Do I Need an Agent?
by Jaden
photo credit: urbanshoregirl
If you are wondering if you need an agent to be a paid screenwriter, the answer is yes!
Below are some questions I have received that are followed by my answers.
Is it absolutely imperative that I get representation?
Yes, if you want to work in mainstream Hollywood. Otherwise, you can give your work for free or cheap to independent filmmakers or simply produce and direct your own scripts.
Cannot I just send my screenplay to the independent branches of the major studios… (warner independent, paramount vantage, etc.)?
No. They will kindly stamp the envelope, “RETURN TO SENDER,” and send it back unopened. Trust me, I have been the stamper in the legal department. It is a legal risk for any studio or network to receive your script because you could sue them later saying they stole your idea, even though they had been working on the same concept for four years or maybe preferred to buy the script from an established writer who sent his in one week after yours.
If you have already contacted the producer or agent and they have agreed to read your material, they will give you a release form to sign and you need to write on your envelope in black marker, “Release Form Enclosed.”
What about sending scripts to executive producers like Kevin Spacey or Brad Pitt for their respective production companies?
Sometimes that is acceptable. For legal reasons, most producers will not accept unsolicited scripts. You have to call the office and ask if they accept unsolicited scripts. If they do, usually they will send you a legal form to sign saying you won’t sue them, the Release of Liability. I have met lots of producers, directors, and actors who after meeting me in person, or knowing of my origin and relative sanity, trust that I won’t sue them, say, “Sure, send me your script.”
Or do I have to go through the normal hollywood process of getting an agent, having him read it and then having him attempt to find someone to take it?
Yes, this is best. There is a formal process. If you want to get a bidding war on your script and make millions of dollars on your first pop, you need to have your agent pump up the buzz and send out the script in one single day with no one ever having seen it before. This creates an auction environment and the money can fly. You look much more professional and can get a lot more money if you have your agent sending out your script. Anyway, most legitimate producers usually do not accept unsolicited materials. What you want to do is get an agent but also keep working the connections yourself, just in case your script doesn’t fly off the shelf. So when you meet someone in a buying position, you get their information and say, “I will have my agent send over the script.” After a few years, if your script still has not sold, it may never, and you should put your efforts towards new ideas.
I really don’t want to send my material to an agent. He didn’t write the story and I don’t need his interpretation of it and whom he thinks will buy it.
You do need an agent and he is going to take a nice 10 to 20% chunk of your dough too. He deserves it because he is going to negotiate on your behalf for lots of money that you simple cannot accomplish on your own. He also has all the connections to all the people who are in a position to buy your script. Even if someone at Sony somehow got a hold of your script and wanted to pay you $500,000 for it, they would connect you with an agency to do all the paperwork and everything and the agency is still going to take their same percentage no matter how much or how little work they did for you. It is to your benefit to have an agent. Let him do his job, and you do yours, which is to write!
I’m working on a pilot script. Who/where do I go to get it read?
For a pilot script, you want to have a script literary agent who specializes in television.
Click here for agencies accredited by the Writers Guild to represent you.
Generally, pilot scripts and TV show ideas are mostly only bought from well established writers, either best seller novelists or TV writers that have been in the business and have proven themselves. The reason for this is that a network is not going to want to risk millions of dollars on an unknown 22-year old writer, no matter how great his idea and writing are.
Don’t let this dissuade you from writing pilot scripts. If your pilot script is excellent, you may get a writing gig from it.
When you have a great TV idea, write and register it, because maybe one day you will become successful for something else, book/screenplay/short film/whatever, and then you can pull out your arsenal of registered and completed materials and sell those too. When you are hot, you are hot. Better to have a bunch of stuff to sell in that moment, than nothing. Your first movie may flop (even though it was the director’s fault) and your name might then be tarnished and you are back at the bottom. Having lots of prepared material is a good plan.
How do I get an agent?
First you need to select and contact an agent either via telephone or by letter and ask them if you may send samples of your writing and what is their procedure. Query letter is the standard approach and having someone who has recommended you is often required.
Usually, you will have to live in Hollywood if you want to write for television.
What type of sample scripts should I send?
Best is a sample of each type of writing to show your diversity: a spec script, a pilot script (an original television script), a screenplay (a movie script), and maybe even a short story. Poetry is the kiss of death — don’t send that! If you only want to write for TV or only for film, you may submit only screenplays or only TV scripts, but have at least two scripts to increase your odds.
In your letter, make sure to mention your best published works and for which entities. Why should this agent accept you as a client? What do you have to offer? What evidence do you have to validate you as a writer? What training have you had?
