Forget The Agent: Tim Earnheart’s Guide to Marketing Your Screenplay
Posted by Tim Earneart on Thursday, July 08, 2010 in (1) Comments • Permalink •
So people have been emailing my lately with another question, “Have you signed with an agent or manager yet?”
My simple answer is…
No, not yet. Let me explain why…
I have had offers. And it’s not like I don’t want an agent or manager, but I think it’s wise to see what all of your options are.
I’ve gotten a lot of traction on 360 and THE EXEC on my own. I spent time and money marketing both of my scripts and getting them out there to production companies on my own. So part of me is hard-pressed to want to sign with an agent or manager who’ll take 10%-15% when I’ve done all the work on getting both of my scripts out there without their help.
Don’t get me wrong, agents and managers have their purposes. But some managers I talk to take 15%; others take 10%; while agents take 10%. And unless you’re with one of the big agencies, you’ll have to get yourself an entertainment lawyer.
So let’s add everything up: agent, manager, lawyer: 25%-30% -- even before the IRS takes their cut. Once the IRS gets theirs, you’re looking at ACTUALLY taking home roughly 30%-40% of the sale price of your script.
That’s a large chunk of change!
So aside from talking with agents and managers, I’m also talking to lawyers (since they only take 5% of the sale price). Because I know I need someone on my side if one of my scripts gets to a point where I need to make a move NOW.
There is an offer on the table for my comedy THE EXEC, which I’m still thinking over. And 360 is in the hands of some very powerful producers in Hollywood at the moment.
I wish I could reveal more, but sadly… I can’t. Hopefully I will be able to very soon!
At one point when I was writing both of my scripts, I think I was like most unproduced writers out there – thinking to myself, “God, if I only had an agent or manager! My worries about selling these scripts would be solved!”
I eventually realized… that isn’t true at all. Just because you’re written the next blockbuster masterpiece, doesn’t mean your job is done! No, no, no, my friends! Your job has just begun.
Let’s break this down…
You’re an unproduced writer. You’ve gotten your “Considers” and “Recommends” on your scripts, and now what do you do without an agent or manager to sell your scripts? You MARKET THEM YOURSELF! Write a killer logline and short synopsis! And then go back and REWRITE them until they’re better! And then REWRITE them again until they read perfectly!
It’s all about marketing your scripts and getting them into the hands of people at the production companies.
So you may be asking yourself, “how”? The simple answer is: the Internet.
There are a couple good sites out there to pitch your scripts to people -- so they get into the right hands.
There’s INKTIP (www.inktip.com). I never had much success with THE EXEC on there, but I’ve heard many people have. Guess it depends on your script… or maybe my pitch sucked.
Then there’s Virtual Pitchfest (www.virtualpitchfest.com). This is where I’ve had the most success. About 40% of the professional people I pitched to responded with a “YES” (i.e., they wanted me to send them my scripts). That was on both THE EXEC and 360!
On Virtual Pitchfest (VPF), you can pitch to who you want to pitch to: producers, managers, or agents. I recommend pitching only to PRODUCERS! I say that because if you have a producer or production company interested in optioning or purchasing your script, agents and managers will come flocking to you.
Now, it’s not cheap to pitch on Virtual Pitchfest. 10 pitches for $90. I usually pitch to 50 producers at a time ($450). It’s a numbers game, my friends. But if you have a good enough logline, and you mention the “Considers” and “Recommends” you’ve received on your script, then a good portion of them will know you’re serious and say “YES!” and request you to email them your script.
And when you pitch on VPF, it will say their credits and what kinds of scripts they’re looking for. So you can be very selective and targeted to who you pitch your scripts to. I love VPF!
I won’t forget it… it was this last Memorial Day weekend. I just sent 360 out to a few production companies who requested it off VPF a couple days earlier. I received an email from one development guy who wanted to talk to me on Memorial Day. Yes – on a holiday!
We chatted for about 2 hours on that Monday. It’s a pretty well-know production company, but they’re in pre-production on another movie at the moment, so 360 is on the back burner for their executives to read until they have some time. But it was the coolest feeling ever!
My point it… good things can come if you market your own material! It doesn’t matter if you don’t have an agent or manager! Go out and do it yourself if you want it bad enough! Forget about those QUERY SERVICES! I’ve never used them. But since anyone can mark an email as SPAM with the click of a mouse, I’m sure that’s where most of those QUERY emails end up: in someone’s junk mail folder.
Remember, producers and production companies can put money in your pocket, not agents or managers. I’m not knocking them, because I’ve gotten to a point where I need one or both!
I just believe there’s a time and place for them. And being a newbie writer, there are other avenues for writers to go down to help open the doors of Hollywood and get their work read besides agents and managers.
Tim currently serves as one of many creative director's at Microsoft. Through his 13 years of experience at various ad agencies, he has wrote, produced, and directed TV commercials and interactive content for a number of Fortune 500 companies that have included complicated green screen video shoots with actors and models to heavy VFX pieces. Tim has created award-winning campaigns for such companies as AT&T, Boeing, Dell, Fox TV, Microsoft, Netflix
