Managers and Development

[Hamboogul]

Originally Posted by holly

i really agree with all of that JL.
but two things - i have the feeling your first scripts were really, really special. ready for prime time. should they all be? of course. are they all? no. a lot of relationships do start out as varying degrees of potential.

second, this board makes me more aware than ever how much harder it is to break in now than it was ten, fifteen, years ago. not only has the market completely contracted, but i feel like there are more aspiring screenwriters than ever. more college programs. more on line programs. so many more people who think they can do it.

so many more writers means yes, a few more special ones, but a whole crapload more of ones with potential. for just a few spots.

of course its not good management or management at all. feels kindof inevitable, tho.

For what it's worth, I thought I was ready for prime time years ago. But I see how much of a better writer that I am today than 4, 6, 8 years ago. And I think most people think that they are ready (script-wise, attitude-wise) way before they actually are.

I don't know if it's harder now than it was in the past. People will always think that because it's hard for them.

Keep writing. Send queries once a year on your best script of that year. Push yourself with each new script you tackle. Enter the Nicholl. Push yourself even harder. Get feedback from writers. Give feedback to writers.

Eventually you will break or break in.

[iggy]

Originally Posted by emily blake

My manager is not one of these "spec farm" people, so I know it's not Circle of Confusion. But, my experience is relevant to the discussion....

After I started taking meetings based on the script that got me signed, Manager and I started discussing what to do next. Idea after idea got rejected. I knew why he wanted me to write with certain elements, and I actually agreed with him, but finding the perfect idea that we both loved was really frustrating. It went on for months.

Eventually I realized I was trying harder to find projects he would love than projects I wanted to write.

So I told him exactly that: that I have a lot of ideas you might like, but I don't want to write them. Then I gave him a list of six projects I felt strongly about, whether or not they met his criteria. Then I handed him a treatment for the project on that list I felt most closely met the criteria we had established and expressed how passionate I was about the idea.

That's really all I had to do. I had to combine passion with commercial criteria. He read my treatment, he approved my idea. I don't know if it was just me honestly telling him how I felt and pitching the idea with enthusiasm, or if he would have approved the idea anyway.

But I think there is something to be said for being honest with your rep, because they are not psychic, and most of them just want you to do your best work so they can build your career.

You had a script place in the trackingb contest. Did your manager send that script out to production companies? If so, how many?

Thanks.

[iggy]

Originally Posted by JeffLowell

I doubt they were. My 24th and 25th, however, got me some passionate reps. I'm glad someone didn't take me on my first or fifth script and have me write their way for years.

If a script is a finalist in a prestigious contest like Nicholl or trackingb, how many production companies/studios should a rep send that script out to?

I know contest winning scripts are sometimes described as the best of the worst, but some, such as Armored, actually get made.

Thanks.

[Geoff Alexander]

Originally Posted by iggy

If a script is a finalist in a prestigious contest like Nicholl or trackingb, how many production companies/studios should a rep send that script out to?

I know contest winning scripts are sometimes described as the best of the worst, but some, such as Armored, actually get made.

Thanks.

There's no rule on this. It's entirely contingent upon the material; a studio comedy would go out to a lot more companies than an indie drama.

[emily blake]

Originally Posted by iggy

You had a script place in the trackingb contest. Did your manager send that script out to production companies? If so, how many?

Thanks.

Yes. I have no idea how many; I only know that when someone likes it, I get a meeting. I can't really talk about how the script is doing, but it's doing.

[Hamboogul]

Most reps probably do a soft leak to a few trusted producers. If those producers react positively, the reps will send them to more people. If those producers react negatively, they will act like they never sent it out.

[JeffLowell]

Agree with SBScript.

[UnequalProductions]

Originally Posted by mikejc

See, you are talking just one person working with one person.

What Lowell is talking about is a firm wide policy that basically means the chances are very small for any one writer repped by the firm getting their script out.

If your manager told you, "Hey, we have a lot of writers here and we're going to pick out maybe the work of one writer out of twenty who comes up with the biggest, best idea," would you feel like putting time into that?

You're talking about something very different. Working one on one with a manager to develop a script to be taken out. Maybe having a few duds along the way but basically working solely toward taking one of YOUR scripts out.

Not putting you in competition with all the other writers in the firm.

I know that my manager isn't working with just me. She probably has a dozen clients with produced credits and who knows how many people hip pocketed like my writing partner and I. She gives great notes and understands the market far better than we do, so we're happy focus on the projects she thinks has the most potential and make the rewrites she suggests. I see nothing wrong with her doing the same thing for twenty other writers. How can you tell who will pan out? Who will be useless.

If you only want to write that one great story you have in your heart, I can understand why this might seem like a horrible situation. My writing partner and I pride ourselves on the fact that we have an endless supply of ideas and are ready to adapt to what could be more commercial. Sure we have the ideas we're holding on to until we get to a position where we'd be able to have more control, but right now our main focus is going from aspiring writers to paid writers.

[mikejc]

Originally Posted by UnequalProductions

I know that my manager isn't working with just me. She probably has a dozen clients with produced credits and who knows how many people hip pocketed like my writing partner and I. She gives great notes and understands the market far better than we do, so we're happy focus on the projects she thinks has the most potential and make the rewrites she suggests. I see nothing wrong with her doing the same thing for twenty other writers. How can you tell who will pan out? Who will be useless.

If you only want to write that one great story you have in your heart, I can understand why this might seem like a horrible situation. My writing partner and I pride ourselves on the fact that we have an endless supply of ideas and are ready to adapt to what could be more commercial. Sure we have the ideas we're holding on to until we get to a position where we'd be able to have more control, but right now our main focus is going from aspiring writers to paid writers.

You need to re-read what Lowell wrote describing what was happening at the firm he mentioned. it is completely different than what you are talking about above.

What he describes is more like a production company getting in a bunch of, essentially, interns, working for free, hoping that one of them turns up something good. Without telling them that's how it is.

[Aspirant]

Originally Posted by mikejc

You need to re-read what Lowell wrote describing what was happening at the firm he mentioned. it is completely different than what you are talking about above.

What he describes is more like a production company getting in a bunch of, essentially, interns, working for free, hoping that one of them turns up something good. Without telling them that's how it is.

Agreed. Entirely different situations.

I think I know the management company Jeff was referring to, based on similar things I've heard. If I'm right, it's not ZG; it's a more prominent company. Whoever it is, I think it's a bad practice and an unfortunate situation for writers there who don't achieve immediate success.