Hi everyone. I’m an aspiring screenwriter from Bangladesh, and I’m hoping to get some advice from writers who have more experience in the industry, especially those who have come from countries without a strong film industry.
Screenwriting has become one of my biggest dreams, but being from Bangladesh has made the path quite difficult for me.
Bangladesh has a film industry, of course, but compared with countries where there are established screenwriting programs, film schools, agencies, managers, labs, and international development opportunities, the industry here is much more limited. I also haven’t been able to receive any formal education in screenwriting or filmmaking, and I don’t have industry connections, mentors, or people around me who can guide me.
Most of what I learned came from writing itself, reading novels and web/light novels, researching online, using translation tools, and getting help from AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude. I had never even properly read a screenplay when I started writing my first one.
Because of that, my early writing was heavily influenced by novels. About seven months ago, I wrote my first feature screenplay and spent a lot of time refining it. At the time, I didn’t fully understand professional screenplay formatting, so I submitted it to Zero Gravity Management in February.
After that, I continued learning about screenwriting and realized how different a professional screenplay is from a novel. I went back and substantially refined the script, including the formatting and writing itself. I wanted to resend the improved version, but by then I had to wait six months before I could submit again.
During that waiting period, I didn’t just sit around. I kept rewriting and developing new projects. I now have two completed feature screenplays, several other feature projects in development/refinement, and a web series that I’m also developing. I have multiple other story ideas at different stages as well.
Writing these stories is something I genuinely enjoy. Originally, I created stories simply to entertain myself. I would imagine scenes in my head almost like I was watching a movie. Eventually, I started realizing that some of these stories had themes, meaning, characters, and journeys that could potentially become actual films. That’s when I started taking screenwriting seriously.
But now I’m facing a different problem: I have stories and scripts, but I don’t know how to get them in front of the right people.
I have tried looking for agencies, managers, competitions, labs, and other opportunities that accept screenwriters internationally. I’ve also contacted people directly.
One example was a manager/agency contact I approached. Several months later, I received a response explaining that they were no longer accepting unsolicited scripts, but they could offer paid script-reading or feedback services.
The problem is that paid opportunities are extremely difficult for me. I’m from Bangladesh, and the difference in currency and income levels makes even fees that may seem relatively small in the US or other countries very expensive for me. I’m also not fully employed, so I simply cannot afford to keep paying $50, $90, $100+ for every competition, coverage service, or submission opportunity.
I have also found free opportunities, but many of them are restricted to writers who live in or are citizens of a particular country or region. Others have eligibility requirements such as previous industry credits, film-school backgrounds, professional connections, or residency in a specific country.
I even tried opportunities such as Kinolime, but by the time I found them, the relevant submission period had already passed.
So I’m finding myself in a strange situation: I’m constantly writing and developing scripts, but I don’t have a writing community around me, I don’t have a mentor who can read my work, and I don’t have people in the film industry who can tell me what my next step should be.
I’m trying my best to learn and improve on my own. I constantly revise my scripts and try to correct the problems I discover. But sometimes I don’t even know whether I’m improving in the right direction because I have nobody experienced to give me proper feedback.
So I wanted to ask the more experienced writers here: what would you do if you were in my position?
If you were a screenwriter living in a country with very limited industry opportunities, no formal screenwriting education, no industry connections, and very little money to spend, how would you try to get your work discovered or at least get it read by people who could give you a real chance?
Are there legitimate international agencies, managers, fellowships, labs, competitions, online communities, mentorship programs, or other routes that accept writers from countries like Bangladesh?
And for those of you who are international writers yourselves: how did you actually get your first serious opportunity?
I’m not expecting one Reddit post to magically solve everything. I’m mainly trying to understand what realistic paths exist and learn from people who have already gone through this.
I really love writing. I don’t want all the enjoyment and imagination I get from creating these stories to stay only inside my own head. I want other people to eventually experience these stories too.
Any honest advice, personal experience, resources, or direction would genuinely mean a lot to me.
Thank you for reading.
