Low ranking manager vs top dog

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  • Low ranking manager vs top dog

    So, let's say you get absolutely no interest save a low on the totem pole manager #99,000. And you got 0 interest from well known management. companies. What would you do?

    Go with the guy who clearly can't do much or rue your luck in not attracting better representation? Because let's face it, only the top ones can do something for you...rather than being managed by a dude who also reps a party clown.

  • #2
    Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

    Take neither because having a manager who can't do anything for you is as bad as anyone who won't.

    Having said that there is a difference in a young manager who is just starting out but is willing to hustle and network and will eventually build their client list up -- everyone has to start somewhere.
    Quack.

    Writer on a cable drama.

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    • #3
      Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

      Good point, ducky. Is it a red flag if the "young manager" who shows interest has only 1-2 clients? Or is it better to look for someone having at least 6?

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      • #4
        Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

        Probably better to focus on what that manager has done for their clients rather than how many they've got.

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        • #5
          Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

          Originally posted by ManbunShiva View Post
          So, let's say you get absolutely no interest save a low on the totem pole manager #99,000. And you got 0 interest from well known management. companies. What would you do?

          Go with the guy who clearly can't do much or rue your luck in not attracting better representation? Because let's face it, only the top ones can do something for you...rather than being managed by a dude who also reps a party clown.
          If this guy or woman can get your work out to places you can't get your work to, how is that bad? I wouldn't sign a contract, but why not try it? How can it hurt you? And if they can't get you meetings or traction on anything in 6 months, then move on.

          I took what I thought was a down the ladder manager because no one else would bite. He said he believed in me and pretty quickly he got me one meeting with a working production company exec that has (through things mushrooming out from that original meeting and the people I met from that company who moved other places) turned into 6 produced films, countless great rewrite jobs, optioned specs, and as of a week ago a series sale to a cable network.

          You can roll your eyes all you want, but in this industry you cannot and will not start at the top. Look at each rung on your ladder up as an education. I'm not saying this relationship will work, but it does give you a CV that says you've already been repped, that someone liked what you do enough to rep you. That makes it easier to attract another one and move up another rung.

          You wait for a "top dog" manager and you might be waiting for years.

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          • #6
            Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

            A rep's place on the totem pole is almost irrelevant.

            In fact, you are probably better off with the lowly guy who is excited for you and hustling his ass off than you are with the big dog who has clients who make 10x what you make, for whom you are an afterthought.

            Yeah, sometimes those young guys won't be any good at their job. I have a friend who is with a manager who seems unwilling or unable to do anything for him - the guy used to work in development or something, and doesn't really seem to have much of a plan. However, he recently partnered up with a more experienced manager so my friend is giving him a chance to learn the ropes.

            One of the classic mistakes young writers make is going for the big-name rep over the rep who seems super excited about them. I know dozens of writers who have made this mistake. I made it.

            Obviously, pay attention to what a young, inexperienced manager is or isn't doing - but the truth is you have to do this with a bigger manager, too, to make sure they follow through and things don't fall through the cracks.

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            • #7
              Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

              My first manager was someone whose name my friends recognized. She did literally nothing for me.

              My second manager was young and hungry. I can't believe the places she gets my stuff read.

              Connections help, but they can be built. Passion is the fuel that gets stuff done.

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              • #8
                Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

                Some excellent advice there, gents. Really allayed my fears about what a younger manager is capable of. Thank you very much!

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                • #9
                  Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

                  Originally posted by ManbunShiva View Post
                  So, let's say you get absolutely no interest save a low on the totem pole manager #99,000. And you got 0 interest from well known management. companies. What would you do?

                  Go with the guy who clearly can't do much or rue your luck in not attracting better representation? Because let's face it, only the top ones can do something for you...rather than being managed by a dude who also reps a party clown.

                  Is the Party clown getting gigs?
                  Genius sees everything.
                  Genius sees.

                  Posey Mund.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

                    I do like the idea of targeting newly promoted or hungry young managers. Sometimes the trades help, but it can be tough.
                    @MacBullitt

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                    • #11
                      Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

                      If you are the type of person who can hustle for yourself, it's valuable to be able to say on the phone as you pitch around town that you are repped. It gets the assistants to listen longer, and gives them one less reason to say "no thank you" on your call.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

                        Hmm, not too sure I'm great at getting away with lying. They'll probably pick up in a bit. Such lying if caught can potentially ruin your integrity.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Low ranking manager vs top dog

                          Many literary reps today prefer TV writers over screenwriters. It's more lucrative (and easier) once they get a writer placed on a series. This is especially true when it comes to unproduced screenwriters trying to sell specs. Reps feel they have to really bust their asses to push specs -- and such a small percentage sell. And then, when they do sell, the deals are typically step deals where there's little to no commission up front -- and they only get a decent commission if and when the movie is actually produced. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but there just aren't many working screenwriters today that bring in big commissions to a rep. It used to be different years ago when writers like Eszterhas and Shane Black were selling specs for millions, but there still weren't many like that.

                          With that said, if your stuff is really good then go with a rep that can get it in the door, but keep marketing yourself by going directly to producers (if you write low budget fare, indies are pretty accessible). In the end, you'll do a better job than anyone else. And be creative and relentless.

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