• Act 1 (the first 1/4 of your screenplay 25 – 30 pages) – This is the setup of your story where your characters are introduced along with the basic direction of the story. This first Act must contain a Hook in the Set-Up to keep the reader, whether it’s a literary agent or producer, riveted to your screenplay.   In particular, the first 5 pages of a screenplay should totally hook the Hollywood movie executive.  If it doesn’t, they will read no more than 10 pages hoping it will get better and will then toss it in the trash.

• Act 2 (the middle half — roughly pages 27 to 87) –  Now that the story is Set-Up with the basic characters and the challenge of the story, you have to focus on creating lots of Conflict and Increasingly Difficult Obstacles for your main charactet to overcome. This is typically the hardest part to write because you have to makes sure that it builds upon itself and doesn’t become repetitive.

• Act 3 (the final quarter of your screenplay – roughly 85 or so to page 100 or so, and up to 120).  Your Third Act starts with a turning point and builds to the Climax of the story with the big confrontation between your main character and their opposition.  This is where your character either achieves his or her goal or fails — usually it’s best to have them win.  After the climax, then you have the Resolution to show how it all works out and things get back to a basic, simple life again.

Your plot is essentially how you put the basic pieces of your story together to make it interesting.  You should write out the basic beats of it at some point in your writing, whether it’s to do it before you start or at some point after you get some of your story down on paper.  The main thing is that while writing itself is often a right brain/creative process, working out the plot itself requires you to sit and think about it at some point and to really structure it for maximum effect.

This will be one of the biggest challenges you have, so stay at it, study it, and work on it till you feel in your bones that it is as good as it can be.

Proofread again. It’s important to make sure that there are no errors in your screenplay.   A literary agent will get a very bad impression if your script has errors, so before sending it out, proofread it one more time.  If you know your grammar or formatting has problems, hire a professional proofreader to review your screenplay.  Be sure it is someone who knows proper Hollywood script formatting.

Once it’s ready to go, you must learn to pitch your script.  As I like to say, “If you can’t tell it, you can’t sell it.”   Whether you write a query letter or pitch verbally, you have to develop a pitch of your story, which is simply telling a very short version of it to get someone interested.

When you pitch verbally to a literary agent, you have only a few seconds to hook them, so make the most of it. Practice pitching to your friends and family, or even in the mirror. It doesn’t matter where you practice, just keep at it.  See if their eyes glaze over or if they light up.  That should be your feedback.  You can also work with a professional pitch coach in Hollywood to help you prepare it. 

It can be challenging to get a chance to pitch verbally, so another option is to write a query letter to sell a screenplay. It will most likely be the first thing seen by a literary agent so it’s imperative that you impress them. This is your only chance to convince them that your screenplay is unique and great, so be sure that your query letter presents your script in the best possible light.

If you aren’t sure about the query letter part, that is another area that you can get a professional to help you.  Or even if you simply don’t have the time to mess with it and would rather work on the script itself, then you may want to hire someone to help you with the pitching and marketing.  Some possible places to get help are QueryLetterMailing.com and The Great American Pitchfest.  At the query letter mailing site, they will help you put together a query letter to go out to production companies and literary agents.  The Great American Pitchfest is an event that happens once a year where you can pitch in person to your choice of as many as 100 different Hollywood professionals. 

The main thing after you write your screenplay is to make an effort to sell it.  Don’t hold back and sit on it for years like some aspiring screenwriters do, get a pitch ready.  Then try to get your screenplay read by Literary Agents, Literary Managers, and Producers in Hollywood — any way you can!

On the other hand, when you write a great query letter, you will make a good impression, and you can get the surprise benefit that even if they aren’t interested in the idea of this script, you can start to build a relationship with them and come back to them in the future with other scripts that might suit them.

Here are some basics tips for writing your query letter.

• Stick to the point.

Tell them just a little bit about you and also give them the pitch of your screenplay.  End with a thank you.  That’s it.  No irrelevant information, that rambles on about how you really need to sell a screenplay in a hurry or you’ll get kicked out of your apartment – that would be seen as unprofessional.

• Proofread for errors, make sure your letter really sells your idea, and in general, rewrite it until overall, it has a very a good quality feel to it.

If your query letter stinks or if you have too many errors, then the literary agent will assume the quality of your screenplay is even worse, and there’s no way they will read it.  It goes back to your query letter being critical in making that first impression.

• Always address your query letter to one individual literary agent (or manager or producer).

Do not  send “To Whom It May Concern.” If you want them to represent you in a big money world, then you better at least be resourceful enough find out their name and address the letter to them.

