Not responding back after reading script

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  • #16
    Re: Not responding back after reading script

    Originally posted by Bono View Post
    Even my own reps don't always respond to my emails and often have gotten mad for sending too many. They are all so busy and until you make them money, they aren't really always there for you like we hope they would be. Got to email them for specific purpose.

    I emailed my new rep so much less than the old ones -- i learned and still he said I should email him less (on the phone). In a nice way, but that's the way it is.

    So I'm just saying -- if reps barely have time for their current clients -- how much time do they have to respond to non clients?

    And I've had people pass on my work and be super cool about it -- didn't help my career though, so it's still a "No".
    If my rep didn't respond to an email or got pissed for sending too many...I'd end that relationship rather quickly.

    I do remember you have a few good manager stories. 😆

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    • #17
      Re: Not responding back after reading script

      I would agree if it didn't happen to me and my writing partner with a few reps. It's all just me trying to give the reality of being an unsold writer with a rep.

      Point is -- what SHOULD BE doesn't line up with WHAT IS. I don't know a writer who doesn't have plenty of these shitty stories. If you want to be treated with respect all the time -- oh I can't think of any business. They all suck! Life sucks!

      Did I cheer everyone up???

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      • #18
        Re: Not responding back after reading script

        Originally posted by Satriales View Post
        If my rep didn't respond to an email or got pissed for sending too many...I'd end that relationship rather quickly.

        I do remember you have a few good manager stories. 😆
        Who is working for who, right?
        "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

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        • #19
          Re: Not responding back after reading script

          Originally posted by CthulhuRises View Post
          I'll follow-up every 3-5 weeks or so until I get a response (okay, maybe I'll stop around the 10th follow-up).

          Have you really followed up with people 10 times, or even close to that number?

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          • #20
            Re: Not responding back after reading script

            It's crazy right? I say don't follow up at all as my results have been 1% good news and it wasn't paid good news... he claims he got paid work and I was going to joke "does he mean they paid him 10 bucks to stop emailing?"

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            • #21
              Re: Not responding back after reading script

              Originally posted by Satriales View Post
              If my rep didn't respond to an email or got pissed for sending too many...I'd end that relationship rather quickly.

              I do remember you have a few good manager stories. 😆
              I'm learning that reps work hardest for you when you require the least amount of work. Less is more. Even when talking to your own reps. I know it sounds weird and wrong and not the way it should be -- but name something in life that is the way it should be? That list is really small.

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              • #22
                Re: Not responding back after reading script

                Originally posted by NoNeckJoe View Post
                Have you really followed up with people 10 times, or even close to that number?

                Yes. And one of those people (just checked, 8 follow-ups), thanked me, said they lost the script, asked me to re-send. Ended up getting a general there and later optioned a different script to them.

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                • #23
                  Re: Not responding back after reading script

                  I sincerely happy you got an option -- so you're saying 8 follow ups, they read script, wanted to meet, that lead to general and you mentioned another spec and they optioned that? However -- and people are probably too busy too care -- but if I was a busy producert/rep and I noticed same person keep emailing me to follow up on something I passed for -- I may -- block that email.

                  So that's my worry for general advice to the everyone reading this. I would advise if you're going to follow up -- do it ONCE -- maybe 2-3 weeks after sending spec and if you don't hear back drop it. And always thank them when they pass.

                  I would not advise following up more than once -- let alone 8 times as I think it's more likely to get your email blocked and then you lose out on that contact the next project you had.

                  If I was using that strategy I think I'd update my email every spec to make sure I'm not blocked. Again -- people are probably too busy to care or notice.

                  In general I say you send the script away and you let it go as it's just a time suck following up and a hope suck. Good news will find you. Good luck everyone.

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                  • #24
                    Re: Not responding back after reading script

                    Originally posted by Bono View Post

                    I would not advise following up more than once -- let alone 8 times as I think it's more likely to get your email blocked and then you lose out on that contact the next project you had.
                    In general, I am of the opinion "send it, and forget it." But I will say that I have followed up with some top managers (in the past) that have responded at each query stating that they were in production and will get to it as soon as possible. They did not ignore me and apologized for the delay at each query, so there are some reps that care a lot.

                    I think it just depends. If they requested it, a lot of them would respond with sorry so swamped, didn't have time, working on it.

                    I guess it's a "feel" thing. It there's no response after the follow up, I'd say let it go. But if they do respond give them another 4-6 weeks before you follow up. I don't believe there are any "rules" that cover all situations.
                    "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

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                    • #25
                      Re: Not responding back after reading script

                      Sure no rules. But the last 12 years has taught me -- they always get back to me when interested. Usually quickly. It's that simple to me.

                      I have yet to hear the story -- I followed up and then they signed me and sold my spec. So until I hear that, I stand by my experience.

                      But yes -- we all have to find our own path. It's not like what I say or you say will change what others do. Good luck to all. I hope I'm proven wrong.

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                      • #26
                        Re: Not responding back after reading script

                        Originally posted by Bono View Post
                        Sure no rules. But the last 12 years has taught me -- they always get back to me when interested. Usually quickly. It's that simple to me.

                        I have yet to hear the story -- I followed up and then they signed me and sold my spec. So until I hear that, I stand by my experience.

