actually look like. A proof of concept — sizzle reels, finished scenes, marketing data — is essential.
• Understanding the scope and budget of the film — including comparisons to similar projects — is highly encouraged.
• IP helps, but it’s not a guarantee. While comic book properties have faded, video games, books and reboots remain hot.
• Think about marketing from day one. 

Where do I begin?

Every green light starts with a script. But not all scripts are created equal.

IP or non-IP? That’s the first question. And if you’re pitching an original screenplay with no built-in fanbase, existing brand recognition or comic book pedigree, just know you’ll have a far tougher path to cross. Studios want IP they can exploit across multiple platforms, as well as merchandize and spin out as potential franchises. And yes, the rumors are true — studios are speaking to screenwriters who turn their original screenplays into books or short stories first so the pitch automatically becomes “IP.”

What kind of IP actually gets greenlit? Popular books are gold, even if they’re self-published (that’s how “Project Hail Mary” author Andy Weir’s “The Martian” got noticed). Video games are hot. Remakes and reboots of existing films — especially if there’s nostalgia attached — can work. Even obscure 1980s properties are getting second looks.

Angry Films’ Don Murphy produced the upcoming “Faces of Death” remake based on the notorious 1978 documentary series.

“My partner Susan Montford and I acquired the rights to ‘Faces’ a decade ago,” Murphy said. “Legendary is the third home for it but they came in hard and they came in smart and they had us meet with every up and comer doing horror.”

The IP had recognition — about half of the people Murphy pitched knew about the project. But that recognition came with baggage. “Even though 50% of the time people would go, ‘Oh I know those (VHS) tapes let me tell you about how my brother/friend/neighbor had to rent them for me,’ I think the reputation of the IP made people scared,” Murphy said. “I know distributors of the final product were scared. The IP helped, but in this case it was a pretty f-ed up IP.”

So I just need an established IP and I’m good?

Not necessarily. One franchise producer pointed to high-profile projects that never got made despite having every advantage.

“Cool IP doesn’t automatically mean green light,” the producer said, pointing to how Dwayne Johnson and Shane Black’s “Doc Savage” movie never got off the ground, nor did George Clooney’s “Buck Rogers” take. “IP is just one of the alchemical elements.”

And the take on the IP needs to be unique. Mattel Studios President Robbie Brenner told TheWrap last fall that when she’s looking for takes on the studio’s many IPs to enter development, a unique spin is a must.

“Nobody wants to see something that they’ve seen before. They want to feel like it’s unexpected and that it feels different, and that it’s an interesting, different interpretation of what they ever imagined that could be,” she said.

Having the right IP or script is only the beginning. Nina Jacobson, producer of “The Hunger Games” franchise and “Crazy Rich Asians,” told TheWrap that the quality of the material has to be undeniable.

“It sounds cliche, but I would still have to say undeniability, and for me, that comes down always first and foremost to the writing and the caliber of the read,” Jacobson said. “A wildly compelling read is probably the first ingredient — a script you can’t put down.”

Finding the right home for that script matters just as much. “It’s so much about the match between the material and the home and knowing that your interests are aligned, that the version of the movie you want to make and the version of the movie they want to make are the same thing, and that your buyer is almost as invested in getting it made as you are,” Jacobson added.

Studios want the script “dialed in” before they commit real money.

Producer Tucker Tooley knows this well. His “Den of Thieves” franchise spent almost two decades in development before the first film got made. “It was initially at New Line, it was there for at least 10 years. It was 2002,” Tooley said.

He then took the project to Relativity. “Then Relativity had its problems and went into bankruptcy. I left, I bought it out of bankruptcy and set it up at STX, and we made the first one with STX.”

Made on a budget of just $30 million, the film became a sleeper hit, grossing over $80 worldwide and spawning “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera,” which was released in January 2025 by Lionsgate. A third film in the series is in the works, also at Lionsgate.

Another Tooley project, the Jason Sudeikis/Jennifer Aniston comedy hit “We’re the Millers,” also took 10 years to get made.

One pass isn’t enough. Two isn’t enough. The script gets rewritten until every studio executive, every financier, every A-list actor’s agent signs off.

How do I get my script noticed?

