Done Deal Pro (donedealpro.com). This invaluable site tracks script, book, treatment, and pitch sales and options on a daily basis. More important, subscribers can search a sales database of over 7000 deals by title, writer, writer’s agent or manager, company, and genre.
For each individual sale listed, users can click on agency, management firm, law firm and company names to find contact information, companies’ interests (i.e. preferred genres), submission policies and type of material accepted, as well as staff member names.
In other words, if you’ve written a screenplay about a heist, you can do a genre search on “caper” (it’s that specific) and get information on all the caper movie screenplays (including development deals, not just produced films) sold or optioned since 1997. (Out of curiosity I just did that search, and found 13 caper script listings, including the names and contact information for the production companies and agents involved.)
Done Deal Pro has added goodies, like a free newsletter, development-related industry news, interviews, a searchable database of screenwriting contests and contest deadline alerts. If your budget limits you to only one paid subscription site (as of this writing, it’s only $23.95 a year), I’d make it this one.
The Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). This is a simply amazing site, offering listings of pretty much every American movie ever made, plus lots of foreign ones and TV shows as well, along with log lines, tag lines, release dates, artists involved, cast lists (including character names), and reviews.
IMDbPro.com. For a small monthly fee, you get access to this premium section of the IMDb site. It will provide you with everything mentioned above, plus any available representation and contact information for the writers, producers, directors and stars listed. If you plug in the code screenplay05, you can get a one-month free trial to check it out.
boxofficemojo.com. An essential source for estimating just how profitable your antecedents were, so you’re not referencing any box office disasters in your pitch.
hollywoodlitsales.com. Also mentioned in the Directories section above. Check it out to see if the information from The Spec Screenplay Sales Directory is available, plus other info about potential buyers and upcoming pitch fests.
hollywoodreporter.com and variety.com. The two main film industry trade papers are also available, by subscription, on line. Better than print subscriptions, because it saves trees, and it’s easier to research past issues online (unless you want to be seen reading The Hollywood Reporter in your local Starbucks, so people will be impressed that you’re in the biz).
These sites are your best sources for the latest information on the film and television industries — executive shuffles at the studios, foreign and domestic box office and ratings, reviews, gossip, stock prices, and a whole lot of other stuff you won’t need in order to market your script, but which you might find interesting. These are very expensive resources compared to the other subscription sites, although each offers a free one-month trial subscription.
Just those seven sites will provide you with more information than you can probably handle on prospective targets for your screenplay. But I’ve added some additional sites below that are great sources of information on the craft and business of screenwriting:
ScreenplayMastery.com. This is my website. That’s why it’s listed first.
goasa.com. This free website, and Script Notes, the American Screenwriters Association monthly newsletter, are filled with lots of good information. But my real reason for listing this site is to urge you to join the organization (I’m on their Board of Directors).
Membership offers lots of perks, including discounts on products and services, a discounted entry fee for their annual screenwriting competition, a script registration service, and reduced admission to Selling to Hollywood, one of the best screenwriting conferences in existence.
wordplayer.com. This site is written by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, who wrote Shrek, The Mask of Zorro, Aladdin, all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and a bunch of other huge hits. The wonderful articles offer an insider’s look at the craft of screenwriting, as well as examining the entire process of building and maintaining a career in Hollywood.
creativescreenwriting.com. In addition to the monthly magazine mentioned above, Creative Screenwriting — sponsor of the annual Screenwriting EXPO and its PitchXchange — offers information and past articles on their website. You can also subscribe to their free e-zine, CSWeekly, which offers more information and advice, plus interviews with successful screenwriters who reveal how they practice their craft, and how they successfully broke into the business.
writersstore.com. This is the best single source of books and software on all aspects of writing. They also have a great monthly e-zine that’s free. But mostly I want to mention them because they’re terrific people, and have always been really supportive. So they deserve it.
ScreenplayMastery.com. This is still my website. That’s why it’s listed twice.
Fiction Writing Websites
These sites all offer listings and contact information on agents and publishers, as well as articles, advice and information on the publishing industry. Again, this list is by no means exhaustive. There are countless other fiction sites which offer great information, but which don’t provide listings of potential buyers, so I didn’t include them. This is just a starting point for additional web research you’ll do as you gather information appropriate for your work.
Just a reminder, many of the agencies and publishers listed in these sites, and in the directories above, say they won’t consider new clients or accept unsolicited material. But if they seem ideal for your book proposal, you’re going to pursue them anyway, right?