In your envelope, include a self-addressed and stamped envelope to return the material or include a note saying that they may pitch it to the recycling bin.
Final Notes on Soliciting Agents:
If you want to make a life career out of screenwriting, you need to be able to write more than one story or one episode of an existing show. If someone likes the one script you sent, the next question will be, “What else do you have?” Be prepared.
You and your material have great value and potential. Don’t be desperate when you are selecting an agent. If you are soliciting agents, you should be confident enough in your work to choose a good agent. Make sure you like the person and you are at ease when you talk to him or her. You should feel comfortable to ask questions and feel that the agent genuinely likes your work, otherwise, he or she won’t be able to sell it.
Always be polite, never demanding. Don’t jump on a yes or no because someone is pressuring you, say, “Thank you very much; I will think about it.”
Be realistic.
Test your material. Do people like it?
If no single person on the face of the earth has read any of your material, you are absolutely not ready to be soliciting an agent.
Feedback is an essential part of your development. Learning to accept criticism and incorporate feedback is crucial. A screenwriter is endlessly entwined in editing and revising.
Have people you trust to be honest with you and strangers through the Internet read your material and give you real feedback.
Are your scripts formatted correctly?
How are your grammar and spelling?
Do your stories float or sink?
Are you published anywhere?
Do any strangers like anything you have written?
You are going to have to prove to the agent in more ways than one that you are talented, dependable, and a creative writer.
Before you go wasting your time and the time of all the agents who you solicit, make sure you are ready. Learn everything you possibly can about the industry and how your script should look and function.
Full of information, I suggest you fine comb through the WGA website.
Never give up and never stop educating yourself.
Every rejection is a valuable lesson that brings you closer to your goal.
And the Oscar Goes to… Milk!
by Jaden
“And the Oscar Goes to… Milk!”
Better get used to hearing that because I think it might be said many times come February 22, 2009 when the spotlights stir up the smog in Hollywood for the Academy Awards that honor achievements in film.
Director! Actor! Editing! Sound! Screenplay! I expect Milk to be up for awards in each of these categories and more.
Milk is one of those rare films that has something important to say about politics and humanity — doing it with remarkable eloquence and beauty.
The images of Milk are not flickering merely to help you get through two more hours of your dreary life, the pictures confront your values, challenge your moral structure, make you feel uneasy in your plush red chair, and demand that you question yourself.
Learn more about Milk:
Milk Drops Keep Falling on My Head
Moral Milk for Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn
Bettie Page Died
Playboy: January 1955 ~ www.bettiepage.com
Famous for her bondage photographs and innocently smiling eyes, Bettie Page at age 85 years old died on December 11, 2008 at 6:41pm in a Los Angeles hospital from a heart attack and pneumonia.
What led me to finding out about Ms. Page’s condition was that a few days earlier, I received the strangest midnight call from a photographer I knew, asking me to do all sorts of sordid things on camera for a big budget movie — a hardcore biopic on Bettie Page they were trying to unroll quickly so they could reap the big dollars of the cult icon’s death. Among other questionable things, I don’t think I have the right ribcage for the job. “We can fix that in post,” he said. And that is Hollywood, folks! Thank you very much, come again.
While we keep the Bettie Page fun-loving spirit alive, may our muse rest in peace.
www.bettiepage.com
Betty Mae Page was born on April 22, 1922 in Nashville Tennessee.
Bettie Page quote: “I’ve been a movie hound my whole life.”
The first incarnation of the ScreenwritingforHollywood website was actually designed in a Bettie Page bondage theme — whipping scripts into shape. Though Bettie was admittedly a terrible actor, like yours truly, designing much of her own lingerie and taking control of her model shoots, Bettie has been an endless source of inspiration to filmmakers, fashion designers, photographers, artists, and more.
We love her.
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What are Spec Scripts?
by Jaden
Spec scripts (or speculative screenplays) can be different things depending on who is asking and whether it is for film or television.
A spec script for television is a script you write based on an existing television show using all the characters and storylines that have already been established. [Note: A pilot script would be a fully original idea for a new television show.] A TV spec script may be for a half hour (20-30 pages), full hour (40-60 pages), or two hour program (80-120 pages). Remember, when you are writing for television, there are commercials that take up time as well; the 1 page per 1 minute rule still applies.
TV spec scripts do two things for you: they exhibit your writing talents and may also be purchased to use for an episode. If the idea is excellent, you may be paid for the idea. If your writing structure or jokes are superb, you may get a chance to write for the show with the writing team. Don’t get too excited; it’s like shooting darts in the dark.
