Have 2 meetings and need advice!

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  • #16
    Re: Have 2 meetings and need advice!

    Ha! I saw this short a few days ago and have already shown it to a number of people. Well done and best of luck.
    QUESTICLES -- It's about balls on a mission.

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    • #17
      Re: Have 2 meetings and need advice!

      Wow, thanks everyone for the great advice and kind words! Glad to hear it's being well-received.

      -dc- I've wondered if Breakfast Surprise is too off-putting for a reel. Maybe I should take it out? As for the sci-fi short, was it more that you just didn't care for it, or that it was out of place on the reel? Like should the reel be strictly comedy?

      That's awesome about animation/vfx, I'll definitely remember to bring it up. I appreciate your confidence in me being able to get commercial work, but I sent basically that reel (minus Living With Jigsaw) to about 200 production companies and got zero response aside from a few "we're not looking for new talent but keep us updated on your stuff" emails. Wonder if I need a few more spec spots or is it the total lack of experience working with clients? Anyway, thanks a ton for your insight!

      Richmond Weems - Thanks for doing that!

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      • #18
        Re: Have 2 meetings and need advice!

        Personally I would leave off "breakfast surprise". It's just too much of one specific gag, IMHO, and if they don't buy it immediately it doesn't work. (not everyone laughs at vomit).

        The sci-fi short seemed out of place. I was having a good laugh, and then, I wasn't sure if this thing was going to be funny or scary...or what. In fact, I was hoping for some comedy because it seemed to be setup for it, but once he started gagging and getting serious with "DO IT!!!" I understood that, OK, this is not a joke or gag.

        When you say you sent that reel to production companies, what do you mean? The way commercials work is you need to join up a place that has a roster of commercial directors- usually an ad agency or post house that specializes in commercial work. Did you try that route? One example would be Digital Domain's Mothership: http://mothership.net/about

        The fact that you know the VFX landscape means you won't waste time in post, so that plus your reel and I think you've got a good shot at getting hired by one of those places!

        Even if you already sent out your reel- now you have something NEW and it's GOOD, so you can send that again with a whole new note about what you want to do. Living with Jigsaw should get you PAYING WORK.

        A good agent can also open those doors for you and setup the meetings that get you past someone just looking at the reel online.

        I see on IMDB Pro that you already have an agent. Have you been clear with him that you're taking meetings w/bigger agents for directing? You might want to make sure you're in the clear first!

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        • #19
          Re: Have 2 meetings and need advice!

          Originally posted by -dc- View Post
          When you say you sent that reel to production companies, what do you mean? The way commercials work is you need to join up a place that has a roster of commercial directors- usually an ad agency or post house that specializes in commercial work. Did you try that route? One example would be Digital Domain's Mothership: http://mothership.net/about

          I see on IMDB Pro that you already have an agent. Have you been clear with him that you're taking meetings w/bigger agents for directing? You might want to make sure you're in the clear first!
          Yeah the places I sent all those reels to were these kinds of companies. They all had rosters and my intent was to get on one. But yeah, maybe it's time to just try again now that I have a new piece.

          As for the agent, I thought the meetings I'm taking are gonna be to find a manager, and that you can have both at the same time, but I guess that's not entirely true...

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          • #20
            Re: Have 2 meetings and need advice!

            chris,
            big congrats.
            if you are meeting someone from fancy agencies for coffee, i wonder if you're meeting assistants or people who don't traditionally take meetings in the building. (ive not heard of it but maybe its what the kids are doing now adays) nothing wrong with that of course, if thats the case. thats how assistants get ahead, and its how a lot of people get repped.

            if you are meeting assistants, id say the strategy is different. regardless, they think you are funny and creative. comedy directors are great, but comedy writer directors (which include a lot of actors) are fantastic. you're creating comedy here, you're not just directing it. own that and own how valuable it is. if you just want to direct, the commercial route is viable (do these places have a commercial division?) but youre funny - rare enough flavor of funny to get these meetings. its not your great direction thats getting them. and conceiving funny is bigger than being a good director.

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            • #21
              Re: Have 2 meetings and need advice!

              Thanks Holly, some interesting points you make for sure. I don't know if these agents are assistants or not. Sending you a pm with more info.

              Appreciate the insight and the kind words!

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              • #22
                Re: Have 2 meetings and need advice!

                Nice short. Very funny. Well done.

