Approaching agents

L

Lynos

Well-known member
Most of the people in this board are directors who write their own scripts. I was wondering if anyone here approached an agent who represents both writers and directors (maybe with different submission guidelines for each), and if so, what was your approach.

Thanks.
 
If they come to you, then what's the deal with the "submission guidelines" on many agencies' websites? Doesn't screenwriters send query letters to agents? Resumes?
 
Really?

Which of the major agencies have "submission guidelines" on their webpage? Or any information aside from main office lines for that matter on their webpages? Except for ICM - and they only say they don't take unsolicited materials.

You can query agents. You can cold call agencies, but you won't get passed the front desk.

Your best, and most realistic bet is to direct something that gets attention, or write something that is winning in script writing competitions. Then they will notice you.

Agents don't make money unless you do. And if you are a total unknown, they won't care.
 
Fair enough, but I didn't even bother to look in websites of big agencies, only "boutique" ones. The ones that have 20 or 30 clients as opposed to hundreds in the big agencies.
 
Lynos,
The agent wants to make money and do very little to get it. So if they see you as a potential moneymaker then they'll want to talk to you. They want people who will get their films made without them so it makes their job easy. You have to be making it happen. Here is the approach I used and it worked for me. I wrote a two line query letter and I didn't ask them for anything. Don't ask. Tell! Use the title of your script/film in the query.

"The financing, cast and crew are in place. Longshot Larry begins shooting on October 15th."

That is all I said. I sent this to the top 10 agencies and 4 of them wanted to know what I was up to. Don't ask them for anything. Make them realize you will get it done with or without them! Even if you don't have anything in place...shake them up a little and make them feel they are missing out by not being involved with you and your career. You are the one who has what they want. They need material. You have it.
 
Kess said:
Lynos,
The agent wants to make money and do very little to get it. So if they see you as a potential moneymaker then they'll want to talk to you. They want people who will get their films made without them so it makes their job easy. You have to be making it happen. Here is the approach I used and it worked for me. I wrote a two line query letter and I didn't ask them for anything. Don't ask. Tell! Use the title of your script/film in the query.

"The financing, cast and crew are in place. Longshot Larry begins shooting on October 15th."

That is all I said. I sent this to the top 10 agencies and 4 of them wanted to know what I was up to. Don't ask them for anything. Make them realize you will get it done with or without them! Even if you don't have anything in place...shake them up a little and make them feel they are missing out by not being involved with you and your career. You are the one who has what they want. They need material. You have it.
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excellent advice:dankk2::beer:
 
Hey Kess,
What I did (before reading your advice) was to send a query letter detailing what I do, with a link to my short film, and some basic information about other screenplays I have.
The only thing you could regard as "asking" was to politely say I'd be happy if they consider my application and that I can provide more information if needed.

I sent it to just three agencies - just to test the waters.

I don't expect any of them to get back to me.

One thing which is not clear from your post: If agents wants to work as little as possible, with you providing the income, why do you need an agent in the first place? Hey, if I'm so renowned and can get things made and can get jobs all on my own, I don't really need any intermediates.

But that's not how it works, does it? They do have to work at it. Unless you're Spielberg, and in that case they just work on the money angle and not on actually getting you a job.

Thanks for your reply.
 
From what I've read and have been told (and I can be totally off). Agents are like gatekeepers. They make sure only "certain people" pass through certain gates. It'll be difficult to talk to high ups if you don't have an agent. And yes agents are only interested in you if they can make money off you. They also give advise and help that only benefits them or what they want. I've talked to several actors (mainly on the indie side) that have told me they have agents, but most of the time the agent doesn't have their best interest at heart.

So basically you (indie filmmaker) want to get with the "in crowd". So you make a great technically and story wise movie and you get some attention. The gatekeepers (agents) say "hey you're cool and not part of the bad crowd, come join us". They introduce you to people and places you couldn't get to otherwise.

