"Screenwriters? Schmucks with Underwoods."
    --Jack Warner

"What's the line from Death of a Salesman? You're out there on a song and a shoeshine. …It's a business of rejection."
   --Writer Paul Guay, in Dreams on Spec

"Oh, it's no more complicated than old French torture chambers, I think."
    --Writer-director James L. Brooks, in Dreams on Spec

"Come see my closet. Oh, it's horrible. It's horrible. Three or four of the best things I've ever done are just sitting there on the shelf."
    --Writer-director Nora Ephron, in Dreams on Spec

Writers finish tens of thousands of scripts every year. Most are written "on spec" - where the writers aren't paid unless they can sell their beloved screenplays to an independent producer or major studio. These stories often end in heartbreak because Hollywood makes fewer than 400 of movies every year.

David is a hip talent agent's assistant with three scripts circulating around town. He's plugged into "young Hollywood" - and when he's not working or writing, he's usually hanging out at the beach.

Joe is a middle-aged family man who has split his
time over the last three years between caring for his autistic daughter and writing what he believes could be the Great American screenplay.

And Deborah is trying to become one of the few African-American women to ever write and direct a feature film, though she's struggling just to pay her bills while she searches for money to produce her script.

These searing portraits of struggling screenwriters are intercut with wisdom from a Greek Chorus of superstar scribes like James L. Brooks, Nora Ephron, Gary Ross, and Carrie Fisher to create a funny and compelling look at inspiration and creativity in the modern movie industry - all from the perspective of the writer.

It's a look at Hollywood from the bottom up.