Managers and Development

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  • #46
    Re: Managers and Development

    Levenger: Are you suggesting ZG??? That has been my gut feeling for a while now, but I have no way of being sure.

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    • #47
      Re: Managers and Development

      Originally posted by jtwg50 View Post
      Levenger: Are you suggesting ZG??? That has been my gut feeling for a while now, but I have no way of being sure.
      You could call and tell them you're an every issue reporter for Script magazine and you're writing an article....

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      • #48
        Re: Managers and Development

        Oh geez that all sounds familiar so I think I know all too well.

        To a certain extent most managers take their writers through the idea development stage. Send me 20 ideas. I like this idea, go write an outline or treatment. Nope, let's send me 15 more, etc.

        I personally hated it. I'm not some idea machine with a zillion high concept ideas floating around in my head. I was able to vomit out some, but how many of those did I feel passionate about? Very few. It's like Scott Frazier once said, "Scripts are your currency, nobody is scrambling to buy treatments or outlines." And after 2.5 years at a top management firm, using my ex-manager's process I had zero currency to show for it. Now that's not to say I didn't write some stuff on my own without his approval, but why write in secret? With a manager you shouldn't have to.

        Anyways, like I said, it sounds all to familiar, but life goes on. That's why I'm taking taking my sweet time to find my next manager. I'm good with the agent so I don't feel totally alone, but I don't want to hop around with reps the rest of my life.
        Quack.

        Writer on a cable drama.

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        • #49
          Re: Managers and Development

          Originally posted by Levenger View Post
          And you all know who it is too.
          95% of them.

          The wacky part of this is - here I am, no manager or agent, just writing scripts, and I have two films shooting this year.

          - Bill
          Free Script Tips:
          http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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          • #50
            Re: Managers and Development

            Iggy: Are you nuts? Everybody knows you don't make enemies in this business if you can avoid it. But you can feel free to call, then report back here.

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            • #51
              Re: Managers and Development

              Originally posted by jtwg50 View Post
              Iggy: Are you nuts? Everybody knows you don't make enemies in this business if you can avoid it. But you can feel free to call, then report back here.
              Okay. I'll say I'm calling on your behalf.

              Would that be nuts enough for you?

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              • #52
                Re: Managers and Development

                Originally posted by jtwg50 View Post
                Iggy: Are you nuts? Everybody knows you don't make enemies in this business if you can avoid it. But you can feel free to call, then report back here.
                Yeah the nicest guys are always the most succesful/powerful. Big Harv never crossed anyone.

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                • #53
                  Re: Managers and Development

                  This sounds like a variation of the "chasing" that Mr. Mazin talked about in one of his and John August's web casts, recently. "Chasing", from what I gathered from the web cast hardly ever works. It works to write stuff you really feel for.

                  Just my two.
                  Free Script Reads and Notes

                  ​
                  ​

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                  • #54
                    Re: Managers and Development

                    My manager once pitched me a biopic idea. I said "eh."

                    That was the end of the conversation.

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                    • #55
                      Re: Managers and Development

                      Levenger: I was referring only to us lowly wanna-be scribes. Producers -- and especially ones like Nig Harv -- are expected to be a$$holes. Different animal, different world. We, on the other hand, are at the low end of the food chain and must behave accordingly.
                      IGGY: I don't think calling on my behalf will do the trick. I suggest you dress up as a delivery boy and go in undercover. If you're charming enough, I'm sure somebody will spill the beans to you.

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                      • #56
                        Re: Managers and Development

                        It's not 360.

                        To me, managers are supposed to have fewer clients than agents, and work with the writers in developing their careers. Careers, not a live or die spec.

                        Giving notes every few months (and only sending out the script if it meets their standards) isn't managing, IMO. Managers are supposed to set up meetings with studios and producers and agents, get you in on assignments and pitches, etc.

                        If a manager signs you but doesn't think you have anything he can show the town... that's a weird position, I think. Why did he sign you? He sees "promise?" But all of his contacts wouldn't see the same promise?

                        I understand the people who say "managers get me to that next level!" But do they? It's one set of eyes. Honestly, if they're not sending your work out and just giving you notes, what good are they doing you? Hire Andrew to give you notes on your drafts, and then you're not tied to a manager who's not representing you.

                        If it were me, I'd get my work to the level where someone actually wants to represent me, not just play spec bingo with me. I went through a few reps at the beginning of my career - every one of them was eager to immediately start sending my stuff around and get me into rooms. They didn't say "great scripts! Now what will your next one be, that I may or may not send out in a year?"

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                        • #57
                          Re: Managers and Development

                          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.

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                          • #58
                            Re: Managers and Development

                            Originally posted by ducky1288 View Post
                            Oh geez that all sounds familiar so I think I know all too well.

                            To a certain extent most managers take their writers through the idea development stage. Send me 20 ideas. I like this idea, go write an outline or treatment. Nope, let's send me 15 more, etc.

                            I personally hated it. I'm not some idea machine with a zillion high concept ideas floating around in my head. I was able to vomit out some, but how many of those did I feel passionate about? Very few. It's like Scott Frazier once said, "Scripts are your currency, nobody is scrambling to buy treatments or outlines." And after 2.5 years at a top management firm, using my ex-manager's process I had zero currency to show for it. Now that's not to say I didn't write some stuff on my own without his approval, but why write in secret? With a manager you shouldn't have to.

                            Anyways, like I said, it sounds all to familiar, but life goes on. That's why I'm taking taking my sweet time to find my next manager. I'm good with the agent so I don't feel totally alone, but I don't want to hop around with reps the rest of my life.

                            Interesting .... I'm wondering if this "trend" and your experience explains why things shifted midstream with my ex manager.

                            He was a one-man deal with good connex. Out of the gate, he got me studio reads, name producer reads, coverage, all on the one script I first queried, the one he read before signing me.

                            He forwarded me all feedback/notes his contacts provided on that script. Then, the same MO for my next two scripts. For someone like me, someone not in LA, it was great insight to learn how my work fared when it landed on someone's desk.

                            Then suddenly the gameplan shifted. I started having the same experience you mention above. He wanted to approve my ideas before I worked on a script. Sometimes he'd email his contacts a logline of a script I'd just started outlining and if their response to the log was lukewarn he kill the idea. Then he suggested mandatories I should build my ideas around (like - "No female leads" "Don't set stories in New York" ).

                            Although I got a recommend as writer on the last script he went wide with(script got a consider), his reason for not setting up meetings was "You need to sell a spec first. Without a sale, setting up newbie writer meetings are a waste of time."

                            There was a distinct change in Phase I and Phase II of my manager experience. I wonder if this is a new trend for newbies landing managers?
                            Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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                            • #59
                              Re: Managers and Development

                              Originally posted by holly View Post
                              i have the feeling your first scripts were really, really special. ready for prime time.
                              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.

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                              • #60
                                Re: Managers and Development

                                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.
                                Chicks Who Script podcast

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