Not responding back after reading script

[Bono]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

Didn't want to start a whole new thread... but here is what one literary manager says he does when they do respond and take interest in your work...

https://twitter.com/johnzaozirny/sta...543168513?s=20

[DisorderControl]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

I played golf about a month ago with a well known Manager. I think he co-owns his own company. I'm not friends with him, he was a friend of a friend. This was a Sunday morning at 8:30am and he was on the phone immediately. He got so sidetracked that he forgot his phone in between holes and had to go back and get it. On top of that I think he and his wife just had a baby. I'm not making excuses for people who can't return an e mail (because it's currently happening to me), and I don't agree with it, but I saw first hand where these people's priorities are and it's not with those people who cold query producers, managers, etc.

I don't take any offense to silence regarding a cold query, or even being ghosted by someone that I was working with. Just makes me a little sad sometimes. Plenty of reps out there and all I can do is just keep pumping out content with the hope that eventually I'll land one!

[CrissCross]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

I played golf about a month ago with a well known Manager. I think he co-owns his own company. I'm not friends with him, he was a friend of a friend. This was a Sunday morning at 8:30am and he was on the phone immediately. He got so sidetracked that he forgot his phone in between holes and had to go back and get it. On top of that I think he and his wife just had a baby. I'm not making excuses for people who can't return an e mail (because it's currently happening to me), and I don't agree with it, but I saw first hand where these people's priorities are and it's not with those people who cold query producers, managers, etc.

[MargoChanning]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

That's because they think their sh!t doesn't stink. Period. The end. Unfortunately. all I can say is "get used to it.- And for anyone who doesn't agree, look at this way: It takes mere seconds to craft a courteous response.

[Crayon]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

It could be both.

Or neither.

[Bono]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

Either lots of managers do this or we've been in touch with the same person, because I'm currently dealing with a very similar experience!

It could be both.

[DisorderControl]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

The same thing happened to me, complete with two or three reschedules! "Best" of all, I sometimes see that manager at parties, events, etc., and... it's awkward. I assume I'll never find out what produced the rather sudden change of heart.

Either lots of managers do this or we've been in touch with the same person, because I'm currently dealing with a very similar experience!

[Satriales]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

I like manager flake out stories. I remember reading some here years ago, I believe they mostly involved a couple of managers showing up at get-to-know-you meetings effectively wiping ye olde marching powder off their nose.

[AnyOtherName]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

What was way worse for me was the time a manager at a large company requested my script, responded to tell me he loved it and wanted to take it out, set a meeting to discuss representation, rescheduled that meeting three times (with me taking time off work to accommodate), and then full on ghosted me.

The same thing happened to me, complete with two or three reschedules! "Best" of all, I sometimes see that manager at parties, events, etc., and... it's awkward. I assume I'll never find out what produced the rather sudden change of heart.

[Bono]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

I would never let that happen to me -- newbie writer

I have a worse story -- more experienced writer

[JS90]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

It’s definitely annoying and dissapointing when folks go silent after requesting your script. I’ve been there too. But as the others have pointed out, at least it’s halfway understandable.

What was way worse for me was the time a manager at a large company requested my script, responded to tell me he loved it and wanted to take it out, set a meeting to discuss representation, rescheduled that meeting three times (with me taking time off work to accommodate), and then full on ghosted me.

[Crayon]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

If he heard nothing in 3 weeks it was the silent pass.

Don't be so negative. Perhaps they loved it, but died.

[AK7576]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

The Silent No was born out of the multitude of desperate writers who can't take NO for an answer. Producers and reps are fed up with writers who think an emailed pass is an invitation to open a dialogue where they beg, plead, and threaten, not accepting that negative answer.

I've talked to producers who have regaled me with horror stories. With the thousands of writers now with scripts and most of them with no limits on how they react, the silent no came into being. You send one reminder after 3 weeks, if you hear nothing, move on.

It's the new normal.

Exactly. A few years ago I had a feature the agent sent everywhere. The rule of thumb was he checked in 2 weeks. If he heard nothing in 3 weeks it was the silent pass. Out of roughly 50 sends - I'd say 80% got back in 1-2 weeks and another 10% the third week. So 10% NEVER.

[AnyOtherName]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

What was the shop you eventually signed with's take on that script, i.e., same thoughts or more surgical notes?

(about to query a feature spec to managers and have similar trepidations about how it will land)

The place I eventually signed was a mess in a million ways (I left for greener pastures after a few years), but to their credit, they didn't want any significant rewrites on that script. I did maybe a weekend's worth of notes, and then they sent it out, got me a few meetings, etc.

FWIW, that script did eventually sell; it was a small sale (it was a small movie), but it was the first $$ I ever made in screenwriting, and it allowed me to write full-time until I got my next gig-- and for that I'll always be grateful.

[CthulhuRises]

Re: Not responding back after reading script

Option was in 2007.... so I don't think it's coming my friend. And i hear you -- it's a message board and it's impossible to read tone.

Would you not agree that 95% of the time good news finds you? That you don't have to chase it -- they read the script and love it and call/email you? That's been my experience overall.

**** that, did your attorney chase them?


Sure, usually (I'm not going to give an exact percentage, but I get your point), that is the case. But this business is so ****ing hard and sisyphean that I'm of the mantra of leaving no rock unturned. And sometimes that 5% is totally worth it. I mean, the WWII film I was hired to write came about from a cold query to a pretty small independent producer. A guy people probably don't query too often. He loved a script of mine, did a shopping agreement (never got set-up). But, he intro'd me to a friend of his who is a bigger, more connected producer. That guy loved my writing and he's about to hire me to write a second project, an adaptation of a NY Times Best-Selling book. All from a cold query to a small, independent producer. So even if one of my 10+ follow-ups leads to something, then it's worth it in my book.