Publishers Weekly (publishersweekly.com) is the place I’d start any research into the publishing world. It’s huge, with lots of information on all aspects of the industry, though not as targeted, and without some of the services, as the sites that follow.
The Association of Authors’ Representatives (aaronline.org). This is a nonprofit organization for independent literary and dramatic agents. It has a database and FAQs, plus articles and links. The listings include agent names, agencies, addresses, and sometimes email addresses, submission guidelines, genres represented and whether or not they’re accepting new clients.
authorlink.com. An abundance of information and links on all aspects of writing and marketing your book proposal. Some of it’s free, but to access agent directory listings and other offerings requires a small monthly membership fee ($6/month as of this writing). The site also includes more expensive membership levels, including opportunities for critiques, and to showcase your work (see Internet Listings in Chapter 6).
bookpitch.com. An extremely comprehensive site offering information and guidance and all aspects of getting your work published. Also offers showcase opportunities for your work (see Internet Listings in Chapter 6).
Book Wire (bookwire.com). With all kinds of information on the entire publishing industry, this can be a good resource for finding out who’s publishing what, and tracking down publishers by genre.
FictionAddiction.net. I find this site to be really simple and straightforward, unlike some of the others that offer so much information it’s hard to slog through it all. This one has agent and publisher info, publishing news and articles on all aspects of fiction writing and selling.
forwriters.com. This site offers links to markets, including publishing houses, magazines and periodicals, and internet sites that buy fiction, as well as some agencies. There are also links and/or information on reference sites, writers groups, conventions, author sites and forums.
Spec Fiction World (specficworld.com). is geared mainly to Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy writing, though it provides some contact information on agencies and publishers outside those genres. It also offers advice on writing, links to other fiction writing sites, and information on books about writing, forums, rights and contracts, upcoming conventions, writing workshops,
book distributors and search engines for writers.
Telephone Research
Here are a couple other methods for tracking down agents or buyers, if your other research hasn’t gotten you to them.
Let’s say you’ve looked at film credits for three period love stories, and now have the names of five separate screenwriters. You know that whoever represents them is probably open to marketing scripts in that genre, since they’ve already done it successfully.
To find the names and contact information for their agents, call the Agency Department of the Writers Guild of America. They’ll give you the names of the writers’ agents (or lawyers or managers, if the writers have no agents). Then look up those agents’ contact information on donedealpro.com, IMDbPro.com or in the Hollywood Creative Directory Representation Directory (see above). And of course, see if they’re crossed referenced in the The Studio Report: Film Development or at donedealpro.com, to learn what projects they’ve recently represented and sold.
To find a book author’s agent in the same way, phone the publisher of his book, ask for the subsidiary rights department, and ask who represents the author or who represents the film rights to the book. This will usually lead you to the agent or attorney who negotiated his deal.
Sometimes you can find out which agency represents a writer, but not the name of the individual agent. In that case, just phone the agency switchboard and ask.
Similarly, if you don’t know the most appropriate person at a production company to target, and the directories above don’t make it clear, just phone the company and ask, “Who is in charge of development for your company?” If the person who answers doesn’t know, just say, “Who would be the best person at the company for me to contact about a screenplay I have the rights to?” This is true by the way — you do own the rights to your own screenplay — and is usually a more effective way of getting the answer you want from the receptionist than telling him you’re a screenwriter.
If you can’t find a particular production company, call the switchboard for the studio that distributed the producer’s most recent film, and ask if they have a number for the company. Often the producer has an office on the lot, or has left a contact number.
And of course, there’s always directory assistance. Almost every Hollywood production company and agency will be found in the 213, 323, 310, 424, or 818 area codes.
If you can’t locate a specific agent or company through your contacts, the directories and websites listed above, or by calling the publishers, the guilds, the studios and directory assistance, the buyer has probably moved on to selling Amway, real estate or drugs, and isn’t the best target for your pitch anyway.
So now that you’ve done more research than you did in four whole years of college, what do you do with all this information? How do you turn lists of names, titles, companies, credits and box office receipts into a plan of action?
Targeting the Right Executive
When you’ve selected a producer or publisher you want to pursue with your screenplay or book proposal, be sure to identify the right individual to approach at that company. Unless you have a personal relationship with someone higher up the food chain, the development executive at the production company is the person to contact. This could be the Director of Development, Vice President of Creative Affairs, Story Editor or any other title that implies that this person’s job is to find publishable manuscripts, or screenplays with production potential.
At publishing houses, look first for editors — preferably those who were involved with the novels you’re using as antecedents.