The hard part about writing spec scripts for television is that you have to be such an absolutely amazing writer as to single handedly write a better TV episode than that which is created by a room of 20 seasoned professional writers in addition to the directors and producers who all have their input on the final aired product. Furthermore, you have to know about every single episode of that show, which may mean 10 or 20 years of shows, so as to not tell a story that has already been told. No easy feat!
The rule of thumb is that you submit a spec script from a different show than for the one that you are applying.
Writing a spec script for top rated shows are the most challenging because it is hard to outshine what they are already producing. More obscure shows are better for spec scripts. Also, the readers get bored reading the same shows over and over.
For an example of a television spec script, click here to read my saucy spec script that I wrote for Sex and the City a long time ago. I had heard through the grapevine that they were going to do a spin-off show for the Samantha character and have her move to Hollywood. What a dream for me to write for that show! I was ecstatic about this. I wanted to get on the writing team, but sadly the show never came into existence.
Along the way, a top television producer asked me, “Do you have any spec scripts?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Send it over.” He told me.
After reading it, I could tell in the tone of his voice that he was surprised I had any skills. “It’s really funny,” he said several times. “Do you have anything else?”
“No, but I can write one for you.”
I proceeded to write my second spec script based on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Speaking to a colleague about the situation, he dissuaded me, telling me that the producer was a notorious pick-up artist and that he actually was not interested in my writing. This depressed me and I never followed up on sending him the second spec script I wrote. A big mistake! In retrospect, the colleague was simply a jerk and the friendly TV producer never once in the many years to follow ever made a sexual advance on me. Had I turned in the second spec script, I might have gotten a writing job on any one of his many successful shows.
Never let anyone dissuade you from moving forward with an opportunity. That was a big regret of mine.
Anyway, after working in television for a while, I decided it wasn’t for me; I like the independence and freedom of novel and screenplay writing. Writing for television requires endless hours in large writing groups and you have to live and die in Hollywood. The pay is excellent; it just depends on your personality type what will be better for you. Do you prefer working alone out in the big wide world or do you like working with other people and being tethered to Hollywood? That is pretty much the deciding factor of whether you should write for film or television.
A spec script for film is an original screenplay that you write. The film spec script can be your own unique idea, an adaptation of a book, or a sequel to an existing movie. It can be floating around Hollywood on the market for sale or it might just be filed away by an agent or studio as your writing sample. Maybe you write great dialog but the story plot is weak. Or maybe your concept is marketable, but you have terrible grammar. Whatever the case, a film spec script is one that has not yet been bought.
In general, film or television, spec scripts are a writer’s calling card. This is your writing sample and how you get work. Your spec script may never sell, but it may lead you to a job rewriting someone else’s movie script or to a job working on a TV show with a writing team.
To better understand the life of a screenwriter in Hollywood, click here to read last week’s article.
Please feel free to ask more questions about this or add your personal spec scripts writing experiences in the comments section to help other people.
Reality Bites: Life of a Screenwriter In Hollywood
by Jaden
Today, browsing my Google ranking for keywords “Hollywood” and “Screenwriting,” I popped up number 1 at the top of page 1 with my Popular Posts. Thank you all very much for you contribution.
For your reward, I give you homework and recommend you read this gem of an article.
On Google page 6, I found the most accurate and insightful article about the inglorious life of a screenwriter in Hollywood.
It is published on Variety, one of the two main Hollywood industry insider magazines (the other being The Hollywood Reporter). Everyone who lives and works in Hollywood generally reads, or at least skims, these magazines everyday. They are like the adult versions of US Weekly, you know, giving you statistics, numbers, longer articles, what movies and TV shows are being bought, who is getting a promotion, and some good photos too.
The title of the article I want you to read is, “Screenwriting in Hollywood: A Modest Proposal,” and subtitled “The Lone Screenwriter” by one of my Hollywood heros Nancy Nigrosh who was a superb talent agent for 25 years working with top celebrities.
Ms. Nigrosh wrote this amazing piece about the life of screenwriters in Hollywood. If screenwriting is something in which you are seriously interested, you must read this article because she really hits the nail on the head for what life is really like for the majority of screenwriters in the dark recesses of Hollywood.
She talks about credit, residuals, premieres, and all the things that screenwriters expect to get, but don’t.
After you read this article, you will see why I say: MAKE YOUR OWN MOVIES! Be your own director if you want any glory and money.
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