A Screenwriter’s Survival Guide To Hollywood - Part Eight

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If you missed the first 7 parts:

https://steemit.com/writing/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-one
https://steemit.com/writing/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-two
https://steemit.com/screenwriting/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood
https://steemit.com/screenwriting/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-four
https://steemit.com/screenwriting/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-five
https://steemit.com/writing/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-six
https://steemit.com/writing/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-seven

Pitching

In the past, pitching had been one of my greatest weaknesses as far as my own stories go. I’m sure I’ve missed out on several opportunities because I was unable to convey what the exact story, I had written was about. And since it seems that creative execs all have a variation of A.D.D., there is a very concise way of doing this.

I have since learned the fail-proof technique, and that is to write the pitch before you write the script. This method serves two purposes.

The first being a great way to fine tune what your story is about, so that you don’t suddenly get lost while you’re writing it. Come on, be honest. How many times has that happened to you? There you are writing along and then somewhere in the middle of Act Two, you run out of gas, or worse, conflict. Your story suddenly takes an odd turn and it’s not what you originally planned on writing.

So my pitch usually consists of a logline that I labor over until it is fine-tuned enough to give someone an idea of what the movie is about.

What’s great about doing this before you write the screenplay is that you can try it out on unsuspecting family, friends, co-workers, or people in line at the grocery store to see if it gains any interest.

If you end up with a bunch of confused looks or they don’t seem to care less, then you’re not ready to write the screenplay. But if you hit them with it and you get responses like, “ I wanna see that.”, or “I wish that would happen to me.”, then you’re on the right track.

Ah, Rejection

With pitching unfortunately comes rejection. It’s the nature of the beast, that you script or proposal for representation will be greeted with some if not a lot of rejection along the way. The best way to look at this is the more “no’s” you get; the closer you’re getting to a “yes”.

Here are some of my favorite rejection notes:

“It sounds too similar to the film Boys and Girls - the Freddie Prinze, Jr. film with Claire Forlani. Thanks very much though!”
(Interesting that they would think it’s a problem to have something similar in a town where everything is a remake and no ideas seem to be new. By the way, I’ve never seen that film.)

“We already have a similar project.”
(Again… This one seems to be a standard line.)

“We are not interested in the subject matter at this time.”
(Will you ever be? Let me know. Thanks!)

“I have one teen movie that I am pushing, and it is difficult enough. Good luck. “
(That’s encouraging. So, you’re a producer, right?)

“Thanks, but I'm not the right agent for you. Best of luck in finding the one who is. “
(And that would be because?)

You sound like a very intelligent and accomplished person. Right now I am up to my eyeballs and cannot take anything else on. However, if you come to LA, I will be happy to meet for coffee and talk.
(I am in L.A. When’s it good for you? Hello? Hello?)

“Thank you for submitting, but the film doesn't sound like it would be a big enough budget for us.”
(You got that from my one-sentence logline? Amazing.)

“Thanks for pitching. I can't really visualize the movie from the logline. But thanks for contacting us.”
(Um… Okay. It was only a one-sentence logline, but interesting input. Thanks.)

“It might be helpful to include, in your cover letter, some of the obstacles that the two must overcome, in order to be together. Or include what or whom the antagonist is -- to the letter. I believe you will get more responses if industry folks are sure there is some type of conflict in the script.”
(Great input! Thanks!)

Bottom line is that you can’t take any of this personally and just have to keep pushing on! And I don’t always get rejections. I have sold scripts and have had requests for reads, so it’s just a matter of focusing in on the right producers/agents/managers and eventually you’ll find the right ones.
And be sure to keep a running log of who and where you’ve pitched and to whom you’ve actually sent out your scripts.

Representation

As of today, I represent myself. It’s not a bad deal, and I only take 100% of my earnings. I’ve put it out there that I’m looking, but it’ a tough market if you haven’t already sold a script. Oh, wait, but I have. Still doesn’t seem to matter, and it’s very frustrating because you really need an agent to get into the studios and the larger production companies because they won’t read your materials and give you that dreaded “unsolicited materials” line.

Whatever you do, don’t expect to get an agent after writing your first script. You may need to wait until your 5th or 6th, honestly. They’re just not going to be that good. Just keep writing and maybe get some student filmmaker or an aspiring director to produce it or just go about it yourself like I did.

Your actor friends will think you’re crazy when you say you can’t get an agent or manager. Yeah, well, it’s much easier for an actor. The one reason, that’s completely obvious is that you usually only need one script per movie, and several, if not sometimes hundreds of actors. That’s a no-brainer.

But, again don’t give up. So when querying agents, and managers via snail mail, be sure to include a SASE. If
possible, be sure to use a "forever stamp" on the return envelope because... Wait for it... It may take "forever" to get a reply, if you get one at all. In my experience, I have actually gotten more response when using the US Mail instead of email, and most of them send a nice note on letterhead. Also, it seems like email has on one hand made it easier to query, but then much easier for the recipients to quickly delete your query. I think that for some reason, it's much harder to just toss a mailed letter because of the mystery of what could be inside, and it's somewhat of a rarity these days. I was told how "quaint" my mailing was by one manager.
Copyright 2018 Linda Andersson/The Grid Zom, LLC