How do you select managers?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • How do you select managers?

    Hello,

    I am ready to send my cover letter to get a manager, but problem, I don’t know to send it to? It’s the first time I do this— I have been working for four years on screenwriting and I had very good feedbacks from some contests in which my script was selected— so today I take the plunge, but I don’t know how to do it! I followed advices like finding movies in the same genre as mine and getting contact information of the writers' managers, but I end up with big agencies with famous clients. Too much for a first contact with industry, isn’t it? And you, how do you do?
    Last edited by Done Deal Pro; 09-30-2021, 06:18 AM. Reason: Added tags and fixed font formatting/style

  • #2
    Research managers. Break a leg.
    Last edited by Clint Hill; 10-01-2021, 09:19 AM.
    “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

    Comment


    • #3
      Thank you for your answer.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Verone View Post
        I followed advices like finding movies in the same genre as mine and getting contact information of the writers' managers, but I end up with big agencies with famous clients.
        I would advise not being overly selective - cast the net wide.

        Comment


        • #5
          Thank you JeffLowell. That's what I thought, because the genre of my script is drama a little fantasy, and I don't find a lot of movies in that genre.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post

            I would advise not being overly selective - cast the net wide.
            100% agreed. IMDbPro and the trades do not tell the whole story. Many projects are not announced at all at the script stage so trying to find reps in specific genres is hard and I think not useful. There are very few reps who specialize in a particular genre, most want a range of genres so they have someone for every assignment. Also, say you find someone who appears to specialize in comedy - do you want to be the eighteenth and last/lowest comedy writer on their list? Maybe they have had success in that genre but are dying to find some horror writers. What you should be looking for is a rep with a decent client list who seem to be working.

            Comment


            • #7
              I think one of the biggest reasons to use clients as a starting place is that there's no harm in mentioning a client in a letter, showing that it's not a form letter and you've invested some time and targeted that agent.

              "I'm writing to you because you represent Joe Blow, who's one of my favorite writers. I'm a writer who's had success in contest X, Y & Z, and I'd love to send you my spec 'Love Is An Onion.' It's the story of..."

              That's what I'd do. YMMV.
              Last edited by JeffLowell; 09-30-2021, 10:39 AM.

              Comment


              • #8
                Thank you very much Northbank and JeffLowell, your answers are very useful in relation to my question. I found lists of agencies on some websites, I registered with IMDBPro, but I wanted to target the right persons regarding my work. Finally I started "the sending adventure" with an agency whose presentation text corresponds to what I expected from it. It's a beginning.

                Comment


                • #9
                  You've got to query EVERYONE you can. You can start with the people you want most, but you never know who will request your work. I've got rejected by smaller places and requested by a top agent just today.
                  Nothing makes any sense.

                  One lady refused me because I didn't like in UK (fine), one person asked if I was a referral (and I'm like why would I be emailing you myself it I was), a few said they aren't looking for clients. One tiny one man shingle said he only accepts referrals, which may just be a way to say "spec not for me."

                  I got asked to give them a bio a few times. One smaller agent, asked me in 2 emails a list of questions, but never requested the spec. He's so tiny he's not even listed on Done Deal I think. But a top agent just requested the spec. MAKES. NO. SENSE!

                  But it's NOT like shopping for a NEW TV, you don't get to choose at this point in your career (if ever as a writer?).

                  It's honestly a very random process. Until they offer to rep you, you should try your best NOT to think about them very much as most of the time you hear nothing or "not for me" and it's just depressing if you let it get to you.

                  Also my trick -- that many writers do -- is to write the NEW thing as you query the OLD finished work. You are never higher as when people are requesting your material and lower when you don't get repped... so if you start writing the next thing as you wait to hear back from managers/agents/producers, you will be already done with the next piece of material that the industry can reject! Isn't that great????

                  I'm 30 pages into my next spec and still waiting to hear back from reps. I'm trying to beat them with a first draft done before I get rejected by ALL.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Hello Verone,
                    welcome to the boards. Here is a process you might apply...
                    • gather the names and email addresses of managers-- Jeff is right, you'll want to send it to as many managers as possible. You could add notes to each manager to mention if you'd like to personalize each emails.
                    • craft a compelling logline for your script-- you can workshop it here, if you like, and you may receive feedback that may help you improve it. You want a compelling logline that accurately represents your script
                    • craft a query letter that is short and concise
                    • send a- way... I posted a thread here --> "how to query fast" where following a few steps you can query hundreds of managers with a personalized email in less than an hour.
                    You can obtain a lot of email addresses on the Done Deal Pro website. It's time consuming, but worth it. You can start with the below email address. They will absolutely reach out if they are interested.

                    [email protected]

                    Good luck and ask questions, we're here to help each other.
                    "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Thank you so much for Bono's experience feedback and for Finalact4's advices. I have a clearer idea of how to go about it, and I feel calmer for it. Because by looking for someone who could accept my work in relation to its genre, I think I would not have found many people... As for you Bono, I am already writing my new script, I even have another one, I work them a little at the same time. I'm going to do all this little by little, as you say, without thinking about it afterwards, because I want to stay focused on my current projects.

                      As for the query letter, I've already done it, the loglines too, everything is as concise as possible, and engaging I hope. I took the most relevant advice I could find, and I think that's fine. For me the most complicated part was to know who I could send my work to, there are so many managers. Anyway, thanks again for your help.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        You have been given a lot of good advice here. I would just say, in addition to looking for a manager, write write write.

                        Because when you are fortunate enough to get someone interested in your work, expect this question from them..."What else do you have?" and you want to make sure you have some more scripts ready to go.

                        Best of luck!!

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X