Query letter rejections.

TheJetBlack

TheJetBlack

Active member
So, yeah. For the past eight months, I've been sending out query letters to production companies listed on the Hollywood Creative Directory for the three features I've written and... the only the replies I got back were rejection letters.

Any stories, feedback, or tips any professional screenwriter here would like to offer? It'd be appreciate.
 
Eight months? That's a heartbreak I don't nearly have enough patience as you do. I sent to about 20 different agencies that I found in the Wga website (my bad) and never got a response, except for one. And yes it was a rejection letter. Gave up shortly after that. Made another script, did the same. Got the same result. Don't take my steps though, just keep going for it. You obviously are extremely determined!
 
Don't take it personally. It's a numbers game. Put yourself in their shoes. Producers/agents receive hundreds if not a thousand letters per week...or more...and they are receiving up to one hundred scripts per week. They have enough material coming from their contacts that they have a tough time thinking anyone who doesn't have contacts can write anything worth their while. Make sense? So the real million dollar question is how does one stand out from the crowd? Can a query letter make you stand out? Maybe, but very rarely to a known successful producer. The best answer is to make some noise in the business or make the contacts that can get you referred to the right people. Are you a screenwriter or a filmmaker? Filmmakers that can get their films done have a huge advantage over screenwriters right? They make their own noise. If you want to be a screenwriter and sell your work then you will have to make the contacts.
 
Kess said:
Don't take it personally. It's a numbers game. Put yourself in their shoes. Producers/agents receive hundreds if not a thousand letters per week...or more...and they are receiving up to one hundred scripts per week. They have enough material coming from their contacts that they have a tough time thinking anyone who doesn't have contacts can write anything worth their while. Make sense? So the real million dollar question is how does one stand out from the crowd? Can a query letter make you stand out? Maybe, but very rarely to a known successful producer. The best answer is to make some noise in the business or make the contacts that can get you referred to the right people. Are you a screenwriter or a filmmaker? Filmmakers that can get their films done have a huge advantage over screenwriters right? They make their own noise. If you want to be a screenwriter and sell your work then you will have to make the contacts.
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I agree with the last comment. It's much more an advantage to become a filmmaker. Perhaps you will have to ditch out a couple of bucks more (just a couple), but it's better than sitting around waiting for a bird to come popping in your window.
 
SieteNegro said:
I agree with the last comment. It's much more an advantage to become a filmmaker. Perhaps you will have to ditch out a couple of bucks more (just a couple), but it's better than sitting around waiting for a bird to come popping in your window.
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I also agree with Kess' comment as well. I am a filmmaker too, but not very experienced. Only in no-budget filmmaking. I pretty much film the scripts that aren't so great to get practice, but the scripts that are good -- I want professionals to film it so it can do the script justice... but recently, I've been thinking about learning however much I can filmmaking-wise and raise money via grants and film it myself with a good enough sized crew/cast.

You're lucky to even get rejection letters. Seriously.
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****. Being a screenwriter's tough.
 
You guys seriously need to reconsider what you really want to do if you're willing to throw in the towel after a few months and few rejections. Nothing worthwhile ever happens overnight.
 
David Jimerson said:
You guys seriously need to reconsider what you really want to do if you're willing to throw in the towel after a few months and few rejections. Nothing worthwhile ever happens overnight.
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Yes, take heart in the fact that it took me 20 years to make any money off my writing...Sorry if that's not more encouraging.
 
when the press tells success stories, they always exaggerate the "overnight" part- people like to hear these stories because it gives them hope that they can get success through luck and a minimum of frustration and work. Noone wants to hear that you have to bust your ass for 10-20 years. According to Brian Tracy, motivational speaker, most successful people wander a bit in their 20's, finally decide to stick to one goal in their 30's, and reach success at 45-55.

You wont see that on TV. They'd rather tell you about the stripper who got lucky.
 
memento515 said:
According to Brian Tracy, motivational speaker, most successful people wander a bit in their 20's, finally decide to stick to one goal in their 30's, and reach success at 45-55.

You wont see that on TV. They'd rather tell you about the stripper who got lucky.
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This is such an important point, and one that is far too rarely discussed. Media attention automatically filters out the also-rans. No one cares about the 'losers'...so no one hears about them...so (almost) no one realizes what a vastly disproportionate numer of them there are. The same thing applies to movies themselves, musical artists, novels, etc. Only the winners - that is, the ones who actually got the thing into the threshold of public attention - are on the public radar (even if the work is deemed a 'flop' at the box office or what have you). It leads to a completely skewed point of view for those who are not 'in the trenches' of one of the entertainment industry. The effect is to make it look far easier to succeed, and far less understandable when the product is not viewed favorably.

I run into this misconception on a regular basis with non-industry types and industry beginners/wannabees...
 
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Send your screenplays to good contests, instead of to agents or production companies. If you win or place highly at a recognized national screenwriting contest, then the agents will come contacting you. And if you don't win or place highly, then your screenplay probably isn't all that great in the first place, right? Gobs of contests available at moviebytes.com. Even winning a lame contest is better than not winning anything; if your query letter has a logline but nothing else, it'll likely be rejected because -- and here's the harsh truth -- 99% of screenplays are awful. Simply horrible. And agents don't want to waste time with that 99%, they only want the 1%. So if your query letter says "winner, best screenplay, Ann Arbor Film Festival" or "Quarterfinalist, 2010 Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships" you just might get read.
 
Barry_Green said:
Send your screenplays to good contests, ... And if you don't win or place highly, then your screenplay probably isn't all that great in the first place, right?....
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FWIW, I have corresponded with a screenwriter who sold his screenplay for seven figures and who gets paid $300,000-$700,000 for script doctoring, and we talked about contests, and he thought very little of them, because he said they generally reward writers who write artsy type stories, not more formulaic non-artsy stories that fare well at the box office and are loved by prodcos but that contests kind of despise. Even the top contests (Nichol, etc) he thinks little of. True or not, you decide, just pointing out an alternative viewpoint that would say just because you do not win a contest or even place it the finals does not mean your script is bad, in fact your script might be highly commercial. Or junk. But NOT winning a contest does not mean the script is bad, just not what the contest judges are looking for.
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Randall_Oelerich said:
FWIW, I have corresponded with a screenwriter who sold his screenplay for seven figures and who gets paid $300,000-$700,000 for script doctoring, and we talked about contests, and he thought very little of them, because he said they generally reward writers who write artsy type stories, not more formulaic non-artsy stories that fare well at the box office and are loved by prodcos but that contests kind of despise. Even the top contests (Nichol, etc) he thinks little of. True or not, you decide, just pointing out an alternative viewpoint that would say just because you do not win a contest or even place it the finals does not mean your script is bad, in fact your script might be highly commercial. Or junk. But NOT winning a contest does not mean the script is bad, just not what the contest judges are looking for.
r
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I agree with this.

I actually haven't tried sending query letters to agents yet, only production companies. So I think I'll try that next. :grin:
 
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