Well, that’s that.  The queries have been unleashed, and the process of getting it done was truly exhausting.

Most of the work was research. Lots and lots of it.

Equipped with a few lists of potential recipients, I scoured IMDBPro (signing up is highly recommended) and Google to check the status of each name, agency, management firm and prodco I had.

Are they still in business? (a good percentage were not)  Do they accept queries?  Is the person still there? If not, where are they now? What about that place?  Do they even handle screenwriters? Would they be interested in my script’s genre?

Some of the major houses (CAA, WME, etc.) don’t list any contact info apart from address and phone number, so unless you know somebody there, you’re just plain out of luck. A lot of them also have a disclaimer somewhere on the website stating they don’t accept unsolicited materials anyway. Better to focus on the ones that do.

Proof these lists are not entirely accurate or up-to-date – one listed office info for somebody who apparently died in 2009.

Believe me when I say this is not a small-scale project.

Something else to keep in mind – depending on your determination, you’ll be sending out an immense number of queries, and most likely the responses, positive or negative, will be few and far between. If you hear back at all.  Remember – these places are getting bombarded with queries from writers just like you every single day.

Not getting an immediate response can really be quite a blow to your self-confidence, but unfortunately it’s the way things are.  All you can do is send it out and move on.  Like I wrote last time, use this as an opportunity to redirect your attention towards something else of a productive nature.  Write something. Read something.  Exercise. Whatever it takes.

So while I wait, I’ve got an outline to improve, some podcasting equipment to master and a pumpkin pie that needs baking.