Tracking board question -- including for CE

[jtwg50]

Two independent producers are circulating my script pretty widely, to
A-list directors and talent, as well as a number of prodcos and potential financiers. They have done an amazing job of getting the script out in the past two weeks, but have bypassed agents by going directly to the prodcos and talent via their prodcos or third parties that can deliver the script personally after reading it.
At the same time, I do not yet have representation. I am waiting for poisitive feedback from potential buyers (and God willing, an offer) before making an aggressive push for an agent.
My question is whether the script will still end up on a tracking board(s), and if so, how? How soon?
Is there any way to learn if, in fact, it has?
What should they/I do to monitor how it tracks? Is that even possible?

[Goon Squad]

My question is whether the script will still end up on a tracking board(s), and if so, how? How soon?


Very highly unlikely.

[Marine66]

Very highly unlikely.

OK, I'll ask: what are these boards your're talking about?

[Goon Squad]

There should be some long contentious threads on here about tracking boards. A former DD'er and author wrote an article on the subject for Wired magazine. see what a search pulls up. :)

[Marine66]

Tracking boards are just groups of friends who exchange information on scripts and projects. (They share critiques on scripts, ask questions, exchange employment search info, get phone numbers, gossip about what CE is moving where or who's sleeping with whom.)

A tracking board is the Internet's answer to the old-fashion and more cumbersome use of telephones.

There are hundreds of tracking boards - some have many members, some have just a few. Most join by invite only.

They are used by buyers more than sellers.

There is a possibility that your script will end up on a board. If someone reads it and belongs to a particular group, he might exchange the information. But that doesn't mean it will be the talk of the town. That's usually reserved for more highly anticipated scripts - or scripts that get good buzz (which, I hope, is your case).

You don't have to monitor any board to see how the script tracks. You'll learn soon enough when you hear the word "pass" or the sound of cash.

Tracking boards are just a new way of swapping information. There's nothing magical, insidious or all that interesting about them.

Don't let them worry you.


:)

Thanks very much. That's what I thought.

[Goon Squad]

As usual, I stand corrected.

[jtwg50]

As always, I (and many others here) appreciate the amazing amount of time you take to help new writers.
I'm aware of the story of how David H. Steinberg's "Slackers" tracked and the fat payday ($700,000) Jewerl Ross got him at the end of a nerve-wracking roll of the dice (turning down early offers that were less than half that amount but still substantial for a first-timer).
I've also read the "Wired" article referenced by another poster. This is the link: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/hollywood_pr.html.
Incredibly educational. And somewhat scary.
Needless to say, I'll post the results of my go-around with these producers here as soon as we have results. They are very hopeful. Then again, Hollywood is littered with the withered corpses of those who were once hopeful.
I have learned so much here at DD -- I'm grateful to everyone who has helped me, with many things. But especially to you, CE. Half of what I know I've learned from TwoAdverbs, one way or the other. The other half, I learned the hard way.

[jimjimgrande]

i'll say it again - that article just isn't accurate. it's sensationalist. if on a scale of 1-10 - CE's credibility rates a ten, that article gets a zero.

[scrub 9x]

Just read the Wired article. Sure does make for a great story! ;)

[Marine66]

Just read the Wired article. Sure does make for a great story! ;)

If nothing else, he got the parties right. (One of advantages of being a reporter in LA.)

[jtwg50]

JimJim:
I'm glad to hear that. The article scared the **** out of me. I guess like everything else Hollywood, the power of tracking boards to make or break a fledgling career is largely myth.
Thank God.
I, too, trust CE a lot more than Wired to know -- and communicate -- the truth.

[Marine66]

Writers are as popular as their current script. Even if the boards kill a spec sale, a fledgling writer will be given another chance after he writes his next script.


:)

The sound you're hearing is 100 aspiring writers moving closer to the ledge.

[BROUGHCUT]

the Wired article was a fanciful advertising feature for Filmtracker.

majorty of boards track perfunctory information, going out dates, etc.

I expect the tracking "pandemonium" Steinberg refers to in his article was equally perfucntory (and fanciful). Reading between the lines of his write-up all that seems to have materialised was an internecine bidding war at Destination Films? Beware hype. The deal "for deposit only" was actually $200K, with the balance deferred for twelve months--probably to give Destination time to get more deficit finance together from their insurers. It's public knowledge that they had little cash due to the way the business was structured.

It was great for Steinberg but how much did tracking have to do with it? Would a company have been persauded by the "pandemonium" to put down even 200K of their own dosh if so few people were actually bidding? I wouldn't let Steinberg's story give you too much hope, since the demise of Destination the fanciful insurance-backed financing that bankrolled his fat payday is no longer part of the Hollywood equation.

[BROUGHCUT]

ps after you've checked out the dd threads there are plenty of contentious tracking threads or questionable value to a new screenwriter in the dev forum archives. Just search for "tracking":