How much--and how--do you manage your manager?

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  • How much--and how--do you manage your manager?

    As my thread post indicates, I'm wondering how much (frequency and quality) stuff do you put in front of your manager suggesting to him or her that you'd like a meeting set up, and what information delivery vehicles do you use for looking for work for yourself?

    To elaborate: if you're a repped writer not working in the industry or living in LA, what do you follow to keep track of/hear about open writing assignments, or recently acquired properties that will soon be looking for writers?

    TrackingB's website seems to offer that, but at $79 w/o a free trial, I haven't checked it out yet.
    Does DDP have an sections where this information would be easily found?
    What are other resources (I'm thinking beyond Variety and H'wood Reporter, who to my eye mostly focus on bigger deals further down the line already than I'm thinking about.)

    Second:

    Once something has caught your eye--and as a hungry writers, I'm imagining a lot would catch our eyes--how often do you ring your manager up to let him/her know "hey, I just saw this!" "I just saw this!" "Get me a meeting here!" ... in your experience, are most managers open to that ("Hey, my client's working as hard for himself as I am and really wants to book work!") or do they feel it's is sort of their job, and let them do it?

    Any thoughts appreciated!

  • #2
    Re: How much--and how--do you manage your manager?

    As my thread post indicates, I'm wondering how much (frequency and quality) stuff do you put in front of your manager suggesting to him or her that you'd like a meeting set up, and what information delivery vehicles do you use for looking for work for yourself?

    To elaborate: if you're a repped writer not working in the industry or living in LA, what do you follow to keep track of/hear about open writing assignments, or recently acquired properties that will soon be looking for writers?

    TrackingB's website seems to offer that, but at $79 w/o a free trial, I haven't checked it out yet.
    trackingb and DDP for deals and to know who is doing what. Itsonthegrid.com is great for insight into the OWA (open writing assignments market).

    Once something has caught your eye--and as a hungry writers, I'm imagining a lot would catch our eyes--how often do you ring your manager up to let him/her know "hey, I just saw this!" "I just saw this!" "Get me a meeting here!" ... in your experience, are most managers open to that ("Hey, my client's working as hard for himself as I am and really wants to book work!") or do they feel it's is sort of their job, and let them do it?
    I think this depends on your relationship with your manager but also how your manager plans to expose your work etc. OWAs are harder than ever because of the economic climate and it seems what most writers are doing to get to the next level is writing a spec that their manager can sell or use as a great sample for them to get into rooms to meet.

    my 0.02 cents

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    • #3
      Re: How much--and how--do you manage your manager?

      Originally posted by Justin323 View Post
      Does DDP have an sections where this information would be easily found?

      What are other resources (I'm thinking beyond Variety and H'wood Reporter, who to my eye mostly focus on bigger deals further down the line already than I'm thinking about.)
      Yes, we do list lots of deals daily (film & TV) that are being set up around town. That's really the foundation for all that we do including these forums. Go to our main site and you can see what we offer. (There's also free info there too.) If you go to the FAQ page you can read a little bit more about what we offer and see some screen-shots of our listings. We do not list OWAs per se. It's more that one can see, for example, what books, comic books, remake rights, etc. have been picked up and will need to be adapted. If you have questions from there drop me an e-mail.

      You can also check out IMDBpro, though I'm not sure exactly what their service/info is like. But if you are really just looking for OWAs then www.ItsOnTheGrid.com might be your best choice.
      Will
      Done Deal Pro
      www.donedealpro.com

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: How much--and how--do you manage your manager?

        Originally posted by Justin323 View Post
        As my thread post indicates, I'm wondering how much (frequency and quality) stuff do you put in front of your manager suggesting to him or her that you'd like a meeting set up, and what information delivery vehicles do you use for looking for work for yourself?

        To elaborate: if you're a repped writer not working in the industry or living in LA, what do you follow to keep track of/hear about open writing assignments, or recently acquired properties that will soon be looking for writers?

        .
        .
        .

        Once something has caught your eye--and as a hungry writers, I'm imagining a lot would catch our eyes--how often do you ring your manager up to let him/her know "hey, I just saw this!" "I just saw this!" "Get me a meeting here!" ... in your experience, are most managers open to that ("Hey, my client's working as hard for himself as I am and really wants to book work!") or do they feel it's is sort of their job, and let them do it?

        Any thoughts appreciated!

        Personally, I think if your manager needs "managing" (i.e. needs you to tell them where to look for gigs for you), it's time to find a new manager. That's not to say you can't keep on the lookout for things yourself... but if he's not really doing anything for you without you hovering over him, he's not really doing a very good job as a representative.

        It's a delicate balance, and really depends on your relationship with your representative. Some reps are happy to hear from their clients, and appreciate the guidance that you provide by telling them what assignments you're interested in, who you'd like to work with, and things like that. Of course, the flip side of that coin is that you might put someone off who feels like you're not letting them do their job and are micromanaging them. They're supposed to be the expert finding you work, so if you're constantly harping on them to set up a meeting here or get you that writing gig there, it might cause unnecessary friction.

        Ultimately, it really comes down to the projects you're proposing. If you're the kind of client who says, "Hey, I met an indie producer last week who needs a quick, cheap rewrite on something they're shooting next month that's similar to the stuff I write... can you give them a call and see if it's worth pursuing?" then that's one thing. If you're the kind of client who says, "I was just reading Deadline Hollywood today and saw that Warner Bros. is greenlighting a Superman reboot... get me a meeting!" then that might get on a manager's nerves.

        I think a good rule for bringing stuff to your rep is if it's either A) quick/easy money, or B) a realistic assignment that's consistent with your abilities, resume, and/or his connections, bringing it to him makes his job easier and is therefore a good thing. But if you're bringing something that's C) a "dream" job, or D) completely unrealistic in terms of your work history or his connections, bringing it to him is more detrimental than helpful... and you should probably make those suggestions sparingly.

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        • #5
          Re: How much--and how--do you manage your manager?

          Thanks for the generous and thoughtful replies!

          @SoCal, your rules sound very intelligent.

          @DDP, I'm going to subscribe to DDP, the rate is totally affordable and would be worth it just for the discussion boards. Also checking out itsonthegrid and trackingB ...

          I think I just want to be sure to be on top of things, not necessarily trying to do my manager's job.

          @madyellow, you're totally write--I'm sure my manager would want me focusing on a new spec instead of trying to find things he missed!

          Thanks, all!

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          • #6
            Re: How much--and how--do you manage your manager?

            good advice already... one more tip... many Open Writing Assignments seem to be books or comics that studios buy, etc... (and you can read about these in the free trades)...

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