A question from Hamilton:
Hey Scott,Hope all is well. That great news about the successful launch of your
screenwriting class!I had a question regarding the business side, that is: If you are querying an agent to get representation, but you want to use a pseudonym on the material itself, do you query the agent with your pseudonym? Or, just inform the agent after, that you do not want to use your real name. I take it most likely will be the latter.
Thanks a lot
Yes, I would advise the latter. A writer-representative relationship has to be based on a certain amount of trust. Hard to do if you’re using a fake name. Besides do you really want to have to remind yourself before every phone call or meeting that you are your pseudonym, not yourself?
A more important question – and one I’m sure any future potential rep will ask you – is why you prefer to use a pseudonym rather than your real name. It’s not necessarily a negative, witness the success of Lemony Snicket aka Daniel Handler who has used his pseudonym to create an even more intriguing story about the author than had he just gone around as D. Handler.
My point is make sure you have a sound reason for using a pseudonym. As long as you do and it makes sense from a business standpoint as determined by you and your reps, then you should be okay.
Here’s a personal story involving pseudonyms: When I co-wrote the spec script K-9, my writing partner was actually working at 20th Century Fox. That’s why the script went into their creative group before any other studio. To protect his anonymity and not influence the readers, the script went in like this: “Written by Andrew Charles & Scott Myers”. The actual pseudonym was my idea: “Andrew” for one restaurant my partner owned in Ventura called “Andy’s,” and “Charles” for another restaurant he owned called “Charlies.”
In fact, you see this type of thing at least a few times per year where a studio exec, agent, or entertainment lawyer will write a spec script and submit it with a pseudonym, again so as not to influence readers one way or the other. In fact, here’s a case in point, the recent sale [10/29/2010] of a spec script called “Carnavale”:
After spending 17 years at CAA and the last three at ICM, David Styne is leaving the agency business to focus on a new career as a screenwriter. This comes after he made a sale on the first (and only) script he has ever written.—-
Styne, who majored in English at UCLA and is the grandson of legendary songwriter Jule Styne, wrote the script on a legal pad last December. He put it in proper form after his wife bought him the computer program Final Draft for Christmas. He put a fake name on it–A. Tuttenroux–and after trying to get a Brazilian actor client on Steindorff’s series pilot Rio, the agent mentioned that he had a young client who wrote a script in that locale. The more Styne talked about his own affection for the place based on the trip he took there, Steindorff and his Stone Village colleague Dylan Russell became convinced that Styne wasn’t telling him everything.
Diablo Cody is another screenwriter who uses a pseudonym (originally Brook Busey). Any other pseudonymous screenwriters out there?
If you have a question about screenwriting, feel free to post it in comments, and I’ll be happy to provide whatever shred of insight I can.
UPDATE: Okay, let’s say you were going to use a pseudonym. What might it be? Off the top of my head and being a lifelong Mets fan, I’ll go with “Mookie Kranepool.” How about you?
John Hughes wrote several scripts as Edmund Dantes (of The Count of Monte Cristo).
Mike, that's absolutely right, several projects with that pseudonym: All the Beethoven movies, Maid in Manhattan, Drillbit Taylor.
Actor Wentworth Miller wrote two spec scripts (don't know if they sold) using the pseudonym Ted Foulke. He wanted his writing to stand on its own.
If I am ever lucky enough to sell anything, I plan on using a pseudonym. There's already someone famous with my name. Famous in the craft world, but I don't want ANY competition when I get Googled.
I wonder if using a pseudonym more in line with the genre you are writing would actually help the sale? An action script written by Max Powers sounds better than an action script written by Suzy Stewart.
I'll have to brainstorm some awesome pseudonyms, just in case.
John August used to be John Meise.
Here's his article on why he changed it. http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/should-i-change-my-name
Not technically a pseudonym, his name change was for a lot of the reasons people decide to use a pseudonym.
I think pen names are great, especially in this world of intense marketing/blogs/tweeting/etc.. You need something that looks good in print, even if you are writing movies.
Funny how I forgot this, but I actually took my name off a movie I for which I received co-writing credit. Used a pseudonym. No, I won't tell you what it is.
Interesting note: There is a certain financial threshold in terms of salary whereby a writer can not take their name off a movie. I actually wanted to take my name off Trojan War, but couldn't.
"Rosie Claverton" is my pseudonym.
My current day job expects a certain kind of "company loyalty". If someone stuck my name into Google and saw that I might/hope to/will leave in the future, that would not work well for my finances.
Not exactly high drama or noble writer – just, unfortunately, practical.
Scott, love it.
I simply wanted to chime in out in the open that I'm happy the class is rolling. Good stuff!
I've given serious consideration to using a man's name, especially on thriller/action scripts. It was done in Science Fiction (most notably by ALice Sheldon who wrote as James Tiptree with great success, when no one wanted to publish SF adventures written by a woman) to get past the perception that boys didn't want to buy stories by a woman.
@Laura: I can't give you specifics because they don't jump to mind, but I do recall at least a few spec scripts that have gone around, some of which I believe have sold, where the writer, a woman, used either a male name or their initials (I.M. Psuedonym) to dissuade readers from thinking about them as a female who wrote the script — pretty much the same rationale as you.
Hi Scott,
My name is Thiago Ribeiro Santana, my parents are brazillian and I've been thinking about using the pseudonym "Thiago Risant"a mix of my middle and last name.
The reasons are: 1- I don't want people asking me if I'm related to Santana, the guitar player; 2- My name is very common in Brazil, so I'm afraid of being confused with someone else and don't want that to harm my career.
What do you think about it? Should I use a pseudonym or should I stick with my real name?
Thank you in advance!