For writers trying to break through without connections, The Black List has an impressive track record. Launched by former development exec Franklin Leonard in 2005, the annual survey of Hollywood’s most-liked unproduced screenplays has helped launch films like “Slumdog Millionaire,” “The King’s Speech,” “Spotlight,” “Juno” and the upcoming “Motor City.” Over 200 Black List scripts have won a green light. Making the list doesn’t guarantee a green light, but it gets your script in front of the right people.

There’s also the route of adapting your script into a book and self-publishing — Hollywood is mining the depths of internet-famous books, even if they don’t have the backing of a major publisher (see: “The Martian,” “Heated Rivalry,” “The Kissing Booth”).

The brutal truth is that relationships count. Getting your script in front of the right people who will say yes is a numbers game. If the script lands agency representation, the talent agencies can help guide which production companies are right for the project. As Lieberman noted, each project is a bespoke process. 

Understanding your costs

So you got a script. You even got it noticed. What comes next? The hard part: getting someone or some entity to give you the money to make the movie. 

Angry Films producer Susan Montford told TheWrap that getting a green light today requires being able to read the room on the fly.

“Now more than ever getting a green light requires being attuned to the multiple layers of subtext playing out at a studio at any given time and playing to them all at the same time,” Montford said. “If they don’t have to green light you they won’t, so you have to make them feel they need to! You have to be a therapist, bedazzle them like a witch.”

Cost is king. Every movie goes through intense budget scrutiny. Making movies at the right cost gives them the best shot at success. The more wins studios stack up, the more comfortable they feel taking risks. 

The problem? Costs keep climbing. Guilds have secured better contracts and inflation keeps rising. The math has changed.

Smart producers come prepared with a realistic budget. This is where line producers come in. In film production, the line producer’s job is to break down the script in order to create a detailed production budget and shooting schedule.

Producers suggest getting a strong sense of the project’s costs. It’s critical to know what comparable films cost. Understand where you can shoot affordably. Have a game plan for how tax incentives factor in.

Buyers respect producers who did their homework and did the math before walking in the room.

“As much as we all love to talk about the art, the story, the creative brilliance, the brutal truth is that cost is king,” the seasoned producer said.

Deb Evans, founder and president of DAE Light Media, has made several hit romantic comedies for Netflix, and she said keeping costs low is key. Especially if you don’t have other bonuses like cast already attached.

“People want to make things for a number now, especially if they don’t have a guarantee that it’s going to do well. Writing something that’s simple but also great, where people would take a chance on it because it didn’t cost as much, is helpful,” she said.

Studios are looking at every line item. Delivering a project at the right budget is often the difference between a green light and another year in development.

What about AI?

When it comes to cost, you need to consider artificial intelligence. Despite the controversy, AI has become so pervasive that it would be foolish to write the technology off. When it comes to cutting expenses on the more mundane work, AI could radically reduce your projected budget and make for a compelling pitch. Netflix acquired Ben Affleck’s AI startup InterPositive because it focused on aspects like adding missing shots, correcting lighting or enhancing backgrounds — the kind of work that would normally pad out a project’s budget. 

Flawless.ai already offers AI-assisted tools that help sync new dialogue on existing performances or taking a performance from one scene and transferring it to another shot. Getting yourself acquainted with these kinds of tools and capabilities will help you better understand how you can stretch your budget further. 

Based on initial testing, the technology could be helpful in areas like pre-visualization or breaking down scripts to organize into shooting schedules, Universal VP of Creative Technologies Annie Chang said in October at TheWrap’s TheGrill business conference.

“If there’s an AI tool that can help you sell something — and I feel like most of these streamers and networks are leaning in on AI tools, not necessarily in the creative — if there is something that is written, and there is a tool that could help make it more palatable or bring the budget down, or create a sizzle reel, that’s good,” said Evans.

How important is the cast?

Movie stardom has changed, especially in the digital age.

“Leo still has it,” the seasoned producer said, referring to Leonardo DiCaprio. “He’s photographed on boats, but he maintains an ultra-low profile. If you want to see him, you go to the big screen. That’s movie star power.”

The challenge is that the list of actors considered “movie openers” by the studios is short. Margot Robbie. Ryan Gosling. They’re the first names in every conversation. They open movies. But they can also pick what they want, and often only with the directors they want.

On top of that, audiences increasingly want certain actors in certain lanes. Dwayne Johnson in a big popcorn action movie? Works. Dwayne Johnson in an indie drama? Crickets.

