writescreening-blog

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How to Get an Agent?

The unanswerable question answered in simple terms by Jacob Michael via a writers group that you'll have to find for yourself.

Steps to representation:

1) Write a really, really, really, really, really good story that has all the stuff you’d expect a good story to have in the genre and mode in which you want to write. 2) Wash. Repeat.

Now, is it that simple? Yes and no. But until you have that, any advice on how to pursue an agent (actually “pursuing an agent” isn’t exactly accurate) or whether to pursue a manager (which is sort of accurate) will be a waste of space.

So if you want to work in TV, at the bare minimum, you need: 1) An Original Pilot (2 is better) 2) A current spec of a current show

If you want to work in features, you need, at the bare minimum, 2 features in the genre you want to work in (if you want to be a horror writer, do not write a rom-com spec, write horror specs).

And then, if you have short stories or plays or some other fiction you’ve written, especially if it’s won awards of any kind, and most importantly if it’s in the same genre as your scripts, that can help your cause.

It is important to note this—managers and agents like to “define” writers. In other words, if you write in several different genres, they’re going to have a hard time “selling” you and they’ll pass on repping you. But if all your scripts are comedy, they can sell you as “an up and coming comedy writer” (and by-golly, you better be funny…both on the page and in person). Once you’re established as a writer, you can write that indie drama you’ve always wanted to write, or that big action flick…but not now. Or, you can begin your career in the indie film world where the rules are a bit more loose. But if you’re wanting to work in commercial film or in TV, write originals and specs in the genre you want to work in and do not deviate. Sorry. That’s just the way it is. (Yes, there are exceptions. There’re always exceptions. But they’re exceptions and not the standard…keep that in mind.)

Once you have the bare minimum in scripts, it’s time for real feedback. Not the feedback from your family and close friends who are going to rave about it, but the feedback from other writers who will piss and moan because you came up with a better idea than they had and executed it well…and where your script sucks, they’ll point it out.

After your scripts are in tip-top shape, the options are wide open, but the goal is the same: Get read. Your scripts may be better suited for a contest, so go that route. If not, maybe try query letters (they do work…see below). And, you can let people you know and have a relationship with who may know someone what your goal is. See if they’d be willing to read a script of yours and offer feedback. Or do the networking thing and when someone asks to read something of yours, give it to them.

NOTE: Do not go to a networking event and try to hand out your script. Bad idea. Go there to meet people. If they ask what you do, “I’m a writer and I’m looking for representation.” What do you write? “I’ve really been into unicorns and leprechauns ever since I was little because I was horrified by them, so I have some horror specs, one of which placed as a finalist in the Hobokon International Screenplay Competition called LEPRECHAUN ZOMBIES.” Oh, really? I know someone who might want to read that. Can I get a copy? “Of course.”

Now, those conversations won’t always go that quickly and sometimes they take time…but be patient. Be assertive and let people know what you do and your goals, but don’t assume they are the ones to help you. If you are pushy, they run. If they’re a writer, ask to read their stuff. Be more willing to help others than help yourself…it does come back around. Plus it makes you a better writer as you are now forced to critique another script…it’ll help you articulate what isn’t working in your own scripts.

Other options: TV writer programs, diversity programs, and even some internships. There are about a gazillion ways to get your script read…but back to above, if the script ain’t good, the method of your choosing won’t matter.

Also, re: TV—managers and agents are much more willing to read original pilots right now than specs. If they like your pilot, they’ll ask for a spec, but they’ve already read 14,932 specs of HOUSE, so don’t try to send that first.

A note about query letters��production and management companies are rarely going to say “no” to a query that expresses an idea that is interesting to them and fits within their production guidelines. Now, some will, but generally, these companies stay in business because they have the next, best, newest thing. Enter: You. The writer. They need you. They won’t come out and say it like that, but they do. So if you don’t know anyone, do some research on projects similar to your original ideas (TV or film) and send query letters to those companies. If you get all “no” responses, tweak your query. If you get “yes,” send your script. If they end up not liking it, invite them to offer why they didn’t (most won’t say, but a few will). If you need to fix your script. Do it. Then send out another batch of queries.

