HOW TO GET AN AGENT OR MANAGER

Somehow, a myth has perpetuated among aspiring writers that getting an agent or a manager is an impossible task.  Some believe you can’t get representation unless you sell a script, and you can’t sell a script without representation.

 This is true.  Pretty much a rule.  So you’re shit out a luck.

However, there are ways to break past this filtering paradox and actually find someone to represent you.  I’m going to list them for you, from the least effective tactic to the most effective.

1)            THE QUERY LETTER

Ah, the query letter.  Anyone who thinks he or she can find an agent by sending unsolicited letters has already given up on a writing career before it’s even started.  It’s basically the sign of someone who lacks creativity, originality or determination—not exactly the attributes you want to communicate as a writer.

There is a slim chance you’ll get a response, but I’m telling you now it’s probably not from someone you actually want representing you.  Those who respond are probably as much out of Hollywood as you.

The protocol from any reputable agency or manager—and this goes for production companies as well—will fall into two categories. 

--Send back a standard letter stating “we do not accept unsolicited material.

--Send the letter to the shredder.

So don’t bother writing query letters.  You’re just killing trees.

2)            CONTESTS

Contests offer a better chance getting connected to agents, managers, and sometimes producers.  Here’s the trick, though: you actually have to win

See, no one’s going to read your sorry-ass script if it can’t even place… in a contest of amateurs.  It’s like the NFL Draft—there’s a reason professional teams don’t pick kids who led their junior college team to a 4-6 record.  They want the best.

Now, that doesn’t mean you should spend your life savings and start paying the entry fee to every little screenwriting contest you find on the internet.  Industry professionals are more than aware there are hundreds of contests out there, and they only pay attention to the top few.  So save your money and submit to the likes of the Nicholl Fellowships and the Disney Fellowships, and don’t bother with the ones organized by the guy who only accepts cash payments.

3)            MOVE TO LOS ANGELES

What, you thought you could find an agent without having to leave your mother’s basement in the Ozarks?  Sorry, Huckleberry, but your chances of landing an agent via your poorly crafted query etched in crayon or placing 5^th in Jim Bob’s Scriptplay Competition isn’t going to cut it. 

By far the best way of getting someone to read your script is to move to Los Angeles and start meeting people who work in the industry. 

(But if moving to a land of year-round sunshine and beautiful women isn’t appealing, a viable Plan B is always moving to New York.  Enjoy your Januarys and Augusts.)

The nucleus of the American Film Industry is centered in and around Los Angeles.  If you’re really serious about a career in film, in whatever respect that is, then you need to move where they make movies (I say that figuratively, since movies aren’t actually shot in Los Angeles anymore). 

And you have to start connecting with people face to face.  The best way to get an agent, manager or producer to read your script is to meet one, or meet someone willing to forward your material. 

So start networking.

No, not online.  Log off Facebook, take a shower, put on some real clothes, and go out and meet people.  I know this can be hard for the emotionally-stunted, verbally-challenged introvert (which most aspiring screenwriters are), but you’re never going to get ahead in this business if you can’t conduct a conversation with a stranger.  This industry is all about relationships.  It’s about impressions.  You need to be able to engage a stranger in conversation at a party, and engage in conversation with a stranger in a meeting. 

So attend a screenwriting event.  Go to a party.  Find a meet-up function.  Do whatever it takes to expand your social circle and make new friends.  Then become friends with their friends.  It doesn’t take long in Los Angeles before you find yourself meeting people who are somehow involved in the movie business here.  Seriously, try throwing a rock out here and not hitting someone in the movie business.

Once you have connections, you can start asking favors and getting people to read you script—agents, managers and producers.  Anybody and everybody you meet connected with the entertainment industry.

Except me.  I’ve already read my share of bad scripts, thank you very much.