Those are a few basic ideas to get you pointed in the right direction on writing a query letter. If you feel you would rather focus on the screenwriting itself than on marketing your screenplay, or if you are not sure you will be able to give it your best shot, then you might want to check out having a professional Query Letter Mailing created for you by Smart Girls Productions.

Smart Girls Productions has helped hundreds of screenwriters get their scripts read by real Hollywood producers, literary agents, and managers, and they pick out the people who are best suited to your specific script.  In addition to query letters for your screenplay, they also offer a variety of other screenwriter services that might be of interest to you, such as typing scripts and script critiques.

The most important part of trying to sell a screenplay is to learn how to pitch it. Hollywood executives are bombarded by scripts and ideas on a daily basis. If you’re one of the few who are fortunate enough to get their attention, you will only have it for a sentence or two. If they’re not hooked by then, they will simply let the rest of what you say go in one ear and out the other. Simply put, they don’t have time to listen to everyone who thinks they have a good story to tell. So practice your pitch and make sure the first couple of sentences are memorable.

A query letter is another necessity to selling a screenplay, although it does require a bit of effort to write. These letters are a great way of reaching producers and agents while they’re in the comfort of their office. Again, it’s important to hook them right from the start.

Does selling a screenplay still seem like too monumental a task? There are agencies, such as Smart Girls Productions, who help up-and-coming screenwriters with all of the daunting tasks associated with selling a screenplay. Many screenwriters prefer to let someone with experience in this area of screenwriting handle this challenging task. Selling a screenplay — at least getting your screenplay read — really doesn’t have to be so complicated, it’s simply a matter of pitching, hooking the reader, and having the courage to handle rejection. And then you have to stay at it for as long as it takes.

As always, with one warning. Before you take any action toward selling your screenplay, it is critical that you make your script is ready to be marketed and sold to Hollywood. Otherwise, you could blow the chance you worked so hard to get!

Welcome to Hollywood!

Knowing that, you find a place to get script coverage that you feel will do a good job for you. Then you get the notes back and they say that your script falls somewhere short of perfect and they tell you why. It’s not quite what you wanted to hear about your screenplay that you worked so hard on, and you feel that ping of disappointment.

In fact, now that you think about it, you don’t really want to make any changes and you’re not even sure if you agree with the feedback. But yet you know you getting feedback on your script with a script analysis is part of the process of selling your script. So now you’re in the middle of it, and you got the notes that you’re not too excited about. Now what? Are you just missing something because you feel defensive? Or do the notes stink?

Here are three things to keep in mind in determining whether to take the notes or not:

1. First, let go of your disappointment, defensiveness, or hurt feelings about what the script coverage says.

It’s natural to feel a little bit badly when someone tells you they think your work is not the best it could be. But let go of that as quickly as you can. You can’t make good, clear decisions when you feel that way. You have to get that out of the way first.

2. Listen objectively to what they’re saying and try to get it. If you don’t get it, ask questions.

Once you let go of the disappointment or any other negative feelings, then you can listen for the value in what they are saying. Hopefully, when you looked for someone to review your script, you did your homework and found someone who has credibility. And if you did that, why would you NOT listen to them objectively? You should seriously consider what they say, even though in the end you may or may not apply it.

As you listen objectively, first, try to fully understand what they are saying and why they believe you need to do it – that is, if you can ask questions. Whenever you get script coverage or a script analysis, try to get something oral so you can ask questions of the person giving you feedback.

So listen objectively, and then make sure you fully understand both what they are saying and why they think you should make the change they suggest.

3. Finally, think it through later and make your choice about whether you will apply it or not.

Make your choice NOT based on the fact that you don’t want to rewrite it, but based on what the script needs to fulfill your vision – not the vision of the script analyst or coverage person, but your vision.

Keep the craft in mind. Many suggestions may be to improve the script in the arena of the craft that doesn’t effectively change it. Most of those kinds of changes you should definitely give very serious consideration to – such as raising the stakes, developing the character arc, and making it more dramatic and so on. But when it comes to changing major elements of the screenplay, such as the age or gender of the character, give it some thought. Be open to changing or not changing.

In the end, it is most important that as a screenwriter, you connect with your gut. If a script analyst suggests a change that you are not sure about, get connected to a place deep inside of you to see if it fits with the story you are trying to tell. And be open to the answer. When you do this, you will be surprised at what you find.

Your best bet starts with you choosing a script analyst whom you feel is professional, will communicate with you in a way that supports you instead of tears you down, and who will also be honest with you about what needs work. And, of course, someone who is very good at what they do.

Choose wisely, grasshopper. And listen to that place deep within! Good luck in writing screenplays and happy re-writing, too!

