WGA Firings - is this the worst time to try to find a manager/agent - or the BEST?

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  • #16
    Re: WGA Firings - is this the wors a manager/- or the BEST?

    Originally posted by docgonzo View Post
    This actually begs a question I've been thinking about. Though I'm not WGA, is my agent going to hustle scripts as they have in the past, knowing that if it sells I'll become WGA and will have to fire them?
    they have a fiduciary duty to represent you. they will make 10% on what you sell. they're not making 10% on what other writers that have fired them. many will need to have a continued revenue flow.

    it's your choice. you could choose to tell them up front if they haven't signed the CoC by the time you get your membership that you support the WGA that you will have to fire them once you are granted current membership.

    but they (your agents) will still get paid on the staffing job they get you on and any deals they initiate before your get your membership. members are allowed under Rule 23 to continue to work with their agents on current deals already initiated prior to the deadline. it's only NEW deals that they cannot rep them for.

    here's a link to the WGA's Agency Code of Conduct Implementation FAQ https://www.wga.org/members/membersh...ementation-faq
    "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

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    • #17
      Re: WGA Firings - is this the worst time to try to find a manager/agent

      Originally posted by AnyOtherName View Post
      Yes, well, your "top management firm" and "top lawyer" "etc." know nothing about Guild sentiment, and the suggestion that they do is, frankly, hilarious.

      For the record: I fired my agents. I stand with the Guild. I hope we break up the agencies and remake the representation landscape.

      But to any non-WGA writers reading this: do not be frightened by misinformation. No one will be mad at you for keeping your reps, the "indications" of "top management firms" notwithstanding.
      Wow, you’ve got quite a snarky little attitude huh? Who pissed in your Cheerios buddy? My sources do know sentiments because they have a huge writer client list and are working with the guild to make arrangements on how to proceed from here. If you really want to go there with belittling little comments, then okay. Thinking YOU know more than people with dozens of years in this industry who rep the biggest writers in the biz... now THAT is laughable.

      You really need to lose the all-knowing attitude and arrogant declarations of your personal perspective as pure, irrefutable facts. I’m simply advising people to tread carefully based on what I’ve been told from high level people in the know. If you disagree or have heard differently, great. But you really need to calm down, and get over yourself.
      Last edited by Lahlowen; 04-18-2019, 08:03 PM.

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      • #18
        Re: WGA Firings - is this the worst time to try to find a manager/agent

        Originally posted by Lahlowen View Post
        Wow, you’ve got quite a snarky little attitude huh? Who pissed in your Cheerios buddy? My sources do know sentiments because they have a huge writer client list and are working with the guild to make arrangements on how to proceed from here. If you really want to go there with belittling little comments, then okay. Thinking YOU know more than people with dozens of years in this industry who rep the biggest writers in the biz... now THAT is laughable.

        You really need to lose the all-knowing attitude and arrogant declarations of your personal perspective as pure, irrefutable facts. I’m simply advising people to tread carefully based on what I’ve been told from high level people in the know. If you disagree or have heard differently, great. But you really need to calm down, and get over yourself.
        I'm happy to leave it others to judge which of us is making "laughable" declarations and which of us needs to "get over" ourselves.

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        • #19
          Re: WGA Firings - is this the worst time to try to find a manager/agent

          Originally posted by AnyOtherName View Post
          I'm happy to leave it others to judge which of us is making "laughable" declarations and which of us needs to "get over" ourselves.
          Fine by me. All I did was give my opinion based on what I've been told, and then here you come outta nowhere with your belittling snark and obnoxiousness. Just chill out and stop targeting me with your attitude because I said something you disagreed with. Who acts like that? Seriously. Writers have enough problems without coming at each other.

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          • #20
            Re: WGA Firings - is this the worst time to try to find a manager/agent

            It's still early yet, so no one really knows.

            For managers, it might be a little harder since many of them are extra busy during staffing season since they don't have agent partners working with them to help staff writer clients and they're having to do a lot more research and leg work themselves.

            For agents, this one is a tougher call. It might seem like they're sitting around, twiddling their fingers with nothing to do, but a majority have director clients to service, so they're not doing nothing. That being said, they might have more time than normal to read, so there's that. Plus, everything said here is true and that if you did sell a script or book a job with a WGA signatory company, you'd have to fire your agent any way. I have no idea how this is affecting their thought process of signing of new clients.

            There are rumors floating around that some showrunners are not considering ANY writers for staffing who are submitted by agents who have not signed the CoC (whether the writer is WGA or not), so that's something to keep in mind.

            I'd say if you were looking to query managers, you should probably just do it anyway. Reps are ALWAYS on the lookout for great new talent, even if they're busy.

            Good luck!
            http://www.scriptsandscribes.com/

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            • #21
              Re: WGA Firings

              I cold queried 5 agents from each of the top 6 or so firms about my script, as well as about 30 managers as well, with only one response. Is this normal or does my query need work?

