Got a shot with an agent

A

Ammar

Member
Hey everyone.

Okay so long story short: I start a Masters course in screenwriting, I write the science fiction film of my life over a year with months of non-stop writing and hit draft 1. I finish the Masters course for this year. I spend months at home to work on draft 2. Months later and draft 2 is almost complete.

During the Masters course I meet a couple of agents including one who is a very nice young lady. I pitched a second screenplay idea to her, again science fiction and she loved it, saying it was a great pitch and great idea and that - and this is killer - when I finish my first screenplay I should send it to her to be considered for representation.

So - I emailed her today and said draft 2 of my screenplay is due to be complete this month, as in finished in August 2008.

She says, even though the agency generally don't accept unsolicited material, that due to her promise she will read the screenplay and give me a shot.

Obviously, my response was oh my god. I actually have a shot in getting an agent. And if there's anything I learned from meeting all those film execs from major studios it's that you must have an agent to have a shot at having your screenplay read, optioned and produced.

So I'm really happy and excited. I'm going to spend the next few weeks working hard to finish the screenplay.

The project began in February 2007, so that's 18 months from initial concept to second draft - with only a few weeks to go.

Any advice from the screenwriters here before I make the final run?

Ammar
 
That's awesome! Good luck and I hope your script sells. I watched a podcast from filmnut that said you might be better off with a manager. But representation is still awesome.
 
Congratulations on getting the agent to read your material. A few tips. How many people have reviewed your script? You should have at least 3 people review it...no relatives...people that will give you real coverage...a real critique. Getting this agent to read your material is a great opportunity so you want your script to be the best piece of writing you can possibly write. I know you are excited and want to rush your material off to the agent, but two drafts may not be enough to get the script ready. Maybe you can write a great script in two drafts...but most people cannot. Find readers who will provide feedback to ensure your success.
 
Congrats. You might want to develop some other loglines too or perhaps you have some other completed scripts? They might ask that you know,
"What else ya got kid?" You want hit them between the eyes if they ask that.

Btw, a good rule of thumb is complete two scripts per year.

2 cents
 
Thanks for the positive comments guys. I have had some fellow screenwriters on the course read the screenplay and give me honest feedback - and draft 2 has been heavily centred on the feedback from those writers and my tutor. So I have had some close to professional and honest feedback. Without it I don't think it would have moved from draft 1.

I believe I can write a great script in 2 drafts, purely based on the amount of work I've put in. When I was writing draft 1 I was writing for 10 hour days. The change from draft 1 to draft 2 was absolutely immense. The way I work is that really this is more like 3 drafts as my progress went:

Draft 1 - March build (5 months of writing)
Draft 2 - July build (3 months of writing)
Draft 2.5 - September build (2 more months of writing)

That is in addition to about a year or two before that generating the concept and story ideas. As we know as writers the writing comes after a long period of preparation. So really this is draft 2.5.

The last thing I'm going to do is send something out early. I believe it really is close to something that will get me an agent.

You do have good advice - so thank you for your comments. I think I have enough feedback to finalise draft 2 as the best thing I've ever written.

As for other ideas - that's a good point. If she does say "anything else?" I need to be ready with some more ammunition. I have two other fully written science fiction concepts, one of which I got extremely positive feedback on so I think that will be my reload.
 
I think it'd be interesting if you shared a little bit about your preparation. Like how you go about coming up with characters, story ideas, etc.

I'm currently in that stage with a new script I'm working on and would love to learn from fellow writers.
 
What's the next step? Like Brian said, prepare a rota of loglines for new projects, and possibly develop them into treatments.

Secondly, I would write faster. I don't know what it took you almost a year to write the spec. In hollywood if you're going to land a gig (if my memory serves me well) you normally have three months to hand in a first draft.

Ultimately all the above rests on your spec and the agents reaction to it. If she likes it, she should try and hook you up with a manager if you feel you want/need one.

Is this agent in London or LA? Who is the agency?

EJ
 
Writing the screenplay was coupled with learning screenwriting and pursuing the course at the same time. The year I spent writing the science fiction project was my first year to break into it.

As for three months - that is likely to be true for a writing gig thoughfor a spec screenplay it really is upto you how long you want to spend writing it. All those on my course who wrote their specs in 2 or 3 months ended up with nothing special to be honest.

Maybe I have taken too long, but I'd rather my first spec be the best thing I've ever written and take the time to reach that objective.

I'm averaging about 4 months a draft and I think I'm content with that. The agency is in London and the woman is probably the nicest person in the film industry over here I've met thus far.

I think a year for your first screenplay - considering you're learning at the same time - that results in two or three drafts is an appropriate amount of time. I'd imagine my second screenplay would be written in 5 or 6 months.

