Screenwriters Cafe

To Agent or Not To Agent -

that is the question

But it isn't much of a question. A common one, true, but that's only because writers tend to see things from their perspective rather than from the agent's perspective.

Let's pause to take a reality check on whether or not you actually need an agent as you pursue your goal of becoming a professional screenwriter.

You've written your screenplay. You know it's dynamite. The script may have a few technical flaws, even a few plot glitches, but what the heck? We all know how Hollywood loves to change things anyway. "They" can bring in their own writers and fix it. You'll make that first sale, get a writing credit, and by the second or third sale you figure you'll be calling the shots.

As I say, it's time for a reality check.

An agent lives on ten percent of someone else's work. He works hard enough for that tiny sum, but he wouldn't have any work to do if it wasn't for the writer in the first place. However, the agent has a lot he has to overcome. For instance:

Agents are allowed only so many minutes with any given studio or network executive in a position to option or buy a script. An agent only has so many contacts and those are carefully nurtured. It's been especially difficult in recent years with the onslaught of independent filmmakers cluttering up the highways and byways leading into Tinseltown. Up until that time an agent formed ties with studios. The agent made his rounds in the studios, making friendly with the VP of Development, Directors of Development, President and Vice President of MGM, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Paramount TV and Feature Film divisions. If he was a particularly aggressive agent, or a particularly likeable one, he would hobnob with them on weekends, playing tennis or golf where he could manage an invitation. He knew them and they knew him. He knew his stable of writers. They were a kind of reluctant team.

Today that's all changed.

Executives in a position to buy work change jobs faster than a newborn changes diapers.

So, the agent gets his few minutes to pitch stories from writers he represents. Ask yourself this question: If he has only a few minutes to pitch stories and writers, who will he be pitching: A writer who has sold perhaps a dozen or more scripts in the past, one who has won a couple of Emmys, another who is currently working on a hot TV series but wants to break into feature films - or you, the unknown, untried entity? If he must live on ten percent of someone's earnings, don't you think he's going to pitch what he thinks just might have a fighting chance of being sold? So, face it. Who will he pitch? Sure. The writer he knows. The one who has made a sale or two in the past.

Take a moment to rethink this entire agent situation and look at it from another perspective.

Question: Why do you think so many production companies stipulate that they will only accept screenplays submitted through an agent?

Answer: Because they are bombarded with scripts and they need to limit the flow.

Because they have dealt with those from the "outside" before, the novice, and almost every time it turned out so badly for the production company, they vowed never to do it again.

Because they are constantly threatened with plagiarism suits, and so they want the writer to establish a paper trail (through an agency) before they even read the work.

All of that. And more.

"How then," you ask, scratching your head, "do I get my work in front of anyone who can buy it?"

It's not as difficult as it appears at first blush.

If you truly believe your script is ready for the marketplace then you need to find, not just a good, but a great, pitchmart where you can sit down with someone representing studios and production companies, and tell them your story, one-on-one. There are scam artists who call their events "pitchfests" and "pitchmarts". There are writers who organize such events so that they, themselves, can finally get in front of the right people with their own scripts! There are those who put these things together for the glory of being associated with "names" in the industry, for the feeling of power it gives them to be in the drivers seat of such an affair. And there are those who do it for nothing more than a way to pay their rent or mortgage.

The good news is that there are also first-rate pitchmarts, run by people with experience, who really, honestly care about aspiring writers and who are respected by the industry itself. One of those is Ken Rotcop who holds a pitchmart twice a year. He's not the only one, but he's one of the best. You'll find him on the Internet.

If you pitch your own story to the people you are dying to get to in the first place, you have a shot at being successful. There are no guarantees, but you don't get into the top pitchmarts without people like Rotcop editing your script first. He and those like him take on only a few writers per session, so they get his undivided attention. Again, I'm not Ken's publicist, but I use him as an example because, as Oprah said of him, "Ken's the real thing."

But this isn't about Ken. It's about you. You're probably lamenting that you can't afford to have Ken or anyone else edit your script. And then there are travel expenses, and a motel, and meals, and the cost of the pitch session itself. Impossible! You've got bills to pay! Expenses! Lattes to buy!

If you think you can't afford to pitch your story to the people who can buy it, perhaps you had better rethink the whole idea of being a screenwriter. Do you have any idea what you will spend (over perhaps years) in ink cartridges and time, paper supplies, hard copies and postage? You will spend much more doing it the hard way than you will spend doing it the business-like, sensible way.

If you're shy and don't want to try to sell the story yourself (hence your longing for an agent), an actor can be hired to pitch it for you. Honest.

"But what," you're no doubt saying, "if he doesn't do a good job!"

Seriously, now. An actor? In Hollywood? With an opportunity to tell a dramatic (or funny) story to the very folks who might hire him to be in the movie! You think he isn't going to give it his all? Of course he is. The folks running the pitchmart have a reputation to uphold, too. They choose actors carefully.

