You can no longer consider me a screenwriter without representation.
I signed with a manager this week: Sean Butler of The Mikael Group.
He found DREAMSHIP on The Black List and liked it enough to want to work with me on it. The enthusiastic comments from his coverage person were also a nice little ego boost.
(Fortunately, his suggestions about changes to the script all are pretty minor and shouldn’t make a rewrite too difficult. We’ll be discussing those next week.)
Simply put, it feels really good to have all that hard work finally pay off.
But this is a short-term celebration. I’ve overcome the first hurdle of getting a career going (hence the “(part 1)”), and there’s still a lot more to go.
Next up – getting an agent.
I’d also like to offer an extremely hearty thanks to all of you who’ve been so generous with your time and feedback on this script. I really could not have gotten here without you, so enjoy a piece of pie of the flavor of your choice with my compliments.
Ups, downs, twists and turns. It’s all part of the process…
Yesterday was…eventful. Almost like condensing my establishing a career in screenwriting into a single day.
Good: somebody actually downloaded DREAMSHIP from the Black List! Nice, especially since it entered double-digit basic views a couple of days ago. Hoping to get a professional review sometime in March.
Not-so-good: a manager who read the script passed, claiming “while I enjoyed the read and did think it was well-written, I just couldn’t get excited enough about it to warrant taking on a new client or project right now.” I’m still not sure exactly how to interpret this, but it still boils down to “thanks, but no thanks.” Oh well. C’est la vie.
(Gotta admit it’s somewhat of a silver lining that just about all of the rejections from those who read the script mentioned how much they liked it. Just not enough to take it to the next step.)
So what now?
Easy. Spend a few moments feeling sorry for myself, put it behind me and soldier on to the category labeled “Promising,” in the form of the overwhelming need to start on pages for the western.
The only way I could feel better was to write. Doesn’t matter if the outline’s not 100 percent. I HAD to do this; not only as a form of catharsis but to feel like I was actually moving ahead and remind myself of the potential awesomeness of this story.
So I did. It was only half a page. Nothing fantastic, but at least it was something.
(just wondering – are you still supposed to write ‘FADE IN’? I’ve heard both yes and no.)
It’s been quite a while since I started a new script. Any writer will reinforce the concept of nothing as intimidating or challenging as a blank white screen, with that little blinking cursor just sitting there, ready to spring into action.
The key is to keep the cursor moving. Which is exactly my plan.
While progress moves along slowly on the outline and the podcast, I got a nice surprise in my inbox yesterday: a manager I’d queried two weeks ago asked to see the script.
Even though it may result in absolutely nothing, just the fact that this happened was enough to brighten my day. Getting this kind of news is a real confidence-booster.
Chances are your close friends and loved ones know how much time and effort you put into your writing. They can see how hard you’re working. As much as you strive to succeed, they’re rooting for you just as much.
So being able to tell them you’ve been able to move ahead in your quest, even if it’s just a little bit, is really nice. You feel good. They feel good. Smiles all around.
There may be setbacks along the way, but enjoy little victories like these. Because eventually they can become big ones.
-Super Bowl fever has gripped the city where I live (hint: it ain’t Baltimore). My team of choice is the Steelers, but I’ll make an exception and say Go Niners.
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.
My bike ride to work is an enjoyable 6-mile pre-dawn journey across most of San Francisco. The temperature when I left the house just after 4 this morning was 43 degrees, so by the time I got to work 40 minutes later, some of my outer extremities were a bit chilled and are taking longer than I’d like to thoroughly thaw. Especially my feet. They’re still cold.
But looking back today at how this year developed for me combined with what I’m hoping to make happen in 2013 make for that warm glow of satisfaction.
-My writing has definitely improved. Several drafts later, DREAMSHIP is much stronger now, and I’m feeling really confident about it. While a sale would be fantastic, I’ll focus on getting representation for now.
-Because of the feedback I’d received on DREAMSHIP, the outlining process for LUCY is working out much, much smoother. Once the outline is ready, and it almost is, I’m really looking forward to getting started on pages.
-I didn’t get to read as many scripts as I’d wanted to, so setting a weekly goal of at least 2 seems pretty doable.
-I had a blast doing The Script Adventurer!, and am that much closer to bringing it back as a podcast. Still planning on a January launch. This is becoming a real learning process, and is actually kind of exciting.
-I did three half-marathons, finally breaking 2:00. I plan on doing at least three more this year, hopefully adding 1-2 more into the mix. Once again, the objective is to break 1:55.
-Since the running took care of my lower body, 2013 will also see more attention to upper body. Hoping for bigger arms and flatter abs. First up – the 100 Pushups program.
-I made a lot of pies this year. So many that they’re now strongly requested when friends invite us over for dinner. Pie-making will continue, but baklava remains at the top of the “I really want to make this” list. (This is not necessarily counter-productive to the previous item – it’s all about moderation)
-I’ll try to keep posting on a semi-regular basis. As always, my appreciation and gratitude for those of you willing to endure my ramblings continues to be limitless. I hope 2012 saw good things happen for you, and that 2013 is even better.
Maximum Z 