Of course, a large majority of screenwriters will think these ideas are bonkers. If you start thinking and acting like an entrepreneurial screenwriter, you will be amazed how many people will start to take you seriously. You will be surprised how accessible they are. Not in LA? Then attend major film festivals. Here are some screenwriting tips… But I don’t think you’ll like them. They don’t have time to take notice of your material unless your work already has buzz. And chances are, those folks already have a dozen clients. Remember, screenwriting agents make a living getting material sold. But if you’re an unknown screenwriter living outside of LA, the odds of getting your work read by legitimate screenwriting agents are slim to none. Yes, you can send out query letters and market the heck out of yourself. I mean, doesn’t it make you feel a little whorish to ask so many people for validation?Īnd screenwriting agents? Forget that route. The truth is, if you have an amazing script that is totally polished, marketed towards your intended audience of producer types (or screenwriting agents) who have a history of producing your type of work – and you have a way of accessing them and getting your brilliant work read, then your success is (a little more) probable.īut for the rest of us, taking that route is an eroded path and (in my humble opinion) requires that you ask too many people for permission.
“Would you like me to tell you the secrets of getting your work produced?” But after I sent out my script, it wasn’t long until I either got a rejection letter or heard nothing.īack then, I still had a lot to learn. And surprisingly, a few folks did respond to me. So I started sending email query letters to various production companies and screenwriting agents. Of course it didn’t happen like that.Īfter I wrote my script, email was the new thing. And I actually thought Hollywood would just knock down my door. I had just finished the first draft of my first screenplay. What I just described was me a decade ago.
One of the reasons I am excited you’re reading these words is because I can help you avoid my early mistakes.
Or should the first time screenwriter decide instead to send the work to producers? And what if somebody steals the idea? And why don’t producers accept unsolicited screenplays? UGH! Should the unknown screenwriter send his screenplay to contests, to screenwriting agents, to the family friend attorney who is willing to pose as the “entertainment attorney” and hopefully shepherd the script through the guarded gates of Hollywood? This is the point when things get confusing. It is at this point when this writer asks himself the obvious question:
Full of enthusiasm, the unknown screenwriter breaks out a hammer and puts the final touches on the two brass brads that hold the 90-120 pages together. Ever wonder why screenwriting agents don’t take time to read your script? I mean think about it… Somewhere in the world someone has just finished the first draft of her first screenplay, ever.