Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

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  • Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

    In praxis, will a boutique management company have the same negotiating power as a larger company? Or is it naive of me to believe there's a level playing field based on the quality of content? I'm wondering if there's some culture of studios playing hardball with boutique companies where they might not with larger companies. Thanks for any insights.

  • #2
    Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

    not speaking from personal experience but don't get the sense from other writers that it much matters, except perhaps when it comes to packaging projects (though even that may matter more at the agency level than management company). what matters is the manager is passionate about the writer.

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    • #3
      Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

      I was rep'ed at Kaplan/Perrone and I'm now rep'ed at 360 so I have experience in both worlds. Generally speaking, "negotiating power" isn't really a useful metric in terms of judging managers. In theory your agent will be negotiating your deal(s) while your manager should be cultivating your voice, developing ideas with you, and helping to open doors.

      When managers send out specs for writers without agents, they generally send them to producers and agents simultaneously. That's why it's rather rare to see a spec sell without the involvement of an agent.

      Also speaking generally, but from my experience the big difference between being a client at a boutique company and a large one is packaging power vs. personal attention. Which one makes more sense for you depends on what type of writer you are and where you are in your career.

      A
      Write, rite, wright... until you get it RIGHT.

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      • #4
        Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

        Thanks for the input, guys. I wonder then if I should be focused on getting an agent rather than a manager, as lucky as I would be to have either. I realize that's a tall order. But I have a lineup of what I think are commercial features to write, so I'm not looking for the kind of attention on developing property. Ideally, I just want to be a writing troglodyte who emerges once a year to sell my stalagmite harvest, assuming my stalagmite is top shelf.

        There seems to be some nebulous overlap between agents and managers that I can't quite put my finger on. Aside from having more people on your side, and all the networking that can come of it, do you guys feel there's any redundancy in having both an agent and manager?

        asteven50, if it's not too intrusive a question, when you say in general-speak that the packaging power vs personal attention is a difference, is that part of why you moved on to 360?

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        • #5
          Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

          Best to start with a manager, then they help find an agent. I've been at big firms and small firms, and the only thing that matters is your actual person. Big firms tout their packaging ability, but I never saw any of it come to fruition - only my agency did any packaging. It's all about the person repping you, because even at a big firm, it's going to be that person who has to MAKE packaging happen internally through persistence and passion for your work.
          https://twitter.com/DavidCoggeshall
          http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1548597/

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          • #6
            Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

            Originally posted by prolixpen View Post
            ...Ideally, I just want to be a writing troglodyte who emerges once a year to sell my stalagmite harvest...
            Gave me a smirk, and inspired a flashback.

            I once wrote something similar (just wanted to write my specs and sell 'em) and a manager, who still frequents this board, posted a reply that "it doesn't work that way".

            That was, maybe, 2011. I've never forgotten it, as I carry on writing my specs, pitching them, and continue to try to break in.

            That is, I'm so happy for all you folks and hope you knock yourselves out getting into TV writing rooms and doing OWAs for the next Marvel or DC movie. I just wanna have fun with my epics. Eventually, one of 'em will hit paydirt.

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            • #7
              Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

              and the only thing that matters is your actual person.
              Professor, I guess that’s a problem for amateurs like me. Not knowing who’s who means I’ll have to rely on a company brand and hope I land someone who has that experience with building a comprehensive strategy for a big commercial property. But it’s a bit of a closed loop there, I need someone who can wage commercial warfare, but then again what experienced rep wants to read new writers? If I do find an up-and-coming manager who will take new writers, hopefully they’ll have an experienced agent they work with. I don’t really know how else I can go about finding that kind of erudite rep.

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              • #8
                Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

                Gave me a smirk, and inspired a flashback.

                I once wrote something similar (just wanted to write my specs and sell 'em) and a manager, who still frequents this board, posted a reply that "it doesn't work that way".

                That was, maybe, 2011. I've never forgotten it, as I carry on writing my specs, pitching them, and continue to try to break in.

                That is, I'm so happy for all you folks and hope you knock yourselves out getting into TV writing rooms and doing OWAs for the next Marvel or DC movie. I just wanna have fun with my epics. Eventually, one of 'em will hit paydirt.
                A didactic post to remember. But who would hire a new writer like me, anyway, supposing I even get a sale. I don’t think that applies to me yet. And even if I got a sale, wouldn’t I still have to build a brand with at least a couple specs before I attempted to take on jobs?

                That raises a question for me. If assignments are bread and butter for reps, and I imagine that takes a lot of legwork to arrange, where do specs fit in on the scale of work load for reps? Is it more work per client to get assignments or sell specs, assuming the specs are as commercial as the assignments?

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                • #9
                  Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

                  Originally posted by prolixpen View Post
                  A didactic post to remember. But who would hire a new writer like me, anyway, supposing I even get a sale. I don't think that applies to me yet. And even if I got a sale, wouldn't I still have to build a brand with at least a couple specs before I attempted to take on jobs?

                  That raises a question for me. If assignments are bread and butter for reps, and I imagine that takes a lot of legwork to arrange, where do specs fit in on the scale of work load for reps? Is it more work per client to get assignments or sell specs, assuming the specs are as commercial as the assignments?
                  If you write an awesome script and people in Hollywood love it (and especially if it sells), then you'll have a chance at assignments. It doesn't matter whether it's your first script or your twentieth.