                You should definitely try to get a commercial rep for commercial/music video work. They're MUCH more inclined to give first time directors a shot if you have a solid reel. The money, especially in music videos, isn't what it used to be, but there's definitely paid work that I think you could be considered for based on your reel. ODA's in features/TV are super competitive and at this stage in your career (unless you have a brilliant script you can attach yourself to), might be very hard to get.

                Good luck!
                http://www.scriptsandscribes.com/

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                • #23
                  Re: Have 2 meetings and need advice!

                  I first met my current agent for coffee, that's not so weird these days. Whatever floats their boat.

                  Management meetings happened at their offices, which I guess is more normal.

                  Personally, who cares where you meet, the point is someone out there may be able to sell you and guide your career better than you could yourself.

                  I e-mail back and forth and call my reps regularly..sometimes several times a day. The question you want to ask yourself is, are these people really going to work for me or just sign me up and put me in a drawer?

                  You can have an agent and a manager...that's fine. They are separate, and each gets a cut of your fees.

                  What's hard for some people to grasp is that managers and agents work for you, not the other way around. If they don't work for you, and just make deals or never get you a meeting you couldn't get on your own or offer you solid advice about how to win in the meeting they setup, then they serve no purpose.

                  The only reason agents are intimidating is because they don't like to have their time wasted with people who never get paid. If you got a percentage of everyone's pay you hustled for, you probably wouldn't waste your time on total longshots either...makes sense, right? So, don't take the attitude personally- there will be an air of that...it's not directed at you, just every other dingbat walking around begging them to be repped.

                  I hate horror movies. I had never heard of jigsaw. I laughed out loud at your short. You have the right stuff. They wanted to meet you- not the other way around- ball is in your court. Push them around a little and tell them what you want. See if they really want to hustle for you or if they're all talk. It costs you nothing, and when you find the right "hustler" you win...if you want to look at it that way!

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                  • #24
                    Re: Have 2 meetings and need advice!

                    Originally posted by ChrisCapel View Post
                    Hey everyone. I'm very new to these forums and was hoping to get some advice. First off I should say that I'm a director first. That's my real passion. I don't consider myself an amazing writer. Decent at best. I recently put a comedy short on YouTube and have gotten two meetings out of it with 2 agencies that I'll assume from what I've read on these forums are no joke. I don't know how kosher it is to name them, so feel free to send me a PM and I'll tell you which ones. Or if it's okay to list them here just tell me and I'll do so.

                    These will be be my first meetings of this kind, so I'm more than a little nervous about it. (we're meeting for coffee, so I'm guessing that's more informal than a regular meeting at the actual agency or what-not? I'm a noob...) I wrote and directed everything on my reel, but as I said I definitely am wanting to be a director first. So I'm wondering which discipline these agencies are more notorious for repping.

                    I don't have near the 3 spec scripts and 3 in-development standard I've read about on here. I do have one feature script that's in its second draft, but it's a sci-fi drama, not comedy. (which I'm assuming is why they're contacting me. Nearly all of my finished stuff is comedy) And 3 rough treatments.

                    My short-term goal is to direct commercials while working toward doing features some day. Should I explain this or will they be more impressed if I focus on one or the other? I don't want to seem like I don't have clear goals, but I know that directing commercials is something I'm ready to do now.

                    Here's a link to the comedy short that's gotten me this attention:
                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTXfAtckS3g

                    And my directing reel:
                    https://vimeo.com/59468985
                    password: reel

                    I've never directed or wrote anything for money. It's all been my own personal stuff that I've produced out of pocket. So of course I'm excited at the possibility of getting a manager who can help me get that first paid directing gig. Just don't want to blow it. I'm also an animator, worked on nine features at DreamWorks over the last 8 years. Is this something I should bring up? I'm guessing yes because it will let them know that I'm a good candidate for any vfx-heavy work as I understand the pipeline.

                    Should I send them my reel before the meeting? Let them know my goals before the meeting? Should I be ready to pitch my feature script and any treatments? Or will this be more casual do you think? Sorry for the barrage of questions.

                    Thanks a TON in advance for any advice! I really do appreciate it!

                    Your video cracked me up - very funny! Good job!
                    "Running down a dream, that never would come to me." Tom Petty

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                    • #25
                      Re: Have 2 meetings and need advice!

                      Best of luck to you! Great short!
                      @MacBullitt

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