At one time I was very upset about this system, but the older I get the more I respect it. If it's true that over 15,000 movies are made in a year and you can make one that is in the top 500, why not have more things not only to set you apart, but to make it harder for the guy who just got a camera and thinks he's a filmmaker all of a sudden.
 
If agents wants to work as little as possible, with you providing the income, why do you need an agent in the first place?
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An agent actively sells you to the business. That's why you want one.

Secondly, many companies won't talk to you directly, they only want to talk to your agent. Why? Because (hard truth here): if you were any good, you'd have an agent. So if you don't have an agent, that means (to them) that you're not any good. Not worth their time. It's hard to hear, but it's generally true; if you're good enough to land a good agent, then you're probably good enough for them to budget the time for a meeting. And if you're not... you're not. They've got to manage their time somehow, and this is pretty much the way the system has evolved.

So it's not so much that the agent is the gatekeeper, as it is that you need to have someone to vouch for you. Someone has to let the big players know that out of the hundreds of thousands of folks vying for their attention, that you're worth giving their half hour to. And who is it that they'll listen to? A respected agent. Why? Because that agent knows very well that if he wastes their time, that's the last time he'll get in front of them. So that agent will only bring the best, or the deals with the best chance of happening.

So getting in with a good agent becomes a high priority -- and almost as impossible. Because how is the agent supposed to sort through the thousands of requests for representation? And how does the agent know that you won't embarrass him, or get the producers and studio bosses annoyed with him for wasting their time?

Well, there's where you need someone to vouch for you (again). Which, the most effective way is to have someone who's already a client of that agent to speak up on your behalf. That'll get you a hearing. Or, if you don't know anyone, then you have to prove yourself otherwise -- win a screenwriting contest, or win top awards at some festivals, etc.

That'll get you listened to. But the agent will need to see something in you that's sellable, before they'll take you on.

Which brings us back to Kess's point -- if you want the very easiest way to get an agent, it's to go broker your own deal. Get yourself hired, through your own efforts, then call up an agent and say "hey, I'm getting hired as a director on a feature film... do you want to negotiate this deal for me?" They'll leap at the chance; all the hard work is done, you've already proven that you're sellable, all they have to do is come in and cross the T's and dot the I's... and, at that point, you now have an agent. Which means that a) you've got someone actively working for you (if they're a decent agent) to get you more work, and b) you can get your projects in front of just about anyone.

Hey, if I'm so renowned and can get things made and can get jobs all on my own, I don't really need any intermediates.
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Oh, yes you do. You always want a "bad cop" you can turn to, who handles all the nasty stuff, so you can be the "good guy" and have someone to blame. The agent is there to do the hard stuff, to do the stuff you don't want to have to deal with, to handle the business and watch the details and make as much for you as they possibly can, so they can make as much OFF you as they possibly can. Freeing you up to focus on what you do best.
 
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Barry's right on the money, as usual. Agents are not there to turn you from a wannabe into an "is". That's your job. Their job is to help you, once you've actually got something going on, to get the best possible deal you can with it. Here's a couple of scenarios:

-Unknown, struggling filmmaker with no clear consensus in the larger cinematic world as to his worthiness for great success (like festival wins, screenwriting or acting awards, reasonably high profile job offers, etc.) = no need for an agent. An agent has almost no chance of making money in the process, so why should he put in the sweat?

-Unknown, struggling filmmaker with a quickly growing consensus in the larger cinematic world as to his worthiness for great success (festival wins, script/acting awards, substantial job offers, etc.) = need for an agent who will get him meetings with studios and business people who can take him to the next level, and protect his position while he's still at this one. An agent will not likely make much money off him/her in the short run, but in the long run, if he does well and keeps the filmmaker's trust/respect it's quite possible he will. It's a pretty good gamble, and many agents (but not likely the biggest ones) will take it.