The truly amazing part of this is that once a production company makes you an offer, you can call any agent on the planet and ask them to handle the contract for you. Presto! You've got yourself an agent.

"When Dean's insurance company informed me that I was the beneficiary of a small inheritance, I buckled. I don't want his insurance money! I wanted to scream. I want him!

I collapsed into the rocking chair in my office and sobbed until I wrung myself dry. Then I noticed the box of Dean's writing under my desk. In that instant I felt I heard him say, 'That's it, Mom. Go out and help aspiring screenwriters...Tell them what you learned at MGM. You pitched and were pitched to. You saw how deals were made, how it's done from the inside. Tell them how it really is...'"

Excerpt from "Dear Dean...Loves, Mom", by Esther Luttrell. Wisdom Trends, imprint of L&L Dreamspell Publishing.

That's when I made the commitment to do for others what I wish I had done for him. (Esther)

In "Dear Dean...Love, Mom" Esther unravels the mystery of why her son keeps sending people to her who need what she has to offer. Her message must be read by anyone interested in proof that life is never ending." Michael Jamison, metaphysician

It might not be Starbucks, but this is a super place to have a get-together and talk about what's on your mind. Like that great screenplay you're dying to write (or almost croaked writing - and now you don't know what to do with the thing!).

Over in the Workshop we'll talk about the how-to of crafting your screenplay, but this is a fine spot to talk about how to market it, and to explore what's going on in the film industry itself. I'm putting together some terrific networking links in this cafe that I think you'll find of interest.

It's also a good place to encourage one another. Writing is made up of rejection. It's why we lose some of our best talent before they ever get before the public; they just can't take the constant rejection. Yet rejection can mean so many things in Hollywood, and most times it has nothing to do with the merit of your work.

I was once hired by a very famous producer/director who asked me to read through a huge box of scripts and find one that would star a man and a little boy, that he could film in Africa.

Now what if you had just sent this fellow the best written script on the planet? Would I have shown it to him? Nope. Not unless it had leading parts for a man and a little boy, and could be filmed in Africa. I probably glanced right over something that would have been a blockbuster and yet had to send the writer a letter of rejection ("Sorry. Not what we're looking for at the moment. We wish you well in placing it." Sound familiar?)

Bottom line: Educate yourself on the business of being a screenwriter. Folks who could buy your script hate to deal with novice writers. Show them you've done your homework. And then be prepared to face a world of no's before you hit the golden yes.

Go ahead and dream...inspiration, desire, great ideas...they all come from having dreams. But in the long run it would be well to remember that a goal is a dream that's been kicked in the butt. One is passive, one is active. That's why I sign my books to writers, "May all your goals come true".

What is a writer?

There are those who would define the answer by the way in which you respond to their question, "What have you written?" As if they will make the decision as to whether or not you're a writer after they've examined your credentials.

Don't buy into it. It's a trick. A mean, nasty trick designed to make you think you aren't really a writer unless they deem you to be.

Let's get real and not fool ourselves.

You are a writer if you write.

You are a professional writer when you've sold something you've written. If you happen to wait tables to support your habit, you are no less a writer for it.

"Am I not a waiter," you ask?

No, dear soul. You are a writer waiting tables, not a waiter who writes.

Keep a clear vision about your unique worth and don't let anyone talk you out of it.

Let's talk about selling your script!

When we get together again in our cafe, let's talk about the Writers Guild of America, film festivals and screenwriting contests!

Coffee Talk:

Me: An agent asked you for money up-front? To represent you? Are you nuts?

You: I said no.

Me: Then you're not nuts. The agent is nuts, but you're fine.

Conclusion: An agent makes his or her living selling your work (or somebody's work). If they have no faith in their ability to sell either themselves or your work, why in the world would you give them a dime?!

Friend to Friend:

Friend #1: What do you think of a production company that loves my script, but wants me do some rewrites before they'll consider buying it?

Friend #2: If they like your story, but not the writing, they'll buy it from you and bring in their own writer. If they like the story and the writing, but have to go out and find the money or a deal in order to produce it, they will probably just option it from you. But they won't ask for free rewrites.

Conclusion: If they want you to rewrite a script of yours that they like, they will give you development money and you will write your little tokie off for them.

Overheard at the next table:

Writer A: Man, am I excited! I just left a packager's office. They LOVE my script! They're going to put it with some other screenplays and present it to studios and distributors! Isn't that super!

Writer B: I hear money in there somewhere.

Writer A: Well, yeah, they have to evaluate my script, and maybe do a little rewriting. That isn't free.

Writer B: Bottom line it for me.

Writer A: For $15,000 my script will be absolutely professional and will get in front of all the right people.

Writer B: For a couple hundred bucks you can go to the best pitchmarts in town and talk to them yourself.

We're saving this place at the table for some of the most fascinating links any screenwriter would ever want to visit! Stop by again SOON to see who - or what - turns up.

Shoot for the stars! Go for the moon!