Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

    Question I'm hoping some veterans (or more veteran than me at least) can help answer. This past year I had a tv spec script that was a semifinalist at both Austin and Final Draft Big Break. Is it worth sending query letters to agents/managers regarding this?

    I only ask because the consensus via the panels at Austin seemed to be that managers and agents NEVER respond to queries. Seriously. Basically everyone said "don't find us, we'll find you." Seemed a bit odd to me, especially since I'm not an actor which seems to put me at a serious disadvantage. I know this makes me sound cheap but if no one gets meetings via queries - why waste the $$$ on postage? Hey I'm a true writer - broke!

    In the meantime I'm still writing new pilots/specs but would love a shot at getting a rep for staffing season. Thanks in advance.

  • #2
    Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

    Listen, in my experience "don't find us, we'll find you" is kind of bullshit. Be proactive. You can save yourself time by putting yourself out there. If you don't enter contests, if you don't query, you don't go out and make friends no one will ever read you.

    In my opinion, YES, query with your semi finalists scripts -- especially if you had one place in multiple contests.
    Twitter @CameronAlxander

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

      I've always been of the mindset that while there are a ton of closed doors in Hollywood for new writers, we shouldn't be focusing on those, but instead focusing on the ones that are open to us. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing to shoot high, but it's unrealistic to think that some A-list director or top producer is going to give the time of day to unknown and unproduced writers. it's possible, but a hard hill to climb. For every one "overnight sensation" story, there are hundreds of other writers who started from the bottom, built credibility for themselves doing low budget and no budget projects, prove their worth, rose in the ranks. It's the more realistic approach, IMO

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

        Don't listen to them. Query away. Though I do have to ask, is the script a spec of an existing show? Agents and managers want to read original material, so query a pilot and just mention you were a semi-finalist in Austin. I wouldn't mention Final Draft, because, really, no one will care.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

          Only my point of view, but I wouldn't bother querying on the basis of a semi-final placement in a past competition. Enter Nicholl instead. If your screenplay is good enough to be worth sending out, it will probably advance and you will get people asking to read it. If it isn't doesn't advance in Nicholl, it probably isn't good enough to get you an agent. Moreover it's best to have several good screenplays completed before you query. And if you have several good screenplays and enter them in Nicholl, you'd be astonishingly unlucky if one of them didn't advance.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

            The OP wrote a TV script. Nicholl is features.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

              What do you have to lose with querying?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

                I'd mention Final Draft - I was a finalist a year or two ago and got requests out of it. I think Franklin said it's the second or third biggest contest after the Nicholls, in terms of entry numbers

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

                  the pro: semifinals at AFF is definitely worth highlighting in a query. that level carries a certain level of validation for your craft (imo)

                  the con: a spec of an existing show is less enticing now than it would have been at one time. the action for unrepped TV writers is more focused on original pilots. so the potential response to your query might not be as strong as if you had semi'd with a pilot

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

                    Originally posted by CColoredClown View Post
                    What do you have to lose with querying?
                    Well, as the OP said, money. Also, it may lose you the chance to query that agent/manager again. Perhaps worst of all, you may succeed in getting a not very useful agent/manager when you could have got a really good one if you'd waited a little while longer.

                    Docgonzo - yes, you're right, I'd forgotten the OP said TV script. So substitute for Nicholl whatever is the best comp for TV scripts.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

                      Originally posted by justin View Post
                      Well, as the OP said, money. Also, it may lose you the chance to query that agent/manager again. Perhaps worst of all, you may succeed in getting a not very useful agent/manager when you could have got a really good one if you'd waited a little while longer.

                      Docgonzo - yes, you're right, I'd forgotten the OP said TV script. So substitute for Nicholl whatever is the best comp for TV scripts.
                      1.Querying doesn't cost money. Email's free the last time I checked.
                      2. How do you lose a chance to query an agent/manager again? If the person doesn't like the query, the most likely thing that'll happen is that they don't respond. I've queried a ton of managers who didn't respond over one concept, but offered to read another after a completely different query a few months later.
                      3. You don't have to go with the first person who offers to represent you.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

                        Originally posted by CColoredClown View Post
                        1.Querying doesn't cost money. Email's free the last time I checked.
                        2. How do you lose a chance to query an agent/manager again? If the person doesn't like the query, the most likely thing that'll happen is that they don't respond. I've queried a ton of managers who didn't respond over one concept, but offered to read another after a completely different query a few months later.
                        3. You don't have to go with the first person who offers to represent you.
                        Well, one can take the 'chuck everything against the wall and see if anything sticks' approach, I suppose. But I'd sooner spend my time trying to write something people want to buy than constantly querying a ton of managers. Until you've written things that are either saleable or at least prove your writing skills, you don't need an agent or a manager.

                        It was the OP who referred to the cost of querying. Since I don't see the point in sending out tons of queries, I don't know who accepts e-mail and who wants a letter. I entirely accept that, after your multiple tons of queries, you are the expert in this matter. I do know, however, that some agents refuse to consider people who keep querying them. And one can see why. If you're querying third tier agents and managers, it's fair enough to turn them down for having three heads, but shitty to do so because they're third tier. So, if a one-headed third tier manager accepts you, you'll either be stuck with them or stuck with being a ****.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

                          Originally posted by justin View Post
                          If it isn't doesn't advance in Nicholl, it probably isn't good enough to get you an agent.
                          Tons of successful, working writers have mentioned not advancing in the Nicholl. It's not a be-all-end-all. It's a contest. Inherently subjective. And if you do place? Query. Definitely. Be proactive.

                          Originally posted by justin View Post
                          Moreover it's best to have several good screenplays completed before you query.
                          Wrong. You need only one great script to begin a career. If you have more than one great script? Even better. But not a necessity.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Semifinalist - Worthy Querying?

                            Originally posted by justin View Post
                            Well, one can take the 'chuck everything against the wall and see if anything sticks' approach, I suppose. But I'd sooner spend my time trying to write something people want to buy than constantly querying a ton of managers. Until you've written things that are either saleable or at least prove your writing skills, you don't need an agent or a manager.

                            It was the OP who referred to the cost of querying. Since I don't see the point in sending out tons of queries, I don't know who accepts e-mail and who wants a letter. I entirely accept that, after your multiple tons of queries, you are the expert in this matter. I do know, however, that some agents refuse to consider people who keep querying them. And one can see why. If you're querying third tier agents and managers, it's fair enough to turn them down for having three heads, but shitty to do so because they're third tier. So, if a one-headed third tier manager accepts you, you'll either be stuck with them or stuck with being a ****.
                            I guess you could spend eternity writing something people "want to buy." Also, selling isn't just the end game in writing, your rep could also land you an assignment, but whatever.

                            You say you don't query, but don't know who accepts emails or letters, so you're also saying you don't know what you're talking about and just here spouting advice for the sake of doing so. Fair enough.
                            I also never said anything about turning down certain tiers of managers. There's a lot of stories here and elsewhere of writers getting repped by one of the "Big 3" and still getting treated like crap, but again, whatever.

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X