Here are the facts:

1.  Most screenplays are not ready to send out to agents when the screenwriters think they are.  It is critical that you first learn how to write a screenplay.  It is not easy.  You will need to do far more rewriting than you can imagine to make it work well.  After you write a screenplay and you feel that you have done as much as you can, then you need to go to a real script doctor to get a script analysis.  No matter who you are, even if you are a Writer’s Guild member or Shane Black or Joe Eszterhas or Callie Khouri, you need to have someone else look at your screenplay to give you feedback.  Of course, famous screenwriters like the ones I’ve just mentioned already know they have to do a ton of rewrites, so by the time they have someone look at it, their screenplay is very far along the path of development.

2.  It is easier to get producers to read your script with a query letter than writers’ agents.  Although some producers and production companies will not read your script unless it is from a script agent that they know, the fact is, your chances are better at getting your screenplay submissions read with a query letter to producers.

3.  You truly only have one chance to get an agent or producer to read your script because even if they read it a second time, they will still have the old ideas stuck in their minds.  This happened to me loud and clear.  I wrote a screenplay back in the day, got signed by a WGA agent who worked with me a bit on it, but even after I did a major rewrite, she still talked about things that were in the first draft that she didn’t like and she acted like it was in the second draft.  Same with the producers who read my spec script.  You really, really need to make sure your script is ready to be read when it goes out.  I cannot stress this enough.

4.  It is better to go to screenwriter managers when you have only one screenplay than it is to go to agents.  A manager works with you on your career while an agent works to get your script(s) out to the market.  Usually when a writing agent sells your script or gets you an option (10% of the money up front), they will get you less money for the first one than you will get on your second script.  Once you sell your screenplay that first time and your script gets produced, the second time around, your script agent can ask for a lot more money because you are then a proven entity.  With writer managers, who operate similarly to the writer agents in some regards, not only do they make screenplay submissions, but they also strategize with you on your career for the long term.

5.  Even though it is hard to get screenplay agents (aka literary agents) to read your script, it is still a good idea to try to get one.  Although some agencies like Creative Artists Agency (CAA) absolutely refuse to even read an agent query for a screenplay, there are many others who will at least read your query letter, even if 99% of the time they won’t take you on.  But the idea is that if you find that one special agent who really “gets” your idea, it could end up being a very lucrative deal for you!

I always encourage you to go for your dreams.  Even though Hollywood is super challenging to be successful in, I figure that there are people getting paid zillions of dollars every day for their movie scripts… why can’t that be you!?  It could be you as much as it could be anyone else, so go for it!

If you would like assistance in getting your screenplay out to Hollywood with an Agent Query Letter, Manager Query Letter, or Producer Query Letter, then check out the Smart Girls Query Letter Mailings which do exactly that.

 Good luck to you!

When I saw this, it got me thinking about my actor and screenwriter clients who want to be paid for their services – presumably all of them! 

So I have a question for you:  How much would someone pay for your acting or screenwriting talents?  Or anything else you do for that matter? 

For the most part, the most difficult part of an acting or screenwriting career is getting paid for doing it.  It’s easy enough to act in a play, a student film, or a no-budget film, but to be HIRED to do it is a different story. 

Same with writing.  You can get a video camera and shoot a few no-budget scenes, edit them with free software, and then post them on YouTube for the world to see.  Doing the thing itself is not so hard.  It’s getting paid to do it that is the hard part. 

So the question is, what is it that makes someone PAY for what you do?  And a lot of money at that?

Here’s the answer:  The reason they pay you (your audience, that is) is that they perceive a particular and unique value in what you do.  Someone pays for a Madonna record because they perceive what she delivers as being unique AND they like it. 

Someone pays to have you act in their film because they perceive that you will deliver something unique that’s worthy of paying for.  They also think that, in turn, others will also perceive it as being unique and worth paying for.

Said another way:  You have to be unique in some way, or more accurately, perceived to be delivering something unique that is valuable enough that the buyer will pay for it.

Let me break it down.  First, for actors:  Most actors fall in the category of what’s called a “commodity.”  A commodity is something that can be easily replaced with another similar item.

For screenwriters, it’s the same thing.  Most scripts that I’ve critiqued are actually okay, not bad.  But most of them could be classified as commodities, meaning easily replaced with a similar one. 

The problem with being a commodity when it comes to marketing is that you have little leverage in getting someone to pay money for what you are selling over another commodity, unless you are a name brand (meaning a star name actor or proven screenwriter).  Think of computers:  they are now commodity products.  The main difference is the name brand.  Most people prefer to buy a name brand over a no-name brand, even when they could get more for their money with a no-namer.  

