|
||||||||||
|
Subscribe to the Absolute Write Newsletter and get the Agents! Agents! Agents! report free! Click here.
|
Win a 1-year subscription to Writer's Digest by subscribing to Absolute Markets-- all paying markets for your writing. Click here. |
|
| |||||||||||||
|
|
Getting Your Screenplay Read By Mary J. Schirmer
A reader in Los Angeles wrote to ask if I could help him get his screenplay read by independent filmmakers, and even though I've mentioned some of these sites before in previous columns, it bears repeating for new readers and those who feel ready to market their screenplays.
Places online to find calls for scripts
Hollywoodlitsales.com, click on Scripts Wanted in the left column
Mandy.com, click on Production Jobs, click on Worldwide, click on Screenwriters
My Entertainment WORLD, click on Writers (bottom right, under Upcoming Employment Opportunities)
NewEnglandFilm.com, click on Classified, click on Screenplays
Craigslist, click on Los Angeles (and then on New York and whatever other cities interest you, maybe Toronto), click on three different headings: TV/film/video jobs, writing/editing jobs, and writing gigs
The Screenwriters Market, click on Producers
This ought to keep you busy for a while. Ha, ha. Believe it or not, I check these sites every day.
Some screenwriting newsletters include calls for scripts, too.
Creative Screenwriting, click on free magazine
InkTip.com, click on free newsletter
No matter what the notice says, do not send a completed script. Send a query. Some of these people might be out to swipe your creative hard work.
Be especially careful if they don't give a company name or a person's name and want you to respond to an anonymous e-mail address. They might be big companies trying to keep from being swamped, but then again big companies don't need to troll websites for scripts. They have them coming out of their ears.
I also think that sometimes these are kids looking for somebody else to do their screenwriting homework.
Most of the people who post calls for scripts are small independent filmmakers who want to make low budget or no budget films. They might not have any money to pay you upfront, and they might offer you a backend deal.
Don't write anything on assignment, and don't let them shoot your already-written screenplay without a written contract. Trust me on that one.
If you don't know what a screenwriting contract should include, check out Columns 25 and 26 on Wordplay for starters. Don't sign a contract without consulting a lawyer. Think of somebody in your family, or maybe a friend or neighbor, who could help you. All lawyers know about contracts.
Screenplay readings
Look for places in Los Angeles (or where you live) where screenplay readings are offered. Sometimes theater groups do these as fundraisers, but gosh, you never know who's going to be in the cast or in the audience in a city like Los Angeles
If you can't find one, begin a reading series in your neck of the woods. Again, in Los Angeles and New York, actors want opportunities to strut their stuff. You don't have to rehearse. They like to practice cold reading. Believe it or not, people will come to be the audience. Maybe you could use a church, school meeting room, community college drama dept., etc.
Sending query letters to production companies
Some top producers accept queries from screenwriters. Many want the query to come from an agent, manager, God, or anybody but the writer. But don't let that discourage you. Producers and studios buy screenplays every day.
So your job is to write the best query letter you can. If you don't know how, check out Screenwriter Web, Lenore Wright's site.
Check these places for addresses of production companies.
Hollywoodlitsales Address Book, click on each of the categories
Everyone Who's Anyone in Adult Trade Publishing and Tinseltown Too, click on each of the categories.
Go to a public or university library reference department, and look up listings for screenplays in the latest Writer's Market book.
If you live in Los Angeles, your public library might carry the latest Hollywood Creative Directory. The last time I was there, the library on Hollywood Boulevard had it. If so, pack your lunch and take a notebook and copy, copy, copy names and e-mail addresses.
Or if you can afford it (about $60), buy one.
On getting an agent
Don't worry about this just yet. When you don't "need" an agent any more because you've done all the work to market your own screenplay, then an agent will find you.
In the meantime, know that even if you land an agent or a manager, you'll still have to work your tail off to sell your screenplay. The agent or manager isn't going to do it for you, but a rep like this might be able to open some otherwise closed doors.
The most important part of this process is that you've completed your screenplay and you feel ready to show it. Many writers never reach this point, and I'm proud of you. Good work.
|
Sponsored links 
Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer! How to find a book publisher |
Text on this site Copyright © 1998-2007
Absolute Write, all rights reserved.
|
