Literary Agents

A

Andrew McCarrick

Carbonite Member
Looking to know if anybody has knows of any good literary agents? Got three screenplays with two others in development. Really the goal is to find producers for my projects, but none are willing to look at them without some kind of agent.
 
Andrew,
Some agents will look at your work, but most agents want a referral as well. How can you make your own press? Generate your name in the press and they will come calling. Your next step is to produce your own films or find those small producers still willing to review your work.. Take charge!

Curtis Kessinger
www.filmschoolnow.com
 
me a lot longer then 11 years - ive written over a dozen features - got tired of working with producers over the years trying to get them made - now i just beg borrow and steal and make my own films with gh2 - whatever camera is around that's handy - happy as a pig in .......
 
kevin baggott said:
me a lot longer then 11 years - ive written over a dozen features - got tired of working with producers over the years trying to get them made - now i just beg borrow and steal and make my own films with gh2 - whatever camera is around that's handy - happy as a pig in .......
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Got no camera. And $1500 in debt with maxed out credit cards. Can't afford to buy one. Don't know anybody that owns one.
 
Here we go again...

Okay, simple hard truth: agents don't look at newbies' screenplays, because the overwhelmingly vast majority of them suck horribly (the screenplays, not the agents). If you don't have a referral from an existing client, they're not going to look at you.

A few agents will read unsolicited screenplays, but by and large they aren't the best agents, because the best agents already have more work than they can handle.

Everybody wants a referral. Nobody wants to waste time on the 99.8% of horrific crap out there.

How do you know if your stuff is in the 99.8%? Well, if it's your first screenplay, the odds are 99.99999999999% that it's horrible. That's just the way it is. It's like when a baby tries walking for the first time, frankly, they're terrible at it. People get excited when babies take their first steps, but really, they're not very good. They stumble around and fall... so if you tried calling up a sports agent and said "my baby is walking now, so I want you to represent her" -- um, yeah, good luck with that, you can clearly and obviously see why the agent would say "hell no." Now, take that baby, let her age and train for 14 years, have her win some statewide and regional gymnastics competitions, and now the agent might be interested.

So your scripts need validation. Real validation that they're really, actually good. Worth the agent's time to read them. How do you get that validation? Either through a professional writer (who already HAS an agent) who reads it and refers it to their own agent, or ... well, the other way in is with a screenplay contest. Win a national screenwriting contest, and agents will request to read your screenplays. Win, or place -- many contests offer 2nd and 3rd place, and the agents will request to read those too.

Doesn't have to be the biggest contest in the world, you don't HAVE to win a Nicholl fellowship or SxSW just to get someone to read your script (although clearly that helps). Go to MovieBytes and find some upcoming contests that list that your scripts will be read by some working literary agents, and enter those.

And if you don't win or even place in any of the contests that you enter? Well, that's a pretty good sign that your scripts are probably in the 99.8%. Throw 'em on the shelf, and start over. Lather, rinse, and repeat until you achieve success.
 
Well, then I guess it's the "tough love" time of the discussion. If your script isn't even worth a $30 entry fee, I can guarantee you it isn't worth an agent's time.

If you believe in it, you'll find a way to make $30.

And if a tiny, insignificant obstacle such as a simple lack of $30 is enough to stop you, then you definitely don't want to go anywhere near filmmaking. It's a tough business and it's constant obstacles to be overcome, constantly.

Never heard of anyone in filmmaking who would be stopped by a lack of thirty bucks.
 
Andrew... Come on. It is major reality check time. If you can't get a job at wal mart, how can you possibly expect some investor to hand over hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to you to make films with?

You say you've worked for 10 years at this, and for all your efforts you can't scrape up thirty bucks? Obviously this is either a joke you're playing on all of us, or you're so completely in over your head that it isn't funny, it's delusional.

If you were serious about this, you'd find a way to make it happen. If you can't or won't be bothered to find a way, then you're obviously not cut out for filming. Pack it in, don't waste another ten years chasing your own tail. If you had just gotten a job ten years ago, you'd be in the exact same position (no films made and no prospect of getting any made) but you'd have made at least a hundred thousand dollars over the last ten years! You'd have something to show for it, and you'd have the skillset to be able to make $30 appear.