-Known, successful filmmaker = needs an agent, just like top athletes do, to make sure any deals made are *great*, not just good. Great, that is, for the filmmaker, not the studio/investor/whatever, which is what *their* agent/lawyer what-have-you will get if your agent doesn't make sure they don't. While top agents for these people sometimes earn tons of money for themselves, the general rule is the good ones do so while still making *a lot more for you* than the not-so-good ones do. That, along with great instincts, is how they become top agents...

So that's the metric. Pretty simple, really. Are you (like me) an actor/filmmaker/whatever who has yet to find his phone ringing off the hook with high profile/lucrative job offers/award wins, etc.? If so, then neither of us needs an agent. Not yet, anyway...
 
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Great comments from everybody. The key is to be the person that agents want. They receive hundreds if not thousands of letters per week (their assistant does) from talented writers and directors looking for representation. They will not sign anyone needing much if any help starting a career when there are people out ther making it happen on their own. They get the pick of the litter. There are so many talented people going after so few openings. Agents can make your life much easier. They can get you access to the top talent and top money, but first you must show them you deserve it. So show them. Look at the recent William Morris - Endeavor merger. They booted some top agents as well as top talent...people with resumes many of us would love to have. That merger made me feel much better because I used to be with William Morris and they booted my butt long ago...and they booted my contacts there so we're both out in the street laughing it off. Their new rule is to only sign the top 2% in the business. The pie is getting smaller. So make it happen or else! There are many fine people to work with in the business and all you have to do is find one. One key ally that will open the big doors for you. Most of us can open the small doors on our own, but it's those big doors that some of us aspire to. Figure out what you want and go get it...make it happen.
 
Kess said:
Lynos,
The agent wants to make money and do very little to get it. So if they see you as a potential moneymaker then they'll want to talk to you. They want people who will get their films made without them so it makes their job easy. You have to be making it happen. Here is the approach I used and it worked for me. I wrote a two line query letter and I didn't ask them for anything. Don't ask. Tell! Use the title of your script/film in the query.

"The financing, cast and crew are in place. Longshot Larry begins shooting on October 15th."

That is all I said. I sent this to the top 10 agencies and 4 of them wanted to know what I was up to. Don't ask them for anything. Make them realize you will get it done with or without them! Even if you don't have anything in place...shake them up a little and make them feel they are missing out by not being involved with you and your career. You are the one who has what they want. They need material. You have it.
Click to expand...

I wish I saw this before I started sending out my Query letters... oh well.
 
CapitalP,
Don't worry...they'll forget about you within 30 days (maybe less)...then you can shake them up with your new letter.
 
Brilliant thread, I had a big chat to a couple of people in the industry before I pursued getting an agent. Partly because I hadn't a full idea about what their role would be -- although I watch Entourage which should give the general viewer an idea, albeit glamorised ;)
 
hmm

hmm

Yup, Barry is right, as usual. That's a great explanation too, though.

I had a literary agent for a while, and the reason I went after an agent first was because most publishers don't accept unagented submissions. I was able to send out query letters, and got a few bites, but interestingly the way I got in the door was through a guy who was friends with this agent, had driven him to and from the airport for some writer's convention, and referred another client to him (a lady who went on to sell her book to a publisher, so he was grateful for this referral), but he was not himself represented. He was a fiction writer but his stuff wasn't quite ready for the big time I guess. Anyway, he managed to forward the query letter to this agent (whose secretary or whatever had actually rejected my query letter!), who loved it, and asked to see the proposal. I sent him the book proposal, which usually they take 2-4 weeks to read. He wrote back in 4 days and said he wanted to see the entire manuscript, he loved the proposal. I was in high school! So I was freaking out, but said ok sure, and I had to make a few finishing touches (which was unprofessional, it should have been fully ready, but I didn't realize it would only take someone a few days to read the proposal; all of the books prepared me for a long process). So I sent it out, and he read it over the weekend and sent me via e-mail the agency contract! I was ridiculous excited, haha. That was probably one of my high points so far...

Now I want an agent again, but as a director / screenwriter instead.
 
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