Agencies don’t work quite the same way; if you identify an agent who you’ve heard speak at a conference, or who has successfully represented a writer with a project similar to yours in genre or demographic, pursue that agent directly.
Large agencies also have story editors — people who manage the staff of readers, but who aren’t agents themselves. These individuals are excellent prospects to target, because if they read your material and like it, they can direct it to the most appropriate agents at their companies.
And don’t neglect the possibility of contacting assistants and readers at any of these companies directly. These are usually the people who will end up reading your work initially anyway. If they can be persuaded to look at your project, and they like it, their bosses will hear about it. Remember, your goal is ultimately to get anyone at any of your target companies to read your stuff.
Of course, if you attend a pitch fest, you get whoever the buyers send. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Even if they haven’t yet reached powerful positions with their companies, their job is to hear pitches and screen material. And they’re desperate to find good scripts, because it’s the best way for them to advance their own careers.
Pitch Fest Research
A frequent problem at conferences and pitch marts is having no opportunity to research a buyer. The final list of companies in attendance is handed to you the morning of your pitch. Companies don’t show, new ones get added at the last minute, or openings for pitching slots open up, and all of a sudden you’re signed up to pitch a buyer you’ve never heard of, or who you didn’t know would be there.
To prepare for this, have as many resources available as you can: bring a notebook computer, pda or cell phone with remote internet access; have copies of at least one or two directories with you; have a friend or significant other with internet access standing by at home to look stuff up for you; ask other attendees if they know anything about the company; and of course, read the company blurb provided by the festival sponsors.
If you simply can’t find any information about a company prior to meeting them, simply acknowledge the person for being there, and launch into your pitch. What’s the worst that can happen? So what if you discover you’re pitching your slasher movie to a Christian cable network? It’ll still be good practice.
The 10 Steps to a Powerful Hit List
Armed with all of the resources outlined in the previous chapter, you’re now well equipped to design a targeted list of the strongest possible buyers for your screenplay or novel.
The process outlined focuses a lot on movies and books similar to yours in genre. But don’t limit yourself to that criteria. If a company has produced or published several of your favorite films or books, add them to the list. And add anyone a contact recommends as well, or anyone you hear speak, or learn about in your research, who impresses you, or has a great reputation, or is actively looking for a variety of projects, or who just seems like they’re worth a shot.
Many buyers don’t want to be involved in the same kind of project over and over, and you might come along just when they’ve decided to do a story like yours for the first time. So when in doubt, track them down. It’s better to have a list that’s too long than too short.
Here are the ten basic steps to tracking down the specific people you’re going to approach:
Once your story is far enough along that you feel comfortable telling people about it, prepare a short log line or 10-second pitch as you continue writing it. (Don’t wait until it’s ready to submit to begin tracking down potential buyers.)
Contact all the people in your network who aren’t potential buyers (you’ll save them for when your script or book is ready), and give them your log line. Then ask if they can suggest any appropriate antecedents you may not have thought of, and if they can recommend any agents, producers or publishers they know, or have heard of, who they think would be appropriate for you to contact when it’s ready.
Go to sources like newyorktimes.com to look through their lists of movie or book reviews for the last few years to see what additional antecedents you can spot.
Do a search for titles in your genre on amazon.com, netflix.com, imdb.com, publishersweekly.com, bookwire.com and/or forwriters.com to complete your list of published or produced antecedents for your story.
Now go to back to publishersweekly.com (for your novel idea) or to donedealpro.com and T
he Studio Report: Film Development (for your movie idea) to read about what recent deals have been made for books and screenplays within your genre.
You should now have a lengthy list of antecedents and projects in development. Now you want to research each title one by one to find the names of the key buyers involved in each project: the authors’ representatives, and the production companies or publishers.
6. For those sites that have direct links to contact information on the buyers involved, add those addresses, phone numbers and emails to your list.
7. For buyers whose contact information isn’t listed, go to directories like the Hollywood Creative Directory or The Writer’s Market.
8. For companies where the individual agent or editor isn’t identified, phone the company switchboard and ask who it is.
9. If you can’t identify the writer’s representative in any other way, call the publisher of the novel or the Writers Guild of America and ask.
10. Finally, go back to all the appropriate resources and search for the buyer’s other projects, to get a better sense of the individual’s taste and track record, and to accumulate information for establishing rapport.
Follow these ten steps throughout the writing process, and I guarantee you’ll have a long, targeted list of potential buyers to contact once your screenplay or book proposal is ready to submit.
Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds Page 7