Who's in control?

[PaulHackett]

Recently I got an e-mail from my agent following my query about a strategy for my next two specs. Ironically, his strategy was "no strategy"- he wants to focus on one project at a time and put the other on the back burner. Fair enough.

But the thing that jumped out at me is that he did not ask for my input. I often feel that he does not give me choices- he'll put his foot down and (often) makes decisions that I have no say in.

It's nice to have a confident agent, of course, and ultimately I think we all dream of focusing on the creative part and having someone who "gets" where we are trying to go and what we are all about.

But at this point in my career (the semi-pro point) I feel like we should be working together much more closely. And that is not happening.

Am I expecting too much of him?

[Aspirant]

That's a tough situation -- perhaps not atypical of agents, but others would know better than I. I guess I'd feel better about the unilateral decision-making if the agent had a proven track record and I knew he was doing a lot to promote the script on the front burner. But I still think there ought to be at least a plan for the next two specs. Are they finished? Has he read them? It could be that he's just not very excited about them, but if so, he should tell you. If you have a manager, I'd ask him to talk to the agent and find out what's going on.

[Juno Styles]

Originally Posted by PaulHackett

But the thing that jumped out at me is that he did not ask for my input. I often feel that he does not give me choices- he'll put his foot down and (often) makes decisions that I have no say in.

Is he cool enough that you could maybe communicate this to him so how?

[PaulHackett]

I suppose I could communicate it to him somehow.

But his response will be "trust me".

That's what it has been in the past when I have wriggled around impatiently...

[JeffLowell]

I'm with your agent on the specifics. If they're going out with a spec, they want all focus on that spec. They want to think it's going to sell, you're going to be busy rewriting it and triple booked with assignments based off the heat from that spec.

If your problem is that he's not doing enough time explaining your strategy, then yeah, it's worth saying "could you just explain to me why you want to do it that way so I get it?"

He should be willing to take a minute and have that conversation.

[joe9alt]

And he's absolutely right to tell you to trust him, Paul.

At the end of the day you're a writer/director and he's an agent. You're not an agent. Sure, you should voice your opinion as to the direction of your career and what you'd like to see happen. I do that all the time with my reps. I email them about jobs I read about and want to be put up for and whatever else. I email them about my ideas for my latest spec but I trust that they'll put me up for the jobs that are best for me right now and I trust that they'll do their best to execute a smart sales strategy to sell the spec. I'm still voicing my opinion but I'm also still trusting them to steer the ship from a business standpoint.

If I didn't trust them, I would look to move on.

The bigger thing is THIS IS HARD, man.

The stage you're at is arguably the hardest or maybe EVERY stage just feels like the hardest when you're at it. I remember being unrepped and mailing off query letters. I remember sending e-queries on New Year's Day because I didn't think I'd have a lot of competition in a rep's inbox (I didn't!). And I remember feeling like I would never get repped.

Well, I did, and now I'm at this stage - a similar stage you're at - where I'm so close I can taste it. It's torturous almost.

My only saving grace is the writing. I channel all of the frustration and confusion and resentment and entitlement and angst onto the page.

That's the one thing you do truly control....the work.

And make no mistake, in a screenwriter's life, the work means hope.

As long as you're writing, there's always hope, ya know?

I'll tell you a couple more things. I met a pro writer a few years ago and at the time I was completely fed up with my (now former) manager. I confided in this pro writer and he said something to me that still resonates. He said, "we ALL think our reps don't work hard enough."

I get what he was saying. It's just the nature of how we think. Say your rep sold the spec you're talking about well I guarantee after the dinners and after the bubbly is popped and the months go by you're gonna be onto the next thing and wondering why he isn't doing this or that to make that next thing happen, ya know? That mentality is what propels people like us to achieve but that mentality can also make our lives pretty maddening at times, too.

[Johnny Boy]

GREAT post, Joe --

[Loudog89]

Originally Posted by Johnny Boy

GREAT post, Joe --

Agreed.

[PaulHackett]

Dude. Lovely post. You should write for a living.

;-)

Unfortunately my personality is that of a micro-manager. So trusting my agent is hard to begin with. And there have been many moments in the past few years, working with him, where my instincts have proven correct. And his hasn't.

Examples:

- A genre that I wanted to write in, which I believe would make a comeback, did. My rep's initial advice? Don't write that genre, nobody wants to read that right now.

- The very first spec that got my noticed and won some awards has been used as a sample, but was never sent to talent. Guess what? A script recently just sold for a TON of money, and it is very, very similar in tone, period and genre to mine. And yet I was always told by my agent that my script was "beautiful but uncommercial".

- Sometimes he just gets things wrong. He'll tell me an executive at a company read something and loved it when they haven't- which makes me look stupid when I then refer to that incident.

The list goes on.

Honestly guys. If he wasn't at a big agency, I would consider dropping him. But right now it would be akin to career suicide because I know my agency (or my agent) is... vindictive. Once you're out, you're out.

Originally Posted by joe9alt

And he's absolutely right to tell you to trust him, Paul.

At the end of the day you're a writer/director and he's an agent. You're not an agent. Sure, you should voice your opinion as to the direction of your career and what you'd like to see happen. I do that all the time with my reps. I email them about jobs I read about and want to be put up for and whatever else. I email them about my ideas for my latest spec but I trust that they'll put me up for the jobs that are best for me right now and I trust that they'll do their best to execute a smart sales strategy to sell the spec. I'm still voicing my opinion but I'm also still trusting them to steer the ship from a business standpoint.

If I didn't trust them, I would look to move on.

The bigger thing is THIS IS HARD, man.

The stage you're at is arguably the hardest or maybe EVERY stage just feels like the hardest when you're at it. I remember being unrepped and mailing off query letters. I remember sending e-queries on New Year's Day because I didn't think I'd have a lot of competition in a rep's inbox (I didn't!). And I remember feeling like I would never get repped.

Well, I did, and now I'm at this stage - a similar stage you're at - where I'm so close I can taste it. It's torturous almost.

My only saving grace is the writing. I channel all of the frustration and confusion and resentment and entitlement and angst onto the page.

That's the one thing you do truly control....the work.

And make no mistake, in a screenwriter's life, the work means hope.

As long as you're writing, there's always hope, ya know?

I'll tell you a couple more things. I met a pro writer a few years ago and at the time I was completely fed up with my (now former) manager. I confided in this pro writer and he said something to me that still resonates. He said, "we ALL think our reps don't work hard enough."

I get what he was saying. It's just the nature of how we think. Say your rep sold the spec you're talking about well I guarantee after the dinners and after the bubbly is popped and the months go by you're gonna be onto the next thing and wondering why he isn't doing this or that to make that next thing happen, ya know? That mentality is what propels people like us to achieve but that mentality can also make our lives pretty maddening at times, too.

[joe9alt]

Does he get it right more often than he gets it wrong?