Re: Agents—They are there to make money. So if you don’t look like an ATM, you’re not going to get much traction with an agent. Typically, agents only sign with writers who have sold or who are about to sell something. There are exceptions, but they’re rare. You might win a contest, which could get their attention. You might know someone with clout who gives it to an agent, which could get their attention. But generally, you have to have “heat” on your script. So if you’re sending it to several production companies and they’re big names and want to read it, feel free to query an agency related to the production company. It does work. Does it work for everyone? No. Like I said, there’s about a bazillion ways in…you just have to find the right one, and honestly, the right way depends on your personality and on the type of script you’re trying to sell.

But it starts with a good script. If you don’t have that, you’re wasting your time.

Hopefully that helps. Happy writing.

– Jacob

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Kurt Vonnegut explains story structure. Simple.

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somuchfunithurts:

vonswank:

Writing Movies for Fun and Profit cover by Robyn Von Swank.

Wonderous.

Got, got to get it.

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itwritersblock:

Came across this today. Interesting.  429 Script pitched to the four big networks; it’s a list of all of them with a log line and the ones that are highlighted in the article were made into pilots. Only a few will actually get slot times. It’ll be interesting to see what made the cut…browsing through hit, I haven’t found anything I’m too interested in..hmm…

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What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he’s staring out of the window.

...or at Tumblr.

Quote from Burton Rascoe (via trystancarterblog)

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Writing My First Spec Script

The experience of writing my first, complete 60 page/minute script with a beginning, middle and end has been one that has presented as many moments of elation and enjoyment as it has moments of despair and self-doubt. To describe my feeling in such polar terms perhaps unnecessarily dramatizes what is essentially a slow moving and decidedly undramatic act. However the faith I have placed in my ability to pull from nowhere a previously untested talent for screenwriting by leaving my former place of employment and placing all my proverbial eggs into a single basket, means that I am experiencing the high and lows of the process at their highest and lowest levels.

I have known for a while that I can put one word in front of the other and build coherent sentences, but my greatest fear was that I'd struggle with the basics of creating a creative, entertaining and structurally sound story. I've never written fiction in any form and while I was well versed in the stories of others I really wasn't sure I had the ability to create unique stories of my own. What I have found to my surprise is that stories, like any creative pursuit, are rarely spontaneous moments of inspiration, but rather a lengthy process of exploration and research with extended periods of thinking, not thinking, procrastinating, ignoring, bullshitting, muscle writing that hopefully leads to a pleasing end product.

Writing a spec based on a current show, in my case Sons of anarchy, gave me a cushioned introduction to this drawn out process by presenting much of the background information on both character and theme. This base information then gives the writer a foundation to seek out an appropriate storyline that will allow those elements to come to life. Had I immediately tried my hand at screenwriting an original feature I think it may have taken far longer for the realization to occur that high concept story lines are often more beneficial for where they can take the character in a script rather than vice versa.

The beauty of this part of the research/discovery process is that you can at one moment have nothing and then suddenly have a story that makes perfect sense. What I have realized is that creativity is far more about hard work and willingness to explore your idea than it is about any kind of instant magic as I had once presumed. Though I was aware of this previously, although why I'm unsure, I have been pleasantly surprised with my nack for dialogue. I enjoy writing in dialects. creating subtext through subtle exchanges and saying things without actually saying things.

Negativity and self-doubt have materialized in the realisation that the first drafts of my scripts are pretty shitty. The pace, the lack of knowledge about structure, the shitty awareness of story principles, the rushed outlines combined with the acknowledgement that i am attempting to emulate a crop of writers producing the best T.V. ever made makes the tide i'm swimming against seem increasingly heavy. The realization of how far I have to go, how much I have to learn and bluntly, how much I currently suck bears heavily on me, but if it didn't I probably wouldn't want to be doing this enough. 

I also suffer with the guilt of procrastination. Some will tell you the art of creativity requires all the time in which one does nothing to blossom. However there's a fine line between giving your brain enough space to breathe, and spending all your time passively reading about the craft/scoping through Tumblr dashboard. Having said that i am keeping to the deadlines i have set for myself. Someone told me the other day to treat it like any other job - one that you can't walk away from to peruse Twitter and i am beginning to see the benefits of implementing a more disciplined approach.