              Basically my subject line is "_______ meets _______ spec (Academy Nicholl Finalist) and the body is an intro, logline, and very short bio about me.

              Thanks!

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              • #22
                Re: WGA Firings

                Originally posted by sidgrey View Post
                I cold queried 5 agents from each of the top 6 or so firms about my script, as well as about 30 managers as well, with only one response. Is this normal or does my query need work?

                Basically my subject line is "_______ meets _______ spec (Academy Nicholl Finalist) and the body is an intro, logline, and very short bio about me.

                Thanks!
                Sadly, that's not a bad hit rate. And you are one response from having a very good 5.5% rate. So, statistical noise, basically. HOWEVER, given the Nicholl finalist mention, I am wondering about the logline. Not commercial, I assume?

                My anecdotal advice from personal experience? Target lone wolf managers who get stuff done. You don't want to end up on a spec farm anyway.

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                • #23
                  WGA Firings - is this the worst time to try to find a manager/agent - or the BEST?

                  The Finalists are read all over town and very quickly. An email goes around with the ten or so scripts so this seems odd. Why didn't you email your query to everyone right at the time of the announcement of the Finalists?

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                  • #24
                    Re: WGA Firings

                    Originally posted by sidgrey View Post
                    I cold queried 5 agents from each of the top 6 or so firms about my script, as well as about 30 managers as well, with only one response. Is this normal or does my query need work?

                    Basically my subject line is "_______ meets _______ spec (Academy Nicholl Finalist) and the body is an intro, logline, and very short bio about me.

                    Thanks!
                    i don't think i've ever gotten a response, that i recall from an agent, but queries to managers run about 10%. i would send out hundereds. not dozens.
                    Last edited by finalact4; 05-08-2019, 07:01 PM.
                    "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


                    • #25
                      Re: WGA Firings

                      Originally posted by sidgrey View Post
                      I cold queried 5 agents from each of the top 6 or so firms about my script, as well as about 30 managers as well, with only one response. Is this normal or does my query need work?

                      Basically my subject line is "_______ meets _______ spec (Academy Nicholl Finalist) and the body is an intro, logline, and very short bio about me.

                      Thanks!
                      Yeah, 1 response from 35 queries is actually decent.

                      It's worth noting that now isn't the best time to find a manager since most of them are working overtime for their lit clients right now (I just had a conversation about this with a manager I know at a pretty large outfit).

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                      • #26
                        Re: WGA Firings - is this the worst time to try to find a manager/agent -or the BEST?

                        Originally posted by Northbank View Post
                        The Finalists are read all over town and very quickly. An email goes around with the ten or so scripts so this seems odd. Why didn't you email your query to everyone right at the time of the announcement of the Finalists?
                        I went over this with sidgrey on another thread. He was a Nicholl *quarterfinalist,* but he doesn't think the "quarter" part makes a difference. So now he's sending queries all over town misrepresenting himself in a way that will be laughably transparent to every intended recipient.

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                        • #27
                          Re: WGA Firings - is this the worst time to try to find a manager/agent -or the BEST?

                          Originally posted by AnyOtherName View Post
                          I went over this with sidgrey on another thread. He was a Nicholl *quarterfinalist,* but he doesn't think the "quarter" part makes a difference. So now he's sending queries all over town misrepresenting himself in a way that will be laughably transparent to every intended recipient.
                          Jesus.

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                          • #28
                            blank

                            I think your query isn't working because I would fill in the spaces

                            ____ meets ____ with names of movies.

                            Leaving them blank is probably not very appealing to most reps in in the business, but it's an interesting strategy.

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                            • #29
                              Re: WGA Firings - is this the worst time to try to find a manager/agent -or the BEST?

                              Originally posted by AnyOtherName View Post
                              I went over this with sidgrey on another thread. He was a Nicholl *quarterfinalist,* but he doesn't think the "quarter" part makes a difference. So now he's sending queries all over town misrepresenting himself in a way that will be laughably transparent to every intended recipient.
                              Yeah, that's dumb. People will figure it out sooner or later, and when they do they're gonna be pissed.

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                              • #30
                                Re: WGA Firings - is this the worst time to try to find a manager/agent -or the BEST?

                                Originally posted by AnyOtherName View Post
                                I went over this with sidgrey on another thread. He was a Nicholl *quarterfinalist,* but he doesn't think the "quarter" part makes a difference. So now he's sending queries all over town misrepresenting himself in a way that will be laughably transparent to every intended recipient.
                                Wow. Spectacularly dumb move. The Nicholl finalists are literally sent to every rep in town. It takes the query recipients assistant about two minutes to mark sidgrey as a liar and delete/block email etc.

                                When people ask why reps don't respond to queries, it's things like this.

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