“I feel for actors,” the producer said. “Of course they want to stretch, explore, flex their range. But when those stretch projects don’t perform, studios get skittish.”

For “Den of Thieves,” Tooley found success by pairing Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. “Putting together Gerry and O’Shea, and their chemistry on the movie has always been fantastic,” Tooley said.

Evans, whose company produced last year’s hit Netflix film “La Dolce Villa,” said casting is vitally important for making the streamer’s spate of hit rom-coms.

“You have to bring talent that has its own following,” she said, having made two successful Netflix films starring Victoria Justice. “It’s really hard to cast people who don’t have their own following, not just at Netflix but anywhere.”

Evans encouraged writers to reach out to talent and attach them to their scripts proactively, if they have an existing relationship. It can only increase the chances of the project getting picked up.

“You’re not going to get the green light until you know that you can put together a decent cast that can bring eyes to it,” she said.

Proof of concept: Show, don’t tell

Studios don’t want to imagine what a movie might look like. They want to see it.

That’s where a “sizzle reel” comes in. Producers are now spending their own money to show buyers exactly what they’re paying for.

Lieberman has done this repeatedly. For the documentary “Soul Power,” he and his team put in their own money to start making it. For “Voltron,” they shot a scene for a day with their own funds, then finished that scene with visual effects, score and color timing. They hired a graphic artist for artwork. They hired a composer for music. It got the green light and will be released by Amazon MGM in 2027.

“We had four minutes of the movie,” Lieberman said. “We had what the first movie would be, and had ideas of what movie two and three could be. So we literally would be able to show a buyer: Here’s what you are potentially paying for. It’s not a speculative play. We’re showing you exactly what we want to do.”

Sometimes producers hire marketing agencies to provide data on potential audiences. “Any data point that will assuage a fear of that potential buyer is what we’re looking for,” Lieberman said.

But it’s not just about showing finished footage. Producers need to actually think about how the film will actually sell from day one.

Alexis Garcia, who co-founded Brass Knuckle Films with Robert Rodriguez after serving as Fifth Season’s film head, noted that marketability can’t be an afterthought. “Think about the marketing, the trailer, the audience, even in development,” Garcia said. “It’s never too early. And if you’re making it with somebody that’s not thinking of that it can be too late.”

Jacobson took a different approach with the film adaptation of best-selling book “Crazy Rich Asians.” Rather than pursue traditional studio development, she and novelist Kevin Kwan made a strategic bet that taking less money upfront would give them more control over the path to production.

“We felt the upfront money you might get for development would be greater if you set it up at a studio, but then the path to production could be that much more uncertain,” Jacobson said. “So Kevin Kwan took with us the risk of optioning it for $1. We found an equity partner to develop a script, brought in John Chu, then could present to buyers a script, a budget, a production plan, great director with a great vision.”

She added: “Then we could get to a yes or no proposition for $30 million — this is the script, this is the budget. Do you want that movie on your schedule?”

Can you make a franchise out of your idea? 

Tooley built “Den of Thieves” into a franchise centered on obscure real-life heists.

“I’d always thought there’s a great franchisable idea in these real-life heists that most people have never heard of,” Tooley said. “The first one was the Federal Reserve Bank, the second was the real diamond heist, which there’s a great documentary on Netflix about the actual heist that we kind of modeled that on.”

“There’s endless great stories about heists,” Tooley added.

Roy Lee, the producer behind Zach Cregger’s supernatural horror film “Weapons,” which won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Amy Madigan, has adjusted his approach based on what is actually getting greenlit.

“I’ve definitely modified the types of movies that I take on to be ones that I feel have a better chance of getting made, which are of two categories,” Lee told TheWrap. “One is original screenplays that are usually in the horror/thriller genre and the other is something based on strong IP.”

The common thread? Both producers focus on concepts that can sustain multiple films. Case in point, a prequel to “Weapons” is currently in development at New Line.

Don’t give up

Tooley’s advice to those struggling to get projects greenlit? Persistence.

“Just don’t give up if you believe in something, you just gotta keep going,” Tooley said. “Most of the films in my career that I’m proudest of have taken a long time, 10 years, eight years. It doesn’t happen quickly a lot of times because of casting, financing, tax credits changing and all that. So that would be my advice, just to stick with it.”