Overall I've really enjoyed putting my first spec together. I'm almost finished with a second spec and will spend the next couple of weeks rewriting both before submitting one or both to various network writing programs. We'll see what happens there, but if nothing else I'm very happy to have produced something that I'm proud to call my own.

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Awake - Formerly known as R.E.M. - Really excited for this show. Great part of the pilot to use for the promo.

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  The Hollywood Reporter Summer Movies Writers Roundtable

The Hollywood Reporter put out this great video featuring some of the most well known screenwriters on Hollywood discussing their work on this summer's biggest blockbusters.

The conversation offers some great practical information about the process of writing and offers some interesting insight into the difficulties of working on films that have such huge expectations. 

In addition it's always nice to be able to see the reality behind the often daunting credits of some of these writers and realize that they're regular human beings who go through the same struggles as every screenwriter.

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thedailywhat:

Flowcharts of the Day: Want to make an animated movie? An action movie? A horror movie? Let Canal+ walk you through the process with a set of helpful flowcharts from Euro RSCG Paris.

[aotw.]

These are amazing.

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popculturebrain:

Read only if you’ve seen the movie. Super interesting analysis of the film.

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Charlie on Parole

This is a great short film based on a simple, but funny premise. You should watch it.

Synopsis: Charlie, an unlikely ex-con adjusts to life after prison, only to find one thing: it's tough on the outside.

Starring TJ Miller, Molly Ryman, Joe Wengert, Lynn Laurence, Mitch Wissick, and Bobby Moynihan.

Directed by Kevin Mead and Paul Briganti.

Written by Paul Briganti, Kevin Mead, and Darren Miller.

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Reading recommendation - Screenwriters' Masterclass: Screenwriters Talk About Their Greatest Movies 

The interviews in here are really wonderful. As an alternative to the standard structural information that you'll get from most books on screenwriting, Kevin Conroy Scott's interviews offer revealing insights into the practical writing process of some of the best known writers in the game. 

I found the interview with Alex Garland to be of particular, both because his process is so unorthodox and because he is so cerebral about the craft despite claiming to be a bumbling amateur. 

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The gun belongs to me.

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splitsider:

Adam Frucci talked to Community writer (and former Onion editor/Important Things with Demetri Martin writer) Megan Ganz about what it’s like working at Greendale Community College. Includes a bunch of fun behind-the-scenes photos!

That’s really my favorite time, that week, because you feel the most writerly. You’re sitting at your laptop, all alone. I was so nervous writing my first episode because I was sure that they were going to fire me after I turned it in. I smoked a pack of cigarettes, and I don’t really smoke. I was in this totally horrible headspace the entire time, and I kept having these anxiety dreams that I was going to turn it in and that Dan was going to read it and then look at me like, “We wanted you to write a television episode, what is this?” I was sure it was going to go down like that.

This is a great interview with a very talented writer. I was invited to apply for The Onion Writing Fellowship around this time last year. I harassed Joe Randazzo after seeing him at the UCB in the hope of following the hugely impressive career trajectory of Megan. Unfortunately it wasn't to be and i didn't make the cut. Now i just have to figure out another route.

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splitsider:

Will Hines dove deep into the online archives of Dan Harmon, creator of Community, to explore his theories on story and writing and how they inform the show. Aspiring comedy writers, take note!

Like a lot of story gurus, Harmon is strongly influenced by Joseph Campbell, an English professor whose most famous work, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, argued that all great stories and myths share common elements (“the monomyth”). Harmon is a lot easier to follow, however.

For a guy who likes to write about laser farts, masturbating were-lynxes, do-gooder child molesters who only molest other child molesters (removed from online), Harmon is very serious about story structure. In all his contributions for Channel101.com and Community (and Monster House and anything else he’s written), he does not vary from it.

There's a real vast rabbit hole of writing and story structure info that comes out of this article from Will Hines about Dan Harmon, and it's a must for anyone who's learning to screenwrite.

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screenwritingtips:

When creating your protagonist’s friends, remember: our friends are people with the same flaws as us.

I've never really thought about this in terms of my actual life, but it certainly seems like a good tip for maintaining a theme within a story.

Screenwriting Tip #572

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Paul Haggis wil learn ya.