A question from Courtney:

Scott,

This question came to mind after reading your series, “How I write a script.”

I’m nearing my own Part 10.

But after that…I’m completely lost.

My question: What happens at Part 11?

I’ve read that query letters are becoming a thing of the past.

I’ve seen tons of agency web sites that require a reference of some sort before they will step within 10 feet of a newbie’s SP.

And…there are not really a ton of options in Memphis.

The smell of a freshly completed SP is wonderful…but I’m hoping one day for another smell…the sweet smell of success!

This was also asked by M. Sigurd Hall:

How about the ever present, it’s finished, where do you go for exposure now?

I actually responded to a similar query about a year ago in this post. Here is that response:

It’s probably fair to say that there is some layer of this subtext in nearly all the questions I receive about screenwriting. Basically “Now that I’ve written it, how do I go about selling it?”

There are hundreds of agents, managers, and producers in Hwood. In theory, there should be no problem. Submit the script directly to them. Unfortunately most of the major to mid-level even lower level Hwood players will not accept “unsolicited material.”

What is unsolicited material? Any script that isn’t represented by an agent, manager, or entertainment lawyer.

“But how can an agent or manager represent my script… if they won’t accept unsolicited material in the first place?”

That’s the Catch-22. Technically you have to be represented to be read… and you can’t be read unless you’re represented.

[The reasons why the "unsolicited material" caveat exists are multiple. Avoid nuisance lawsuits, manage the flow of material. But the main reason is this: Potential reps, producers, or studios don't want to get inundated with crap scripts. Scripts that are repped by an agent, manager, or entertainment lawyer will have been through one at least one layer of professional review, thereby winnowing out (presumably) the crappiest of crap scripts.]

There are ways around the system. For example, if you know someone… who knows someone… who knows someone… who works in the entertainment business… sometimes that person will agree to read your script. And if they like your script, they can slip it to someone.. who knows someone… who knows someone… who works on the script sales side of things in Hwood.

In other words, your basic Six Degrees of Separation approach.

Another approach is more of a direct strategy. Create a list of mid-level agencies and managers. Draft a letter of inquiry about your script. Then blanket these outfits with your letter. Most of your letters will likely go unanswered. But some of them will generate a response. “We don’t accept unsolicited material.” To be expected.

However if at the bottom of that letter, there is an actual name of an actual person who works at the agency or management firm, typically an assistant, then you’ve created a crack in the Hwood Fortress.

You call the agency or management company and ask for the assistant by name. This may take several messages to get them to return your call. But if you’re persistent enough… and important note – very nice — eventually they will call you back.

When they do, you explain — very nicely — how you wrote them a letter of inquiry and you thank them for being kind enough to respond. This is where your skills as a human being come in handy. You try to warm up this person. Engage them in any way you can. Just keep them talking. Keep the chat brief. Don’t be pushy. But make sure you get across three points:

1. You think you have written a great script.

2. You’re willing to sign a waiver-release form.

3. Is there anybody there – a new agent, a young manager, an assistant – who would be wiling to read your script?

They’ll probably say no. You say thanks, then hang up. And call them back — very nicely — in another week. Then another week… and another week.

Each time you ask — very nicely — if there’s any one who would be willing to read your script.

Eventually you’ll get one person to agree. And if you can get just one person to say yes… one person who responds positively to your persistence and ‘very nice-itude’… then you’ve cracked the wall.

From this point on, any other agent, manager, or lawyer you call, you can honestly say, “Hey, Such-And-Such Management Company is reading my script.Could I send it to you?”

The fact that somebody else within the Hwood nexus is already reading your script makes it easier for this new person with whom you’re talking to say yes, too.

And suddenly, your script is being read at a half-dozen agencies.

So to review, for a complete outsider there is the “Six Degrees of Separation” route: Find somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who works in The Biz. And there is the “Weasel Way,” where you ‘weasel’ your way in by — very nicely — working Hwood assistants.

But as always, the key is this: Write a great script.

I still think that advice holds true. The simple fact is that no matter how busy people are in Hwood, how flooded with material, how many legal and bureaucratic barriers they construct to keep unsolicited scripts out, all those people are still looking for a great script. So if you write a great query letter… if you follow up with some assistants and handle them with care… there is a decent chance you’ll get your script read.

I’ll bet GITS readers will have all sorts of advice. Thanks in advance to those who do take the time to comment.

Let me end with this point: If you are not submitting a good script, you’re not helping your cause. You may have written 4, 5, 6, or more spec scripts, and you figure, “Well, by golly, it’s about time to try to find an agent,” simply based on the fact that you’ve written a lot of scripts. But if you go out with a sub-par screenplay, all that will do is result in rejection letters and worse, a negative impression upon your introduction to potential representatives.

Make sure the script you submit is a good script.

Better yet, make it a great script.