Queries to Agents - Has this happened?

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  • Queries to Agents - Has this happened?

    Recently I sent out queries to agents of clients who I believe would be a good fit for the lead role in a movie I wrote. Two have emailed me back and said that my story was appealing and they want to read it, but they want to know if I had financing secured first. One even wanted to know the shooting schedule! I emailed them both back and explained that I wrote the script on spec with the hope of finding talent to attach, and then taking it out to studios. Never heard back from them. Never sent the script. Will agents only read scripts if there is financing already in placed? I thought you could package a project first, then go get the money.

  • #2
    Re: Queries to Agents - Has this happened?

    Agents for talent -- most likely you'll need something financed.

    Usually when an actor/actress is attaching to a project it's being brought to them by a reputable production company or studio which gives it some clout as opposed to just writers coming at them from all angles.

    Usually they'll try to get a director attached first and then go for talent, but it's different for every project.
    Quack.

    Writer on a cable drama.

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    • #3
      Re: Queries to Agents - Has this happened?

      Are you querying writing agents or trying to reach the agents for actors/actresses/directors you want attached to the project? Because I'm with Ducky - it's not usually the talent's job to wrangle funding and make a project happen. That's probably why they're asking if you've done that yet, because it's usually at least somewhat done before the script gets to them.

      When people get talent attached before they have representation, it's usually more of a networking thing - they got it because they know the talent or know someone who knows the talent. Or the script was otherwise passed on to them by someone they already know/trust, not through a random query.

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      • #4
        Re: Queries to Agents - Has this happened?

        Originally posted by ricther View Post
        Recently I sent out queries to agents of clients who I believe would be a good fit for the lead role in a movie I wrote. Two have emailed me back and said that my story was appealing and they want to read it, but they want to know if I had financing secured first. One even wanted to know the shooting schedule! I emailed them both back and explained that I wrote the script on spec with the hope of finding talent to attach, and then taking it out to studios. Never heard back from them. Never sent the script. Will agents only read scripts if there is financing already in placed? I thought you could package a project first, then go get the money.
        Very normal response. Occasionally agents will read a script for a client without financing (I've had it happen a few times), but it's rare. And usually when they say, "Do you have financing?" It's a polite brush-off, because if that's how you're contacting them, you most likely don't.

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        • #5
          Re: Queries to Agents - Has this happened?

          Learning everyday. Thanks for the responses guys. I was just under the impression that if I could get a named actor to read the script, get excited about it, and attach themselves to it, that it would greatly increase the chances of the script selling. Which in theory it would, but that doesn't seem to be working. I'll just have to change my strategy up. Thanks again.

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          • #6
            Re: Queries to Agents - Has this happened?

            Originally posted by ricther View Post
            Learning everyday. Thanks for the responses guys. I was just under the impression that if I could get a named actor to read the script, get excited about it, and attach themselves to it, that it would greatly increase the chances of the script selling. Which in theory it would, but that doesn't seem to be working. I'll just have to change my strategy up. Thanks again.
            That could happen. But there are few actors who can bring financing to a project just with their name. Someone like JLaw can smile at a script and money will fall from the sky. Those are the money in the bank type of actors that financiers drool over.

            An actor coming on board could, more realistically, attract a director. And those two combined could be enough to secure financing.

            Your strategy should be to get a literary agent/manager interested in your script and go from there. It will be hard to do this on your own.

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            • #7
              Re: Queries to Agents - Has this happened?

              Yes. Agents want to get their talent money, or attached to projects w/awesome companies/directors/producers, whatever. If you don't have those, they'll typically tell you to come back when you have $$.

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              • #8
                Re: Queries to Agents - Has this happened?

                Originally posted by slupo View Post

                An actor coming on board could, more realistically, attract a director. And those two combined could be enough to secure financing.
                Although it certainly happens both ways, it's probably more common that a director attaches first, and the director (combined with the script) attaches the actor.

                At the very least, you're not going to attach an actor without giving them director approval.

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                • #9
                  Re: Queries to Agents - Has this happened?

                  Originally posted by CthulhuRises View Post
                  Very normal response. Occasionally agents will read a script for a client without financing (I've had it happen a few times), but it's rare. And usually when they say, "Do you have financing?" It's a polite brush-off, because if that's how you're contacting them, you most likely don't.

                  +1.

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