Adventures in Screenplay-Reading
An advice column from a professional Script Reader
This Week:
Your Script is Done. Now what?
Kevin Bain is a professional Script Reader with over a decade’s experience from Indy to A-List, and everything in-between.
Congratulations! You’ve written your story, again and again, to your satisfaction. You’ve got an honest-to-God script to your name. But you didn’t do this for your bucket list, you did this to break in as a professional screenwriter. You want Reps and Producers to see your work, see its value, and make it come to life!
You need your work in front of their eyeballs. So how in heck do you do that?
Step 1. Register Your Script
The Writers’ Guild of America (or WGA) protects professional writers of scripted media... AKA you and your work. Most of the working writers for film and TV are WGA members. Most of the Producers and Reps you submit to are contractually bound to their rules. Be aware that registering your script comes with a small fee. Registration is found here. Producers and Reps expect to see a registration number on the cover, and may not accept your work without it.
Step 2. Target specific reps or producers
Know your buyers. It probably won’t help you to pitch a torture-horror feature to Nickelodeon TV. This requires legwork on your part – IMDBPro is an inexpensive way to find relevant information about Reps and Producers. It’s a good start.
To improve your targeting further, you can purchase a copy of the Hollywood Screenwriting Directory: A private, phone book-sized listing of Reps and Producers relevant to screenwriters. The information in this directory is updated regularly, and not readily available anywhere else. These are often expensive; Prepare for sticker shock.
Step 3. Solicit your targets
A Query Letter is a short introductory letter that you write to your prospective Rep or Producer, asking for permission to send your work to them. This is MANDATORY. Fears of plagiarism accusations dictate that all scripts not cleared for consideration, in writing, are discarded. Don’t get thrown away, send a query.
A Query Letter should be professionally worded and personally addressed – Use the names of the people you’re trying to reach, not “Dear Sir or Madam,” etc. Introduce yourself politely and move right into your pitch. Then politely request permission to send your script and politely exit, providing them your contact info.
So if I wrote Alien and sent a Query Letter to director Ridley Scott, it would look something like this:
“Hello Mr. Scott,
I hope this finds you well. My name is Kevin Bain, and I’ve written a Sci-fi/Horror feature you would love, called Alien:
A starship crew boards an abandoned ship, when one of them is attacked by a mysterious life form. They soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.
Thanks in advance for your consideration, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on submission!
Warmest Regards,
Kevin Bain
Contact Info”
Step 4. Submit your script
A few weeks (or months) after you sent your letters, you’ve got a bite! Ask how they prefer to receive your work. Some companies still ask for hard copies, 21st Century or no. Some companies rely on Email completely. However they tell you to get your work to them, do it to the letter.
Step 5. Wait for the Reader to finish
The first person to read your work after submission is called the Reader. The Reader is normally the Assistant of the Rep or Producer you want to read your work. This is not a receptionist, it’s more like an apprentice. Their bosses trust their reading judgment implicitly, and they’re often rewarded for finding the right ones. Readers measure your script up to their boss’s criteria, then write up a report called Coverage. Depending on how many scripts are in the queue ahead of yours, this can take some time.
Step 6. Write your next project
“Yes” comes slowly in Hollywood, even in ideal conditions. Mad Men famously took about 10 years to get to air. There’s little you can do to speed it up. So, write. Entertainment professionals are always scouring for the next hot writer; It’s not uncommon for Producers to track the growth of writers who submit to them multiple times. Your best bet is to write, write, write. Then write some more.
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This blogspace is dedicated to helping writers improve their odds of professional success. So, we want to know what YOUR priorities and YOUR questions are. Please send your questions to imposterscomedy at gmail, and I’ll make sure to address the topic in a future installment. Follow this blogspace for more detailed insights on how to get your script’s foot in the door.
NEXT MONTH – “Red Flags: What NOT To Do.”