Cold Calling Production Companies--In Person

[sjn1973]

Fellow DDers,

Have you ever shown up to a production company unannounced, with no appointment to pitch your script?

Some prodcos are on studio lots so you need appointments. However, others are simply in office buildings. You can walk right through their front door...

Assuming you know who works there (via personnel directories found in IMDBpro and HCD Online), WHO should you ask for? The President? Or mid-level guys like the Director of Development or CE? Or low-level guys like assistants?

What's the recipe for success?

Thx!

[Shot Across the Bow]

I would advise you not to go this route.

[catcon]

I'd do it! After showering and shaving, since I live 3000 miles away from them there in L.A. and it'd be quite a trip on spec...

It'd be great to have the opportunity. For now, I just have to be inventive and drill through the web for an email address to Development. And if this particular prodco has one of those rare sites inviting submissions, you might consider that vs. a visit, but if you decide otherwise...

The real question is what would you bring, as a leave-behind? A one-sheet, loglines/synopses, maybe even the script as PDF on CD or USB just in case you get lucky. Multiple samples. List of credits, your website address, a "business card", list of contest wins. A cover letter to leave just in case they can't see you.

I'd be ready for anything.

Don't forget a hanky to wipe down your shiny forehead before you go in. Nothing like the "shines" on a warm day.

[jtwg50]

sjn, I hope you're kidding. Things are bad enough for unknown writers already. If any of us start showing up unannounced, things will get worse -- and you'll be ejected by security. Chances are your name would get around (you're dealing in a tine world where everyone pretty much knows everyone else and they exchange views on writers all the time, just as they do on scripts on actual tracking boards).
I can guarantee you that if you show up somewhere to pitch, your name will become a lunchtime joke all over town. And your quest will be over before it started. E-mail or call with your queries like everyone else, please.

[Trutopian]

Originally Posted by jtwg50

you're dealing in a tine world where everyone pretty much knows everyone else...

What is a "tine world" and where does one find it?

[Geoff Alexander]

Originally Posted by sjn1973

Fellow DDers,

Have you ever shown up to a production company unannounced, with no appointment to pitch your script?

Some prodcos are on studio lots so you need appointments. However, others are simply in office buildings. You can walk right through their front door...

Assuming you know who works there (via personnel directories found in IMDBpro and HCD Online), WHO should you ask for? The President? Or mid-level guys like the Director of Development or CE? Or low-level guys like assistants?

What's the recipe for success?

Thx!

Dont. Ever. Do. This.

[cynicide]

Yeah, I don't think there's much upside to this, and there's lots of potential downside. Find a better way.

[SethRuffer]

I'm brand new at this, but I guess I'd ask how you feel when a salesperson or solicitor shows up unannounced/uninvited at your door?

Now factor in the reality that the person you're visiting probably has a person on his staff whose job it is to sift through hundreds of e-mails a week announcing the next great script.

It's not an approach I'd take.

[ProBono Writer]

I bet you could make it work, especially if you bring props. You know, like a gun and a ski mask to showcase how exciting your 'bank heist' movie would be. But they may not get it right away, so be prepared to throw back your trench coat and show off the prop-dynamite you have rigged like a bomb on your chest.

Eagerly awaiting your report,
PBW

[catcon]

Originally Posted by Trutopian

What is a "tine world" and where does one find it?

I interpreted it as either:

1) wysiwyg or phonics spelling of "tiny"

2) the lad's Irrrrr(roll 'em)rrrrish heritage shining through, my good man

3) a "correctus interruptus" to a misspelling of "tiny", as in "tiney", followed up by a partial correction (ie. a single backspace) followed by a ringing phone or pizza delivery to the door, thus a correction never completed.