Tooley’s journey with “Den of Thieves” — from New Line to Relativity’s bankruptcy to STX to finally getting made — proves the point. 

Sometimes you just have to keep going. 

“If you start with a solid foundation of that great story and then you have the vision, then you’re setting yourself up for great success,” Mattel’s Brenner said.

But when you finally do get in the room to pitch, Jacobson advises to keep it tight.

“Never wear out your welcome. Always leave when they are wishing you were there longer, as opposed to 30 minutes in and you’re saying ‘and that’s the end of the first act,’” Jacobson said. “Being concise and being able to think about whether what you’re pitching can ultimately be re-pitched by the people you’re pitching to is important. If your pitch is so detail-based that they can’t pitch it as an elevator pitch themselves, you’ve tied your advocates’ hands behind their back.”

What do streamers want?

Trying to predict what the streamers want is like playing a never-ending game of whack-a-mole, since their desires are usually predicated on what the most recent hit has been.

For instance, the success of February’s “War Machine,” a movie where Alan Ritchson plays an Army Ranger trainee who runs afoul of a giant robot, has led Netflix’s genre division to put out a call for “gourmet cheeseburgers” — easy-to-consume fare with great production value and major stars. “Apex,” starring Charlize Theron as a woman pursued through the Australian Outback by a serial killer played by Taron Egerton, falls into this category, as does “Thrash,” formerly a Sony theatrical project that was sold to Netflix after production, about sharks that invade a small town after a historic hurricane. Both hit the service later this month.

Agencies who work regularly with the major streamers (Netflix, Apple TV, Hulu, Peacock and others) usually compile internal lists that they distribute to clients, which helpfully chart exactly what the streamers are after and when, an insider told TheWrap. Some are evergreen but others are more granular.

What makes this tough is that it is like trying to hit a constantly moving target, since the streamer successes of today can be the flops of tomorrow (or vice-versa). Take into consideration the typical development time, which can range from months to years, and the type of movie an agency asks for, aided by demands from the streamers, could be completely out of fashion. For every “KPop Demon Hunters”-sized hit on Netflix, there are “Electric State” or “The Grey Man”-like fumbles.

One filmmaker we talked to said that it’s best to simply aim for more commercially viable projects. Some things are evergreen. The recent Prime Video hit “The Wrecking Crew,” a high concept R-rated buddy action movie with Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, wouldn’t have been out of place in the mall multiplex in 1986; the same goes for “War Machine.” And romantic comedies hit on streaming if they’re made for the right price and have some sort of fish-out-of-water hook — the Miranda Cosgrove-led “The Wrong Paris” and Hallmark-esque “Champagne Problems” were among Netflix’s most-watched films in 2025, and Tyler Perry’s spate of romantic thrillers always make the cut.

Any other advice when working with streamers?

Evans said the key to getting a rom-com sold to Netflix is not losing sight of the relationship at the center of the story — basically, don’t muddle your would-be comfort movie with too many ideas outside of that central relationship. It doesn’t need a time travel hook or body swap to make it sing. Focus on the romance first and foremost.

“It’s really important to understand the simplicity of the fact that it is a rom-com. We really want to fall in love with them together from the beginning to the end,” she said.

Destination rom-coms do well, but Evans said the setting should be the postcard for the story, not the point of it. Unless it’s Christmas, which is all the rage at Netflix right now — they want Christmas movies.

“It can’t just be Christmas in the background. It still needs to be at the forefront of the story, but now we’ve got to read in the romance side of it,” Evans explained of threading the needle.

All in all, if the story has a high-concept sheen, chances are it will retain a certain level of timelessness – helpful considering the changing tastes of consumers and the intangibility of executives’ tenures.

But Evans did caution that while her company made one film a year for Netflix since 2019, the streamer’s appetite has slowed in recent months, continuing the slowdown trend throughout the industry.

The bottom line

Ask producers when their projects are actually greenlit, and most will give you the same answer: the day cameras start rolling.

“You’re greenlit the day you’re shooting,” the seasoned producer said. “And even then, maybe keep holding your breath.”

The pursuit of that green light means chasing the right elements, managing rising costs, assembling short star lists and proving to buyers that what you’re selling will work. 

Adam Chitwood and Drew Taylor contributed to this story.