Because by doing so you will be finding your way through the maze. I could go on and on, but it’s more important that you figure the rest out yourself. You also need to be as creative as possible. Everything you do may seem like a waste of time-until it isn’t. You may spend weeks, months or years with no apparent result. It will cost you a bit, but a few hundred dollars spent to make a few good contacts is well worth it. Find an events calendar and show up at the events. Go to conventions like American Film Market. Go to coffee shops where writers hang out. The bottom line is that you have to be somewhere that industry people or their associates are and communicate. Anything industry related may get you new contacts. Writing seminars, directing seminars, distribution seminars, WGA events, DGA events, PGA events, ComicCon, etc. Go to industry seminars and make contacts. Give your credits, awards, education or whatever you’ve got that will let them know you have, or are associated with, talent. If the person you're after isn’t on LinkedIn it doesn’t matter. You communicate with the networks that they are connected to.įor example, there’s LinkedIn.
Not directly with agents or studios or above-the-line talent. And besides, they don’t need your script they’ve got agents with more scripts that they can read.īut, like that wily rat who finds his way through the maze to the cheese, it is possible to find your way through the movie maze and get the cheese. Now they have layers of barriers: security guards, secretaries, assistants, bodyguards and an occasional moat (with and without alligators). It used to be that you could literally walk up to these people. These include directors, actors, distributors and their entertainment attorneys. There are other people who don’t buy scripts but who can help you sell them. Other than major studios, there are really only two categories of buyers: production companies and independent producers. So I would advise you not to try to get an agent. Trying to get an agent is really no different than trying to sell your script.
You have to do something to get an agent’s attention and have them want to risk the time and trouble of developing your career. (Don’t you just love Catch-22’s?) Or if not sell a script, then win a contest. Truth is, in most cases you have to sell a script to get an agent. Major studios buy scripts-but usually from major writers at major agencies. All you have to do is communicate and persist.Ĭommunicate to whom? To the people who buy scripts. (We probably shouldn’t assume that, because 9 out of 10 scripts aren’t, but what the hell, let’s think positively.) There are only two things you must have to succeed: a good script and persistence. Selling scripts is hard, but it’s not impossible. There are probably tens of thousands of good scripts slowly being eaten by dust mites all over the world. Everyone has a script-hairdressers, gardeners, pool boys, bartenders, Hells Angels, prostitutes-even writers.