![]() If you win or place you can get some important forward movement.Īfter college I made some noise when my script placed in the top 1% of the semi-finalists in the Academy’s prestigious Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship as a top 20 screenplay. Also enter the top screenwriting contests to see if your talent and screenplay can really compete. Get out there, hustle and network - and always keep writing. During your journey as a screenwriter, never wait for someone to discover you. Get some HEAT! Have agents saying, “Why don’t I know about this writer? How can I read your script?” Now, that’s not easy to do, but you should aspire to do your best work and get noticed. So, you may ask, “ If I’m a writer just starting out, how can I get someone to represent me if I don’t have credits?” I suggest you make some noise. I know people who are not writers, but they’re working a screenplay because, “it’s fun.” I suppose it is fun if you don’t rely on writing to pay your bills… or you’re not trying to carve out a career in this highly competitive business. Everyone either has a script or is writing a script in Los Angeles. When there are 50,000 projects registered with the Writers Guild every year and only half of the WGA professional writers report any income in any given year, you have good reason to feel this way. I know sometimes it can feel like you’re in the middle of the ocean waving a flashlight trying to get noticed. You make them care by writing an excellent screenplay that showcases your talent and they have to take notice. As if it’s a given that just because you put words on 100 pages of paper and call it a screenplay someone cares. I find many aspirants finish their first draft of their first script and believe they are ready to go out and “find” an agent. It takes experience writing and everything that involves from the good and successful to the bad and failure. If you get lucky with your first script, you still will not have the experience of dealing with rewrites and the delicate dance needed to please executives and producers to push the project through the development process. The reality? Most aspiring screenwriters are not ready for an agent because they are not writing at the professional level needed to compete in a crowded marketplace. It may seem harsh, but remember Hollywood is a harsh business. So, is an established agent or manager going to risk taking you as a client and hoping they can break a new writer? The agency needs their agents to make money and if you do not work, they will likely drop you as a client. Selling a script or landing a job is a numbers game at best when only 70 spec screenplays sold in 2016 according to the Scoggins Report. Sadly today there are fewer movies being made and even fewer writing jobs available to a growing pool of talent. ![]() I can understand their point of view from a business perspective, because there is no shortage of talented writers or good scripts in Hollywood. Today everyone wants a sure thing and we know that does not exist, but they continue to believe it’s out there - somewhere. It’s just too much work in the current marketplace of Hollywood. Unless your spec has garnered a bidding war between the studios, few reps want to “break” a new writer. If you only have one script and it’s not spectacular, it won’t cut it in today’s marketplace.Įstablished agents and managers want you to already be an established writer who has credits and is working. ![]() Of course, talent is always a given and then it depends on the type of material you create. ![]() If you want to play in the big leagues, you have to rise to the occasion with your writing ability and professionalism. It does help if you’re always professional in your actions and attitude. As with anything in life, it’s mostly timing and luck. It’s like the age-old question, “What is the meaning of life?” Well, not quite, but there is no perfect answer about how to find representation as a screenwriter. ![]()
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