What do these query guidelines mean exactly?

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  • What do these query guidelines mean exactly?

    One of the agencies on the WGA "approved" list has an explicit invitation to query (Wayne Agency). I could use a little help on some of these terms as I'm somewhat new to this game.

    Please begin your submission Query Letter with the following:
    • Treatment/Synopsis
    • Title
    • Genre in which you are submitting, non fiction, biography, or fiction
    • Brief description of your screenplay
    • First 10 Pages
    • Author Information
    • Coverage


    I understand loglines and have written one for the screenplay I intend to send. But what exactly is a "treatment"?

    Is a "brief description of your screenplay" just a logline?

    And what is coverage?

    Thanks, and pardon my ignorance.

  • #2
    Re: What do these query guidelines mean exactly?

    Let me throw out a few thoughts. First of all, I say this as nicely as I can, in the 21 plus year history of our site, we've never listed a deal for them.

    Second, they are primarily a talent agency, as in repping actors & models, more so than a literary agency. Clearly they are noting literary, but not so sure how "strong" or respected they are in industry for that. Looks like many of their clients are actor hyphenates.

    If you want to send them something then in the body text of your email put:

    Title
    Genre
    Short description of your story (A paragraph. But not too long.)
    Any details about you as a writer that are pertinent
    Also any coverage you've had done on your script. (They should do this themselves if they were worth their weight in salt, but whatever.)

    Then attach a synopsis or treatment for your script AND attach the first ten pages of your completed script. That should do the trick.

    Also, just to be clear, a brief description is NOT a logline. It's a brief description. I wrote these recently for pitch documents to a cable network and mine were roughly 10 to 12 lines. That's it.

    And coverage is when a reader or assistant at an agency, management firm, production company, etc. reviews your script by reading it, then writing up a page or so Synopsis of the story line, Comments with their thoughts and opinion on the quality of the script and a Recommendation such as Recommended, Consider or Pass. You should absolutely learn what coverage is. It is a huge part of the business. Generally, it's done by assistants so their bosses don't waste their time reading every script. Readers are gatekeepers and filters to save their bosses time.

    You can see a somewhat simplified example of what coverage looks like on our main site under the EXAMPLES section. Coverage I've done in the past is usually more like 3 to 5 pages depending on what I was covering. But it should give you a basic idea of what it is like.
    Will
    Done Deal Pro
    www.donedealpro.com

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    • #3
      Re: What do these query guidelines mean exactly?

      Thanks for you prompt reply.

      Originally posted by Done Deal Pro View Post
      And coverage is when a reader or assistant at an agency, management firm, production company, etc. reviews your script by reading it, then writing up a page or so Synopsis of the story line, Comments with their thoughts and opinion on the quality of the script and a Recommendation such as Recommended, Consider or Pass.
      Got it, thanks. In my case, nobody's yet read the script, much less done any coverage, so...I guess I just leave that one out. Seems like that's what they would be doing themselves. Is the idea that I go out and pay someone to do that, then include it with my queries?

      Thanks again for your help.

      p.s. I just looked at the Examples--helpful, thanks for pointing me toward those. That "synopsis" seems like an awfully long "plot summary" and I found myself glazing over after the first paragraph. I'll try to be brief with mine.

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      • #4
        Re: What do these query guidelines mean exactly?

        Originally posted by Ed Geis View Post
        I guess I just leave that one out. Seems like that's what they would be doing themselves. Is the idea that I go out and pay someone to do that, then include it with my queries?

        Thanks again for your help.
        Yes. Leave it out.

        And you shouldn't have to pay anyone to do coverage for you when you are submitting it to a company or rep. Not your responsibility. Also, they SHOULD have their own trusted readers doing coverage for them and not relying on whomever you pay. Or the agent should read your script themselves. Otherwise, you could totally fake the coverage and how would they know?

        If someone is asking you to provide coverage on your script, then I'd say steer clear, to be frank. That's not how it should work. For companies I've worked for even if a script from ICM, CAA, etc. came in with attached coverage done by the agencies' readers, I still had to do it myself since I was trusted member of the company's team. Besides who would ever send in "bad" coverage of their own script?

        And most of my synopses can easily be a page & half. When I cover books they can be closer to two & half pages. (I err on the side of detail & info but still they are not as short as that example, most of the time.) Then my comments are a page to a page & half. Coverage is done so your "boss" can decide whether it's worth their time to read OR so they can respond to who sent it and sound like they read it. It's generally the latter.
        Last edited by Done Deal Pro; 06-13-2019, 04:49 AM. Reason: Tweaks
        Will
        Done Deal Pro
        www.donedealpro.com

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: What do these query guidelines mean exactly?

          Thanks for your advice.

          I'll shoot something to them because I've got nothing to lose by doing so, but will temper my expectations.

          Been contacting everyone the WGA signatory list and a few selected production companies, will start reaching out to managers next.

          Maybe I should try some of the competitions--did one last year--but am wary of situations where I'm paying money to submit something. There's definitely some predatory behavior out there to steer clear of.

          While my name is worth zilch right now, I believe what I have to offer has real value, I just need to get some eyeballs on it...

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