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The single most common question that Scriptshark gets from our writing customers eager to carve their path in the industry is: How do I get an agent? After all, agents and managers are the ones who will get your material read, put your screenplay in the hands of the industry’s all-powerful executives, and who will, ultimately, get you paid and set you on your professional Hollywood road to success. We hear this via email, at our speaking engagements, and during one-on-one writer’s consultations. Everyone wants to know: What is the best way to secure representation?

The first step to securing a reputable, effective Hollywood agent or manager is often the one most overlooked: Writing a strong, original, stand-out screenplay. In today’s market, saturated with hard-working aspiring screenwriters from all over the world, your screenplay has to stand out more than the rest. It can’t be as-good-as. It has to be better. The plot has to be smart, focused and tight. Your scenes, dialogue and characters must be well-thought-out and accordingly refined. And before you start sending it out, it is your responsibility to get your screenplay read by as many fellow writers, professional readers and other industry folk who would be willing to give, or sell, you their time. Don’t look to hear how brilliant your work is, or how close you are to becoming the next Ron Bass. Instead, try to learn what the detractors say, what is not working in the screenplay, and how others perceive your work. We often tell our writers: If you want to hear how talented you are, hand your screenplay to your best friend or your mother. If you want to become a working writer, get as much professional feedback on your screenplay as you can gather without sacrificing your chances with agents, managers and producers.

Therefore, we recommend that you never send a first draft out when seeking representation. Nor should you send out a draft that has only been read by a couple of friends (unless, of course, your friends are Callie Khouri or Akiva Goldsman). Instead, go to your local book store, pick up a screenwriting book, and consider whether you can make changes according to some of the book’s suggestions. Find writing seminars in your local community, and make sure to attend them and gather as many writing tips as you can. Or, better yet, attend a writing class where you can prefect and better your work, whether it be in a local writing school, or via an online writing course. And once you’ve done that, have analyzed, dissected, reconsidered and rewritten your work, turn your script in for coverage (www.scriptshark.com), gather professional feedback, and keep rewriting from there.

When you have sufficiently collected feedback and refined your screenplay until your hair has been torn out and you are blue in the face, you are, hopefully, prepared. Your work is strong and thought-out. Your plot, characters, scenes and themes work. You are prepared for all the spoilers. And you have not left any loose ends. So… What do you do next?

Time to set out on your professional search. Switch hats from WRITER to PROMOTER, and go about securing representation for the material you spent so long perfecting for the marketplace. Our advice: Take your emotions out of it. Go about it methodically and in a business-like fashion. No rejection is personal. And no closed door is there for the simple purpose of making you feel rejected. So it’s up to you to learn how the industry works.

First, you must become familiar with the industry’s landscape. Ask such questions as: What is the difference between an agent and a manager? What are CE’s and DOD’s, and how does one get to them? Such questions, and a lot more, will be addressed in future Scriptshark articles. For this publication, we would like to focus on the topic of acquiring representation.

Not too long ago, the query letter was a standard, acceptable format to contact, and (with any luck) secure, representation for a screenwriter making his way in the entertainment industry. A query letter is a 1-page introduction of the writer and the completed screenplays they currently have available, offering the agent or manager an opportunity to investigate their work. However, in recent years, both in our one-on-one business interactions and in the professional industry panels that we have sat on and moderated, we have learned from agents and managers that query letters, in most cases, no longer work. There are simply too many writers out there sending out too many query letters, and no established manager or agent ever seems to get through them. Additionally, as becoming a writer and sending out a query later does not require any prior experience or success, many agents and managers find that most of the queries that make it to their desks are written by unprepared, first-time novices who fashion themselves professional writers without ever having written a professional-grade screenplay, or honing their work. Therefore, finding a market-ready screenwriter in a pile of hundreds of query letters is not unlike finding a very fine needle in a very colossal haystack. Therefore, unless a manager or an agent is just starting out and focusing on building their client roster, query letters will likely get tossed in the trash as soon as they have been received at their destination.

So how does an unknown writer get an agent? It is important to remember that all of Hollywood’s successful writers were unknown writers once upon a time. So if they can do it, as long as you have a stand-out screenplay, there is no reason why you can’t.

Screenwriting Contests have become a popular avenue for agents and managers to discover new talent. Though a screenwriting contest may receive hundreds or even thousand of sub-par submissions from all over the world, the cream does rise to the top, and the list of finalists in any industry-oriented contest is sure to pique an agent’s or manager’s interest. Industry contests often produce success stories. For example, Nicole Jones, winner of Scriptshark’s 2005 Insider Competition, has recently signed for representation with industry powerhouse Metropolitan Talent Agency, who is in the process of setting up her prize-winning project, PRISON OF THE DAMNED, with a prominent production company. Additionally, one of the finalists for the Nashville Screenwriting Competition was signed by successful manager Colin O’Reilly, who, following a few pivotal rewrites, will begin sending the finalist screenplay out to industry executives. Therefore, it is up to you to identify the contest that are most attractive to you (we recommend contests that offer not only cash prizes, but rather direct exposure to the entertainment industry), set your annual contest budget, and enter your screenplay systematically into contests throughout the year. If, in time, you realize that your script is never placing as a finalist, you may have to revisit your work, and consider a rewrite. But we don’t recommend that you do so until you have submitted to at least six competition. A good source for locating comprehensive lists of annual screenwriting competitions are moviebytes.com (http://moviebytes.com/) and donedeal.com (http://www.scriptsales.com/).

Another, and perhaps the single most trusted, way in which agents and managers locate new talent is referrals. Referrals can come from a myriad of insider industry sources: An agent’s assistant. A reader. A producer with whom a manager is friendly. Scriptshark.com, a professional scouting service, which has built its stellar reputation with the industry’s leading agents and managers by identifying promising new talent. Because you never know where a referral source may emerge from, it is important that you keep your eyes open, and are always prepared. You may run into someone who could read your work and know someone to refer you to at your local coffee shop. Equally, you could meet them at a writing conference, or on an online writer’s forum. Therefore, it is important that you remain inquisitive, positive, but never become too pushy. Don’t tout yourself as the greatest undiscovered writer in Hollywood. Trust that your work, and your charm, will open doors by speaking for themselves, whether it be when securing the support of a prominent agent’s assistant you just met, or engaging scriptshark.com for its scouting services. Remember: The people who will be convincing their bosses that you are a writer worth meeting, or using their established connections to tout your work, need to know that you are a level-headed business professional, who will be easy to work with and pleasant to be around, on top of being a stellar writer with a strong body of work. Therefore, it is important to remain professional at every step along the way.

The bottom line is that, despite the elimination of such avenues as the once-trusted query letter, if your script is good enough, and you are diligent and consistent about submitting your screenplay to contests, as well as networking, receiving professional coverage, perfecting your screenplay until it qualifies for scouting services, and always looking to better your work, you will get noticed. Remember, not everyone will see your vision or love your screenplays. All it takes is finding the one agent or manager who will see the potential in your work, and start working with you at making all of your Hollywood dreams happen. All you have to do now is find them.

Good luck!

If you have any questions relating to this article, please email them to scriptshark@filmtracker.com, and we will do our best to address them.

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