Nat Mundel, CEO of Voyage Media lists several tools screenwriters can use to amplify their impact on the film industry.
STRATEGY
You have to start with your dream. And a great way to ensure that you’re truly passionate about your dream is to write it down and then multiply it times 100 – that’s your real dream (scary, I know). Go for it. Another great building block of strategy comes from Jim Collins (author of “Good to Great”) – Collins’ personal “hedgehog strategy” lies at the intersection of (1) What you’re truly passionate about (2) what you’re genetically encoded or “made” to do and (3) what things can you be paid for.
MILESTONES
You can’t eat a whale all in one sitting. Break impossible dreams down into achievable goals and work through them one at a time.
PROCESS
Are you doing things in the right order, and with the right timing? For example, if you’re an unknown writer you might want to build a body of work and (these days) an online presence before you go out to agents and producers with a project, and if you’re an unknown director you might want to get your indie thriller in the works before you call in your favors and spend a bunch of money on a sizzle reel for a big tentpole-style action pic…
SCHEDULE
When are you going to do all this, and, realistically how long will it take? Lay out your other commitments on paper, look for windows of time, and block off time for the specific tasks that will take you to your milestones.
DEADLINES
Set them, create reminders, and hold yourself to them or hire someone who will!
Many creative and talented people—even very successful ones in the industry—firmly believe that luck figures greatly into success in entertainment. You might hear it so much, and evidence might be presented so convincingly that it will seem impossible to deny. A writer sells a script because he was in the right place at the right time, a producer sits next to the right person on a plane and ends up with financing.
But if the “all luck” argument is true, then how does anyone stay on top for any extended period of time? That 1%, that A-list of people who have had many projects come to fruition– is their success really determined by luck?
How many times can anyone roll sixes in one lifetime? How can certain people, who have hit after hit, be so consistently luck over and over again? That’s the real impossibility.
It’s not luck. It’s decisions they’re making and opportunities they’re taking– that others don’t act on.
Work smart and get your work in front of people that can help you by being aware of how the industry functions.
Gideon's Screenwriting Tips: Now You're a Screenwriter 