At the same time, my screenplay is an extremely high concept science fiction project in line with The Matrix films which I think deserves to be given a year. If were given a conventional dialogue driven assignment I could probably run that off in 3 months.

It really depends on what film you're writing, and I wrote my dream project. I think the extended development time is necessary for this project. I suppose everyone just works at their own pace.

Ammar
 
Ninja: I will come up with a reply about idea preparation, it just might take awhile to write and right now I need to sleep.
 
this is advice i have read, and can't speak from experience.

that being said, i've read that you should have 4 or 5 other screenplay ideas and pitches ready for the question "what else are you working on?".

good luck!
 
Anmar,
Might I suggest developing a few pitches for non-science-fiction type scripts as well. You will want to be able to give them ideas based on what type of scripts they normally produce. Your agent may only send out your sci-fi script to producers in that genre, but if not then you will want to be able to pitch almost any genre if they ask for something. Now that you have detailed your prep and time spent your script sounds like it is ready. I had the chance to talk with Scott Frank (Oscar-nominated writer) and he spends a year on some of his scripts....writing full time. It can take that kind of time to develop the layers requried for a great script. Scripts can be done much faster, but it all depends on the writer. I'm not the fastest writer in the world.

Let us know how your meetings go once you start doing meet and greets with industry people! Knock them out! I put together a great article on pitching if you would like to read it...it might help you in your meetings. Send me an email at curtis@filmschoolnow.com
 
Preparation

I've thought for a while about what I would write about preparation and to be honest - I'm haing trouble coming up with much.

I think the way I did it was essentially this: go for a long walks at night (I'm serious) and take a note pad with you. And just daydream, and daydream and write things down. I went on the train into London a hundreds times and wrote so much. So that's one thing. Idea generation comes from subconscious thoughts and daydreams. Write down everything you can.

In terms of story and character brainstorms are always awesome. Blast some amazing and emotional music and just type away. Keep everything. See what your mind can create. Music is a major one. Everything I write comes from music.

I always also construct the screenplay like this: I write every part of the film as a short sequence, or even short film and then draw them together. So my screenplay is actually 53 separate documents, or sequences. It is way easier to edit and change the screenplay this way and you can concentrate on specific sequences at a time.

So use your imagination and dream is probably my best advice. You just have to have a folder for your project and generate documents for everything - scene ideas, the look of the character, an emotive setpiece - literally anything. My final screenplay is obviously one document, but it was generated from around 2000, and counting.

Single word documents with 4 lines, are usually great ideas that make up the screenplay. I really wish I could elaborate on system to create - but really I daydream and write everything down.

A good way to do it is to just rough draft a sequence and see what you write. My best ideas to be honest - have literally just come to me. Images and visuals just appear in my head.

I'm not sure if that's much help but your mind in its idle state is very powerful. I hope some of this helps you. I'd probably better be responding to a specific question - though the above outlines my basic technique.

Ammar
 
Ammar said:
And if there's anything I learned from meeting all those film execs from major studios it's that you must have an agent to have a shot at having your screenplay read, optioned and produced.
Click to expand...

this is somewhat unsettling. granted I am still young (a fourth year undergraduate film major) I don't like hearing that the only way to get any of your material read is to have some sort of professional representation. so I want to clarify - do you think this is just how it is for some or most people trying to make their way in the industry, or is professional representation in one form or another really an absolute necessity for a writer of any sort?
 
Finnegan said:
this is somewhat unsettling. granted I am still young (a fourth year undergraduate film major) I don't like hearing that the only way to get any of your material read is to have some sort of professional representation. so I want to clarify - do you think this is just how it is for some or most people trying to make their way in the industry, or is professional representation in one form or another really an absolute necessity for a writer of any sort?
Click to expand...

Fin,

If this is somewhat unsettling to you, then you need to do your homework on Hollywood if that's your target and goal.

You don't need an agent nor manager to get an exec at a company to read your spec. You can simply phone, email or write a query and get a request based just from that.

You have a FAR BETTER CHANCE of getting your material sold tho if you have an agent or manager -- or both. Agents and managers help get your spec into a place where its ready, and when its ready, they release it over LA and 30 or so companies often have 48hrs to decide whether to buy it or not.

Trying to create that type of 48hr situation by yourself, as an unrepped writer, is completely impossible. Agents and managers have working relationships with industry people on a completely different level to what we writers do, so having them as part of your team -- if you're serious about selling a spec to Hollywood -- should always be your first port of call.

Of course there's always people who slip through the gaps and sell by themselves, heck even Kyle recently went around a sale in a weird manner (lawyer) but these stories are very slim to none IMO.

Hope this helps.

EJ
 
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