                        But yes -- we all have to find our own path. It's not like what I say or you say will change what others do. Good luck to all. I hope I'm proven wrong.
                        Alternate data point: at the very beginning of my career, I was in conversation with a management company that had read a script of mine and was flirting with signing me. The hitch was, they wanted me to do a rewrite of the script, and I felt (correctly, I still think) that the script just didn't need it-- or at least, that doing their notes wouldn't improve it.

                        In the process, they'd asked to read something else, and I sent them another script and heard crickets for **four months**... followed by a 3-page email from a manager there apologizing for taking so long and begging to sign me. By then, I'd already signed somewhere else (and what does it say about someone who takes four months to read a script?)-- but my point is, there can be alternatives to quick yeses and long nos.

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                        • #27
                          Re: Not responding back after reading script

                          Originally posted by AnyOtherName View Post
                          The hitch was, they wanted me to do a rewrite of the script, and I felt (correctly, I still think) that the script just didn't need it-- or at least, that doing their notes wouldn't improve it.
                          What was the shop you eventually signed with's take on that script, i.e., same thoughts or more surgical notes?

                          (about to query a feature spec to managers and have similar trepidations about how it will land)

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                          • #28
                            Re: Not responding back after reading script

                            Originally posted by Bono View Post
                            I sincerely happy you got an option -- so you're saying 8 follow ups, they read script, wanted to meet, that lead to general and you mentioned another spec and they optioned that? However -- and people are probably too busy too care -- but if I was a busy producert/rep and I noticed same person keep emailing me to follow up on something I passed for -- I may -- block that email.

                            So that's my worry for general advice to the everyone reading this. I would advise if you're going to follow up -- do it ONCE -- maybe 2-3 weeks after sending spec and if you don't hear back drop it. And always thank them when they pass.

                            I would not advise following up more than once -- let alone 8 times as I think it's more likely to get your email blocked and then you lose out on that contact the next project you had.

                            If I was using that strategy I think I'd update my email every spec to make sure I'm not blocked. Again -- people are probably too busy to care or notice.

                            In general I say you send the script away and you let it go as it's just a time suck following up and a hope suck. Good news will find you. Good luck everyone.

                            Yes, that's what I'm saying. I'm not sure why that's so incredulous to you. Happens all the time. They lose scripts, forget they received it, fired the last assistant/intern who was covering it, etc. I actually vehemently disagree with the advice you're posting. No one blocks an e-mail address. That doesn't happen. I've never once had anyone block my e-mail. They either ignore it, delete it, or tell you to stop following-up. I honestly find it mind-boggling that you're saying you'd rather lose out of on a 5 figure option than potentially lose out on an e-mail to query a new script to. This is actually part of a larger problem. Writers being so ****ing scared of stepping on toes or making someone mad. It's why we get **** 0 dollar options. It's why the ATA ****s us. It's why we work on spec. Writers tend to be so ****ing scared of daring to bother the almighty "gatekeepers." This industry relies on writers. Don't forget that. If someone requests a script and wants to read it, then I'm going to keep following-up until I find out if they read it. Common courtesy is a two way street. What has this strategy cost me? Maybe annoyed a few people. What has it gained me? A living screenwriter career. The pros and cons of this one are pretty simple...

                            *Edited to add, I just read the bold part. What? You're saying that instead of simply telling them you passed...so you know, they'd actually know and stop e-mailing you...you'd block their address? How would they know you passed if you didn't tell them? Again, silence does not always mean they read it and didn't like it. That's just not reality.

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                            • #29
                              Re: Not responding back after reading script

                              My experience is different. I used to be just like you -- fearless. It didn't work out and I got smacked down many times. I'm glad it worked out for you. I think most writers would be better off not following up that much and I stand by it. Just because you found it worked for you -- again I'm glad for all writers and 5 figure options -- I think to tell every writer to push hard may not work out for them.

                              So my opinion comes from what happened to me and yours from what happened to you -- doesn't mean our experience means I'm right or you're right. That's the problem with giving general advice. It's just advice. I'm not wrong. You're not right. And vice versa.

                              I'm still waiting on my $2000 for my 1 year option from a big time producer that never got paid even when I got repped off the same script and it went wide.

                              Good luck to all.

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                              • #30
                                Re: Not responding back after reading script

                                Originally posted by Bono View Post
                                My experience is different. I used to be just like you -- fearless. It didn't work out and I got smacked down many times. I'm glad it worked out for you. I think most writers would be better off not following up that much and I stand by it. Just because you found it worked for you -- again I'm glad for all writers and 5 figure options -- I think to tell every writer to push hard may not work out for them.

                                So my opinion comes from what happened to me and yours from what happened to you -- doesn't mean our experience means I'm right or you're right. That's the problem with giving general advice. It's just advice. I'm not wrong. You're not right. And vice versa.

                                I'm still waiting on my $2000 for my 1 year option from a big time producer that never got paid even when I got repped off the same script and it went wide.

                                Good luck to all.

                                Absolutely, you're entitled to your opinion and opinions are often based on anecdotal experience. I simply wanted to be clear on my stance being different, because candidly, whether intentional or not, I felt a bit of, "huh, that's crazy and not right," coming my way from you.



                                How long have you been waiting for the 2K? I'd have your lawyer hound him. Ridiculous how everything is on their time frame. My favorite is when a producer tells me they need a re-write ASAP! Literally "need" it in a week. Then they don't do **** with it for months.

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