Management/Agent Help

[BennyMarkowitz]

Finished with the trailer for new comedy series and just finishing up editing 10 minute webisodes that I've written and created.

Is it realistic to contact Managers and Agents to help get it in front of the right people and expect to bring them on as Producers or as Reps for me?

I assume when I contact them they will certainly want to be a part of the production itself. I am already attached to a production company although it is located in Oklahoma with no outside connections, just local and regional "commercial" contacts.

Thanks so much for any and all advice.

[Staircaseghost]

Re: Management/Agent Help

I'm a little unclear on what your immediate goals are here. At one point you seem to ask if certain people will "want to be part of production", but at another point you said you are almost finished with post.

Are you looking to sell this web-series specifically? Or are you meaning the completed episodes to serve as a sample for a 30- or 60-minute show you'd like to develop? Or just use them to supplement your other writing samples to secure representation to get staffed?

[muckraker]

Re: Management/Agent Help

No it is not reasonable to expect that any manager or agent will be interested in this. Basically you are in the pool of a zillion others who have produced material and are trying to parlay that into something. Your best bet is to garner a following and create buzz around your project. Being able to show public interest will be your best approach. Congrats on making your series, not trying to diminish the fact that you have made something, but that's the reality.

[Concord]

Re: Management/Agent Help

No it is not reasonable to expect that any manager or agent will be interested in this. Basically you are in the pool of a zillion others who have produced material and are trying to parlay that into something. Your best bet is to garner a following and create buzz around your project. Being able to show public interest will be your best approach. Congrats on making your series, not trying to diminish the fact that you have made something, but that's the reality.

Hi Muckraker,

I think your take on this is a good one, but here's a twist on the OP's original question for you: What's your opinion about producing a short and then sending its link to managers/agents to prove you've got some talent so they'll be willing to read your feature script?

Thanks in advance for your insight.

[muckraker]

Re: Management/Agent Help

In my experience a link to a short is not going to help your case much either, unless it is absolutely fantastic, in which case you're probably marketing yourself more as a filmmaker than a writer, and should probably be entering it in festivals to get eyes on it. If the short is mini version of the full blown feature script, which is a more natural connection, you may get more traction, but more likely if its done well in festivals first.

I made an entire feature film and included the IMDB link in queries and saw no measurable lift as a result. I hired a team to convert another script into a graphic novel and included links, and got more interest in the IP than in the script itself.

A great logline and premise is going to get people to request your script -- managers much more so than agents, but query everyone because all you need to find is one champion. If you want to be a writer, focus on writing scripts.

[Concord]

Re: Management/Agent Help

Thanks for your response, muckraker!

[Ronaldinho]

Re: Management/Agent Help

I'm a little unclear on what your immediate goals are here. At one point you seem to ask if certain people will "want to be part of production", but at another point you said you are almost finished with post.

Yeah, I'm confused about this, too.

Yes, creating a successful finished product is good and will get you attention. But ultimately, if your goal is to write and/or direct features, you're going to need to write and/or direct features.

eg, yes, a successful web series might make it easier to get reads for your script, but if your script doesn't wow them, then they're going to move on to the next script in their pile. And contrary to what lots of people seem to think, "getting reads" is the easy part. "Writing something that they love" is the hard part. (For some reason, everybody seems to get this backwards.).

So I'm unclear on your short, medium, and long-term goals, as well as your current situation.