Job title: Movie tagline writer

Companies that hire them: Entertainment marketing agencies like Trailer Park and Crew Creative. Most agencies are located in Hollywood and sell work to film studios such as Sony and Paramount.

How to find out about openings: Check the agencies’ websites for employment listings or sites like marketingjobs.com.

How much you can earn: Established copywriters can take home up to $80,000 a year, while an entry-level copywriting job starts at $35,000.

Useful skills: It goes without saying that you need creativity, writing skills, and a quick wit. Being a natural-born wordsmith gives you that added oomph. Breaking into the movie tagline business usually requires years of copywriting experience at an advertising agency.

Number of jobs in the U.S.: Although there are more than 400,000 advertising and public relations jobs in the country, only 8,000 of these involve writing copy. A much smaller fraction works directly for the entertainment business.

For Hollywood writer Jason Byers, the 1998 movie Armageddon was his first big break.

But he didn’t write the screenplay or contribute any dialogue. It was the taglines he wrote for the movie’s advertisements that established his career.

Byers, now 35, struck gold with five one-liners for the film’s ads, including “It’s time to kick some asteroid.” Ever since, he has been one of the most-sought-after movie tagline writers in Hollywood.

After graduating from University of California, Berkeley, as an English major, Byers moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. “I really just wanted to be famous,” he admits. In 1996, a close friend persuaded him to pitch a tagline for a company that was contributing to Disney's Armageddon marketing campaign. Disney ate up Byers’ suggestions, and execs began handing him more gigs and recommending him to other shops. In an industry known for its cutthroat competition, Byers needed all the endorsements he could get. Over the course of a year, he became incorporated. (Byers has never worked on staff anywhere.)

Byers now works on retainer for numerous marketing agencies such as Trailer Park, Crew Creative, and B.L.T. His “pippy one-liners,” as he calls them, have made their way onto movie posters and into trailers for television and internet campaigns for 20th Century Fox, Universal, and Paramount as well as Sony. He’s supplied marketing copy for a range of movies and television shows, including The Break-Up (“May the ex games begin”), Iron Chef America (“Put some iron in your diet”), and Monster-in-Law (“This relationship is going to be a real mother”).

Byers’ personal favorite was created for the HBO series Six Feet Under: “Every day above ground is a good one.”

While moviegoers see only the winners, “hundreds and hundreds of lines land on the desk of the filmmaker and studio executives,” Byers says. He typically submits 50 ideas for each project. His work begins when he receives a movie script or screener to watch in the mail.

“Sometimes there’s a crunch, and I have to read the imdb.com log line to see what the movie’s about,” he says. After familiarizing himself with the plot and theme, Byers jots down words associated with the title. He often enlists the help of OneLook.com, a website that generates word lists based on root, prefix, and tone. From there, he uses Clichesite.com to find stock phrases and then brainstorms ways in which they might be twisted. “Sometimes it works out just like math,” he says.

Even though Byers has enjoyed much success working for the major studios, he prefers dreaming up lines for independent films. “You can be a little more creative…. I was always a smart-ass in school,” he says. Byers won’t complain, however; he says he has a comfortable career with flexible hours and frequent film viewing. 

“Movie trailer editors, though, wow. Now that’s a great job. They make lots of money,” he says.

Taglines that Byers uses for inspiration:
Rosemary’s Baby (1968): “Pray for Rosemary’s baby.”
Alien (1979): “In space, no one can hear you scream.”

A sampling of Byers’ best taglines:
Laws of Attraction (2004): “Love always has the last word.”
Welcome to Mooseport (2004): “This town isn’t small enough for the both of them.”
The SpongeBob Square Pants Movie (2004): “Bigger, better, more absorbent.”
Iron Chef America (2004): “Put some iron in your diet.”
Six Feet Under (2004): “Every day above ground is a good one.”
The Notorious Bettie Page (2005): “Everything you know about Bettie Page was just a pose.”
Monster-in-Law (2005): “This relationship is going to be a real mother.”
Employee of the Month (2006): “In order to get the girl, he’s going to have to get his shift together.”
The Break-Up (2006): “May the ex games begin.”
Surf’s Up (2007): “A major ocean picture.”

A sampling of Byers’ unused taglines:
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006): “Things are going to get hairy.”
Flushed Away (2006): “Potty animals.”