Query Letter Success Stories

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  • Query Letter Success Stories

    Hi everyone, I'm curious:

    Has anyone here ever signed with a tv lit agent or manager after making initial contact with that agent or manager via a query letter (cold, not referred)? I'm not asking if you got an email back that said "You're signed!!!" but I mean did a query letter ever act as a starting point for a relationship with a manager or agent?

    I've been sending out so many queries and have received a few requests for my pilot but I would love to read a success story where someone has eventually gotten signed after sending a query letter to start off their relationship.

  • #2
    Re: Query Letter Success Stories

    Not specifically for TV (though he does rep me for both film and TV) but yes.

    Coming off a split with a former manager (who was also landed via email), I locked in my current rep that way. Despite years working in the industry in another capacity, I had no viable contacts to "hook me up" on that front, so I had to start all over and play the cold query game. It went on for awhile. Then one day...

    I emailed a handful of reps on a Thursday afternoon with my latest spec logline. One of them - a highly reputable, awesome manager from one of the biggest firms in town responded within one minute loving the concept and asking to read. He read it within one hour of sending. Asked for a second script to read over the weekend. Loved that, too. Signed me by the following Monday.

    My situation may be rare in terms of the quickness with which it all went down (though I laugh at using the term "quickness" b/c I'd been at this hustle for a long time), but... queries can work. If the material is strong and logline is enticing, it's just a matter of hammering away until you find the right person.

    Good luck!

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    • #3
      Re: Query Letter Success Stories

      I got an agent at a major agency off a cold query.

      I sent him just the logline and a note that I was a Nicholl semifinalist. He asked for the script and then passed it to his assistant. At that point, he didn't care what happened to it. But the assistant read it, liked it, and pestered him to read it.

      Three weeks later, he called and asked me to come in for a meeting.

      A round of notes and two months after that and the script went wide.

      He said it was the only time he ever responded to a cold query.

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      • #4
        Re: Query Letter Success Stories

        Christie LeBlanc was signed with top LA manager (and then CAA) off her query to the mgmt company -- then Black List placement and production deal with Anne Hathaway attached to star (Christie lives in Canada, so it does occasionally happen that way)

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        • #5
          Re: Query Letter Success Stories

          Yes for features, no for TV. Multiple options and got a project hip pocketed into WME where I got coverage, but failed to land an agent or deal, sad face.

          Had a ton of people request the two pilots I wrote a couple years back and looked like things might happen, but it fizzled.
          Eric
          www.scriptreadguaranteed.com

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          • #6
            Re: Query Letter Success Stories

            Seth Lochhead's HANNA was a query.

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            • #7
              Re: Query Letter Success Stories

              Five years ago I sent queries to 250 managers and 150 agents. I used imdbpro and my own research to form the lists. Out of all those emails (and a few actual letters) I got 12 read requests (11 managers, 1 agent.) These ranged all the way from from JC Spink to dudes working out of their apartment. Out of those 12 read requests I got 4 meetings and 2 offers of representation. I chose the one I vibed with more creatively. Not with them anymore but it still counts as a "win" for queries.

              P.S. My second manager (at Kaplan/Perrone) came from placing well in a contest. So my first two managers came from a query and a contest. Don't ever let someone tell you it's impossible.
              Write, rite, wright... until you get it RIGHT.

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              • #8
                Re: Query Letter Success Stories

                Thank you to everyone who's shared a positive experience so far! Reading them made my morning. Sometimes I need to be reminded that I'm not just screaming loglines into an empty bucket. Things can happen when you put in the work.
                Last edited by friesorsalad; 07-15-2018, 07:57 AM.

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                • #9
                  Re: Query Letter Success Stories

                  I had success getting read via query at two large management firms and had offers for representation. The logline was not exactly high concept but a historical true story that is relevant in the current political environment. Also had success with The Black List in getting my work out there. Ultimately met my rep through a Stage 32 pitch.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Query Letter Success Stories

                    Signed with my last agent after pitching him on Virtual Pitchfest.
                    Just my 2 cents, your mileage may vary.

                    -Steve Trautmann
                    3rd & Fairfax: The WGAW Podcast

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                    • #11
                      Re: Query Letter Success Stories

                      .
                      Last edited by boobtubenewb; 10-08-2018, 05:37 PM.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Query Letter Success Stories

                        Originally posted by KitchonaSteve View Post
                        Signed with my last agent after pitching him on Virtual Pitchfest.
                        Love the podcast!

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                        • #13
                          Re: Query Letter Success Stories

                          I once got a meeting with a manager from a query letter.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Query Letter Success Stories

                            I signed with a manager off a query letter.

                            He proceeded to do absolutely nothing for me for the next two years except piss on my leg and tell me it was raining.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Query Letter Success Stories

                              Originally posted by muckraker View Post
                              I signed with a manager off a query letter.

                              He proceeded to do absolutely nothing for me for the next two years except piss on my leg and tell me it was raining.
                              Oh my gosh LMFAO.

                              I'm sorry, it's not funny. But...it is, lol. Not your pain but how you said it. I feel that struggle though. That was similar to my situation with a previous rep as well.
                              Last edited by Lahlowen; 07-17-2018, 12:29 PM.

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