There is more perceived value in the name brand commodity than the actual product itself, therefore most people stick with the name brands.  And on top of that, even the name brand companies are very competitive with each other, trying to separate themselves from the others in a sea of commodities.

As an actor or screenwriter, you are a commodity until you have a name.  It’s the chicken-egg story.  How to you get to have a name if they won’t hire you so you can build your name? Well, you have to do one thing.

 I’ll put it very simply: 

If you want to be paid to do your acting or screenwriting, you have to go to work on increasing your perceived value in the Hollywood market place.

It’s not about your real value or your worth as a person.  It’s not about how much money your movie would make if we could see into the future and really know.  It’s about how much the Hollywood marketplace perceives that you or your script is worth.  So you have to work on increasing the perceived value of what you provide.

How do you do that?  It’s not just one thing, there are lots of things that you can do.  Everything from being great at your craft, to being unique, to getting fans of your work, to being great to work with, and much more.  It includes all the steps in the process of branding yourself and making a career — and it’s not as elusive as you might think.  (Stay tuned for more insights on how to do this or check out Smart Girls Productions services for marketing actors and screenwriters as a starting point.)

To bring the point home, let’s go back to the $600,000 Mastiff… was that dog really worth that much money?  Who knows?  How do you even tell?  It’s a made up number.  The bottomline is that the buyer thought that he was worth it and she paid it. 

What is the perceived value of your talent in the market place?  How will you increase it?

If you haven’t already experienced it, you will quickly learn that even when a Hollywood movie executive requests to read your screenplay that they may not read it right away.  Therefore, you will need to learn to follow up with them after you send it.

Being effective at following up with execs is an entire art and skill in itself.  It requires a certain amount of schmooze as well as knowing the protocol, as well as having the correct intention.  I’m only going to cover the intention aspect in this post.  So here goes:

When you prepare to call an executive, or any business call for that matter, know exactly what outcome you are trying to produce.  The clearer you are about what you want to have happen, the more your mind will find possible ways to make it happen.  However, you can even go beyond just knowing what you want to have happen and create three possible levels.  In other words, instead of it being All or Nothing, if you create that you want X to happen, but if X doesn’t happen, then you At Least want Y to happen, and if Y doesn’t happen, then you At Least want Z to happen, it sets you up to win.

The power of it is that you have to figure out ahead of time exactly what you want to have happen — what is the Best Case?  Then you have to figure out 2 lesser outcomes.  When you do this, it gives you a direction to take the conversation instead of just focusing on one thing only and then having nowhere to go if that doesn’t work.

For example, let’s say you are following up with a producer who wanted to read your script and you needed to create your three outcomes.  One level would be to connect with the exec and get them to commit to a time to read your script.

A possible outcome short of that would be to try to get a Development Assistant to read it and consider recommending it to the exec.  It can’t hurt to get in good with the assistant since many of them work their way up the ladder eventually, and they might recommend it to the producer.

A third possible outcome, even if you don’t get the Development Assistant to read it, is to try to get them move it to the top of the exec’s reading pile and to put in a good word about it to try to get them to read it.

Having three possible outcomes makes it so that the success of your call is not an all-or-nothing proposition so you are more likely to move your cause forward. Tap into your own well of ideas to try to come up with other possible outcomes that will still move you forward toward your goal.  Plan this out before you make your call and you will find things moving forward much quicker than you can imagine.

Then Join The More Than 7500 Actors And Writers
We’ve Helped With Marketing Their Careers Since 1992

Maybe you’re seeking a good Hollywood agent or manager. Or maybe you just want Hollywood producers and agents to read your script so they can see its amazing potential. If you’re looking for ways to move your career forward in Hollywood, then you’ve come to the right place. We offer the broadest range of marketing services available ANYWHERE for both for actors and screenwriters. We track thousands of agents, managers, producers, and casting directors in Hollywood, and we have a variety of programs to help you in your career.

Give yourself the chance to see your name in lights for real. It starts right here.

P.S. You know, a lot of actors and writers will read every word here, agree with what they see – and still do nothing. They’re the wanna-bes-who-didn’t-go-for-it. The almost-made-it crowd. Always waiting for that good ship success to sail in, but too timid to hop on board once it is at the dock! We can and do give you every tool you need to go after your desires and ambitions. But you have to take this first step in your acting or writing career. Give us a call to see how we can help you — or AT LEAST, start by getting our mini-course on marketing to Hollywood!

P.P.S. A lot of people wonder… is Smart Girls just for women? The answer? No. It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you’re a man or a woman! If you’re looking to make it in film or TV, we’re for you. Smart Girls (and Guys) are who we are, savvy, smart people who get the job done – and done right!

To Be Continued…