Heck, if you were serious, you'd sell the computer you keep typing on, to raise the money.

Kindest thing I can suggest is you should quit now. Go get a burger job and save every penny you make until you can afford to go to a trade school. Become a plumber or a mechanic. Live life. Save. Revisit film in ten years after you've made your own way in the world. You might still want to do it, and you could now afford to. Or you might find that you have no interest anymore. But at least you wouldn't have wasted ANOTHER decade going in circles.
 
I've literally tried every company in the area. They're completely staffed up. I can't force somebody to hire me. It's not that they're not willing to, it's just when I attempt to, they have absolutely no positions open. And on top of it, i couldn't probably even get 20 bucks for the computer I'm typing on.
 
Oh, not again. I'm tired of Barry Green. Every time I try to jump in and post a response, he's already written everything I was going to write, only better (and I worked at a major talent agency!).

Andrew, please don't take it the wrong way, but unless you toughen up, you are not going to succeed in the film business. People struggle with a lot bigger problems than just lack of money, and they're not allowing it to stop them. I'm going to tell you something I have not revealed here until this moment. I was supposed to get started on a self-financed feature (total budget: $10K!) this year. I had the money, and I was set to go Jan 7. I was having some health issues the last 6 months of 2011, and I finally went to have 'em checked out. Two days before X-mas, I got the phone call. Malignant cancer. Yes, I have insurance. But guess what, there are still a ton of out of pocket expenses. I've already had one surgery, and I'm having another one this coming Tuesday. The film money is gone, plus a lot more. I'm in debt right now. But you know what? I'm not giving up. I swore I am going forward this year. My crew will be for free - wife and friends. I'll just have to make it for less than $10K. But I'm shooting, even if I have to do it dragging an IV stand around with me. Cause nobody knows how long you've got on this green earth. I want to direct my script - life is short, and I don't want to postpone it. Grab your opportunity. It's there - always.

I assume you are healthy, and not in much debt. I envy you. Want to swap places? Didn't think so. I'm going forward with my project. How about you?

P.S. Don't waste time feeling sorry for me. I don't. I'm not looking for sympathy. Go forth and conquer!
 
Andrew, I'm kinda confused and also fascinated that you live in a place where there is literally no work. I think you actually might have a cool story for a script there if it's as depressing as it sounds. Um, if you still can't find a job, I'm always looking for guys to roto stuff! Lemme know if you're interested.

OldCorpse said:
P.S. Don't waste time feeling sorry for me. I don't. I'm not looking for sympathy. Go forth and conquer!
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Hey OldCorpse - all the best. And if you want to borrow my sound equip for a few days, lemme know. The mic may still have some residual cocaine on it after Zak's DOWN AND DANGEROUS shoot but that just means that the sound guy can lick it to get an energy boost to continue holding that boom for the 22nd hour.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
If you want to shoot local but no-one is hiring then maybe an internship? If nothing else it lets you network. Might end up with a side job here and there and before you know it things turn around.

Steve
 
Thanks guys, I'm humbled by your kind words and offers. However, I'd prefer not to make a big deal out of this - I do not see myself as disadvantaged in any way. My condition is controllable, and the docs are super optimistic. I am not handicapped in any way, I make small adjustments on treatment days, just as someone else may have to make adjustments for something else. I'm not being any kind of hero here, it's my way of dealing with it in that I do not accept a victim status. That, I guess is the secret. Once you put a label on yourself, your brain does a trick on you, and you start seeing yourself in that light. If you accept yourself as a victim, you will act like one, subconsciously. Which is why I thank profusely, but decline special favors. Don't get me wrong, I'm very humbled and grateful for the offers, but I gotta protect myself psychologically. I am fully capable, and that's the way I want to see myself and be treated by others. So let's drop the subject :)

My message is simple: how you see yourself determines how you act, and how you act will determine what happens to you. For Andrew: you have to empower yourself. You are in control of yourself. Yes, there are obstacles, but that's completely normal, and your job is to overcome them. Let nothing stop you. Make your movie. Good luck!
 
I'm not speaking to anyone here particularly - but its been said "advice is so rarely useful because look how freely it is given." Andrew yer fine - it's just life - you'll figure out what you need to figure out in yer own time. That's my advice :)
 
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