                  As for agents... As of this writing, there's not much of a spec market, so I think most lit agents are focused on assignment work, just because that's where the jobs are. That's not to say they're not happy as clams to sell specs-- but I doubt many agents sell more than a script a year (if that), so obviously, that constitutes a small part of their total business.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

                    Originally posted by prolixpen View Post
                    Is it more work per client to get assignments or sell specs, assuming the specs are as commercial as the assignments?
                    The BIG spec sales are where the big percentages are, for managers/agents, so they are far less interested in sales to Indie companies with a $2M budget. Unless, I suppose, the job literally it falls into their laps or is a "hip pocket" job on a slow day.

                    The big sales that get reported and boasted about are to studios and larger minis etc. Union companies all, God bless 'em, which forces new writers to be more entrepreneurial. Looking at it optimistically, it also means that more of our fate is in our hands. It also means tht our jobs are simple: To be more marketing-savvy, more productive, and to be just short of aggressive - or to go absolutely nowhere fast.

                    There are specs being bought, and films being made from them, but they're to the Indie market. They don't have the big budgets, but many also don't have the big creative departments to come up with their own ideas, or to develop them much beyond log lines or treatments from their own personnel.

                    However, keep in mind that some Indies do talk budgets of many millions of dollars. A 2-3% range of one of those would be a tidy little payday for writers - breaking in or otherwise.

                    These latter impressions are mine only, but it's why I focus entirely on querying prodcs, and of course only at the Indie-range. There's no reason at all to waste time querying studios, Bruckheimer, Atlas Entertainment, Alcon Ent, or any of those folks who have "no unsolicited ideas, treatments or screenplays" on their websites.

                    Incidentally, you can't just go by email addresses, since lots of smaller companies are "set up" on the Warner/Universal/Sony "lots" and thus have @warner, @univ or @spe.sony etc. emails.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

                      If you write an awesome script and people in Hollywood love it (and especially if it sells), then you'll have a chance at assignments. It doesn't matter whether it's your first script or your twentieth.
                      That’s kind of good to hear one way, and nerve wracking another way. It would be a nice problem to have though.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

                        The BIG spec sales are where the big percentages are, for managers/agents... The big sales that get reported and boasted about are to studios and larger minis etc. Union companies all
                        This presents a problem for me, then. The spec I have could only be made and distributed by the studios, it really wouldn’t make sense for a rep to send this out to a Merchant-Ivory. So I know it’s that type of a tent pole, but I’m not union. How does that work? Does the Writers Guild cover work-for-hire AND specs, or specifically specs to the exclusion of non-union specs?

                        it's why I focus entirely on querying prodcs, and of course only at the Indie-range. There's no reason at all to waste time querying studios
                        I guess I wouldn’t even know how to begin querying studios. Are there any famous precedents for writers going directly to studios and getting a big sale? Seems like a daunting task.

                        Incidentally, you can't just go by email addresses, since lots of smaller companies are "set up" on the Warner/Universal/Sony "lots" and thus have @warner, @univ or @spe.sony etc. emails.
                        Good to know. That’s the kind of info I’d miss unless someone pointed it out, thanks.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

                          Originally posted by prolixpen View Post
                          This presents a problem for me, then. The spec I have could only be made and distributed by the studios, it really wouldn't make sense for a rep to send this out to a Merchant-Ivory. So I know it's that type of a tent pole, but I'm not union. How does that work? Does the Writers Guild cover work-for-hire AND specs, or specifically specs to the exclusion of non-union specs?

                          I guess I wouldn't even know how to begin querying studios. Are there any famous precedents for writers going directly to studios and getting a big sale? Seems like a daunting task.
                          You don't query studios. Query the production companies that make movies with/for the studios. Still probably lottery-ticket odds, based on what you're describing, but if it's going to happen likely the only way it's going to happen.

                          If the production company is a WGA signatory (which all of the legit prodcos typically are), the union stuff will take care of itself.

                          But if you only have "a" spec, I probably would worry less about all of these reps and sales questions than writing my next spec (and the next one and the next one and the next one . . . ).

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                          • #14
                            Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

                            Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
                            If the production company is a WGA signatory (which all of the legit prodcos typically are), the union stuff will take care of itself.
                            I've actually found this rather frustrating. A few years ago I optioned one script to a legit indie financier and then last year had another script produced by a different major indie financier, starring two very well-known actors... and because each of these financiers have both signatory business entities AND non-signatory business entities, I'm STILL not in the WGA. I know there are worse problems to have, but I thought that getting a movie made with legit producers, great actors, etc would for sure get me in the guild. Seems like the only way is to sell a spec to and/or land an assignment at one of the studios (or mini majors).

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                            • #15
                              Re: Boutique management vs bigger management companies?

                              Originally posted by DLev24 View Post
                              I've actually found this rather frustrating. A few years ago I optioned one script to a legit indie financier and then last year had another script produced by a different major indie financier, starring two very well-known actors... and because each of these financiers have both signatory business entities AND non-signatory business entities, I'm STILL not in the WGA. I know there are worse problems to have, but I thought that getting a movie made with legit producers, great actors, etc would for sure get me in the guild. Seems like the only way is to sell a spec to and/or land an assignment at one of the studios (or mini majors).
                              This is indeed a problem in features. I had the same problem for years until I finally did an episodic gig that, in a roundabout way, got me into the Guild.

                              One thing to keep in mind: companies can't move a project from their sig divisions to their non-sig divisions (they can only move things the other way), so if you get a rewrite job on something that originated with a WGA writer, you'll get points for the rewrite. I know that's easier said than done, but it's something to keep in mind.

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