Posts Tagged ‘Screenwriting Career’

Screenwriters often ask me when they should send out their agent query to get it to the writers’ agents.  Here are some screenwriting tips on the business side of screenwriting, but keep in mind, you must first learn how to write the screenplay itself before you get to this part. 

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!

Today, I want to take a minute to say something about your Hollywood Goals and finishing this year strong with your screenwriting and/or acting. Whether you want to finish a screenplay or contact 100 producers and literary agents and managers or dust off your computer and get your Final Draft loaded up, take a few minutes to give it some thought.

We’re in the last 2 months of the year and it’s really easy to start getting in the mindset of winding down and forgetting about your plans for your career as an actor or screenwriter, and even your other goals, such as health and fitness as we go into the Holiday season.  But the fact is, we have almost two months left in the year that you could still achieve whatever you set out to do at the beginning of this year.

 One of the characteristics of champions is that when they are getting near the end of a race, they don’t wind down, they actually shift into high gear and pour it on. 

 What do you want to achieve toward your screenwriting or acting goals by the end of the year? 

What goal could you set that you would be really proud to achieve before the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2009?

 For example….

• Maybe you want to finish a polish on your screenplay.  Maybe you want to get your script reviewed and rewritten so you can kick off a marketing campaign at the beginning of the year. 
• Maybe you want to announce your new agent to all the casting directors in town. 
• Or maybe you want to get an agent before the end of the year.
• You might decide you want to come up with 5 new script ideas and figure out which one you want to write, so you’ll be ready to write a new script at the beginning of next year. 

Whatever it is, be pro-active now. Don’t slack off these last two months.  Keep playing strong through the end of this year.

Yes, enjoy your life. Enjoy the whole holiday season and your family and friends, parties.  I’m going to do the same.  But I also want you to really experience WINNING in your career. 

So right now, I invite you to set a goal that you’re gonna reach by the end the year that would make you thrilled about your screenwriting or acting career, and make you excited to kick off the New Year right!

What will YOUR GOAL be?

Screenwriters know they need to get their scripts out to Hollywood but frequently are not sure about the best way to do it.  My company Smart Girls Productions has helped over 2500 screenwriters get their scripts ready and out to Hollywood, and so I want to go over some of the ways you can market your script and compare them.

As a starting point, let’s assume that you will not be marketing your script until you know you have a great story to market, and we’ll compare the ways to market from there.

Some methods for marketing your script are:  Go to pitchfests and pitch in person, make calls to various executives until you get through, do email blasts to potential producers or agents, or do a time-tested method of direct mail called Query Letter Mailings.

Given a great story, when you get right down to it, any of these things could work and have worked.  So whatever works, do it! 

There are trade-offs with each method though.  Emails are easily and quickly deleted and often just go unread.  With pitching, you have to find pitchfests to attend with the related expenses of the conference itself, and travel and lodging if you live out of town. Plus, the number of executives you get to pitch to in a short period of time is limited.  Phone calls are scary for most screenwriters and often disheartening.  Query Letter Mailings are not cheap or free like an email or phone call, but you can certainly deliver a professional pitch the way you want it to a lot of hand-picked people in a short period of time.

Here are a few more details on  why query letters, if you’re willing and able to invest a little in your marketing, come out on top as the best way to market your script.

With a query letter mailing, you can craft your pitch exactly the way you want it in writing and that is how it will be presented, so it’s a lot easier for most writers than pitching live. 

• You can spend however much time you need researching the right people to send to and have that list to “work” indefinitely.  In contrast, to pitch live, you will need to find a way to pitch to that person one on one, and you will just never be able to reach some execs to pitch live to them – but they might read a pitch if their assistant handed it to them in a letter.
• The query letter you send to an office has to be handled physically in some way or another, therefore has more likelihood of being noticed.  An email can be deleted instantly, and we’re trained to do that.  A live pitch disappears as soon as you hang up the phone or you leave their office. 
• A letter has a good chance of being opened and at least skimmed.  Then it takes no additional effort to place it into their inbox on their desk as a reminder call later or to pass to the exec.  But if the assistant sees your email and wants to bring it to their boss’s attention, they need to either print it out or make a note to tell the boss and later go back and find the email.  If they just forward it, you’re back to square one of it probably being deleted instantly when the boss sees it.
• With a query letter mailing, you can easily follow up with a phone call to see if they received your letter and it won’t seem odd.  With an email, it would be a bit odd to follow-up to see if they got your email, because if you were going to call you should have just called in the first place.
• One final advantage I want to mention, although there other advantages to a query letter mailing, is that when you do a Query Letter Mailing (with Smart Girls anyway), you get a complete listing of the names and addresses of every executive you are mailing to.  This is a good paper trail for you to have should you ever need to show evidence of who saw your idea when.  Hopefully, no one ever steals your idea, but it’s just one more thing to have in your backpack, should you ever want supporting evidence.

Because of the volume of digital information that people get, the most reliable means of getting through to a large number of prospective producers and agents for your script is:

          — a physically-delivered (USPS) professional query letter

          – that gives a great pitch of your story

          — to the right executives.

You can also then follow-up with all of the other methods to improve your responses.  But the best starting place is a query letter mailing.  Although it does cost more than just sending out an email, the idea is that you will then work that list indefinitely with the various other means to support your efforts, so it’s not a one-shot deal.