Writing for the Green Light

by Scott Kirkpatrick

  After you’ve made first contact by email or phone, and after you’ve presented the goods (emailed a requested copy of your script and/or discussed a few ideas that are in alignment with what that particular company is looking for), you simply need to ask for the meeting. Nothing overwhelming here, just a simple: “Would it be possible to meet in person to discuss some of these ideas?” Or the old, “Maybe we could meet up to see if there’s any upcoming projects of yours that I could help out with?”

  I find it’s best to always be in the position of moving the ball forward— meaning being the one who’s asking. And as a writer, that means utilizing the skills you’ve developed from places like your improv classes to introduce the idea of a face-to-face meeting into the conversation. Assure them your schedule is flexible and that you understand they’re busy.

  You always need to be the one traveling to them. Meet at their offices (or at a coffee shop or other location that they suggest). Their time is limited and your objective is to show them you’re a person who understands (and respects) the time they’ve carved out to hear your ideas.

  The Pitch Meeting

  You’ve finally secured the coveted pitch meeting, a half hour of legit face-to-face time with a Hollywood professional for the sole purpose of sitting down and discussing your scripts, your ideas, and how you can write to meet their needs. Has the panic set in?

  Problem is that far too many writers look at the pitch meeting as a job interview, which adds unnecessary stress to the scenario and causes them to second-guess their talents and abilities. The truth is, you are talented and do possess the ability to write… . Otherwise you wouldn’t be there. So it’s much more important to view the pitch meeting for what it really is: A first date.

  Although it’s quite true that the quality of your pitches (and ideas) are absolutely important during your meeting, this is only a small percentage of the overall purpose of the meeting. The pitch meeting is really more about seeing how well you can interact with the team—and how well can you take criticism and hear others’ ideas. And if the development executives start tossing around curveball ideas on how the script could be improved, do you go with the flow or do you get defensive or not participate. And if you do play ball and contribute ideas, are they ideas that mesh well with the common core values of the company with whom you’re speaking, or are they too far out of line?

  Again, these are generally informal meetings. Just as a job interview begins with “So, tell me about yourself” (which translates to, “What have you done that proves you’re worth hiring?”) and a first date generally begins with a “So, what do you do for a living?” (which translates to “Tell me what you do so I can get a relatively accurate sense of your net worth, income level, stability, and level of maturity”), the first question during a pitch meeting is usually “So, what do you have?” (which means, “tell us some of your ideas so we can see where our ideas overlap”).

  Out of all three, I think the pitch meeting is probably the most informal and the most fun. Remember, you’re in the room because you have command of the craft and have secured the confidence of the team, and you have already been vetted as a quality writer. All you need to do now is enter the room and have fun!

  Keep the room relaxed and the conversation flowing. It’s inevitable that as you begin presenting your ideas, the team might interrupt you in the middle of your pitch and say, “That doesn’t work for us, we do more family content.” Don’t get distracted and focus only on the first part, “That doesn’t work for us,” listen to what they’re telling you (we think your ideas are very good, but we need your ideas focused on the gold-mine genres that work best for us). Don’t think twice, just shift gears and keep your concepts focused on the genre style the team is looking for.

  Following Up (Without Looking Desperate)

  Following up is a delicate art; it’s really part of the same game as pitching and accurately presenting all your points during a meeting. When you follow up appropriately, you are announcing that you understand business etiquette and Hollywood’s social norms and procedures. However, if you follow up in an unprofessional way, you can unintentionally give off a very negative image.

  The best way to really master this is to simply follow standard dating etiquette to time your follow-up moves. If you had a successful pitch meeting (similar to a first date), send a quick email note, such as, “Thanks for your time, looking forward to the next steps.” If during that meeting you discussed action items (such as sending material elements back and forth, like additional story ideas), go ahead and send them along. Otherwise, mention an approximate ETA so that the other party knows when to expect them. Also, as with dating, it’s important to know when you might be coming off a little too strong… . A simple pitch meeting (as with a first date) does not guarantee automatic movement forward, and following up with emails and/or phone calls several times in the days thereafter can quickly put a sour taste into the other party’s mouth.

  There’s no rulebook here (such as a “wait three days before following up”). If the other party is interested, they will respond and be receptive to your emails and phone calls. If they are not interested, it’s okay to continue a soft push for a bit, but it’s also important to understand that after a few attempts without any response it’s most likely just not going to happen. Move on… . There’s plenty of other fish in Hollywood.

  Image Matters

  Just as your screenplay starts getting judged before the reader even opens it to page one, you too are getting this kind of attention from those around you.

  When we think of “writers,” we often see awkwardly (sometimes sloppily) dressed individuals, who spend much of their time inside their own heads and very little interacting with the real world—making them anti-social and strange. This is quite far from true—most writers I know are very sociable; they have to be. They’re out hustling their work each and every day.

  Dressing the part for a writer doesn’t mean wearing baggy jeans and a stained shirt, it means dressing professionally. You must know how to enter a room, appearing as a person who takes care of him/herself, including good personal hygiene. Some wannabes have a vision that they should project an image of “I don’t care” to the system, that their work is too personal and important for Hollywood to rip apart.

  Okay, I get it, but if your work is too important for Hollywood to see, then who will? And if you have a standoffish attitude and dress horrendously, not too many professionals will want to invite you to corporate meetings.

  What I’m saying is that image is very important. It is the first thing people see of you. The image of your email, the image of your clothing, and the image you present as you speak in public situations. All of these elements create your overall image… . And the best part about your image is that you have 100 percent control over it. You only have to be true to your own styles and tastes—while being respectful of how those styles and tastes are received by those around you—in order to be seen as unique and interesting to work with.

  “… It’s About Who You Know”

  It’s not just Scorsese and Tarantino working with the same people project after project, it’s everyone. And the reason is very simple: It’s just easier that way.

  When you work with someone you’ve already collaborated with on a past project, there’s no risk… . You already know you can rely on them. (Just like our development executive calling up his friend to write 9.6 Mega-Tsunami—all the guesswork and stress were simply taken out of the equation.) What Hollywood professionals need at the end of the day is a writer they can depend on, who understands what their side of the table needs in order to make a film work, and who won’t make them look bad by missing deadlines or turning in shoddy work.

  Therefore, the writers who get hired for legit writing jobs are the writers whose names are already firmly planted in the minds of those agents, producers, and development executives before they need to hire one. So, the real challenge is not getting someone to take
your script seriously, it’s getting yourself in front of the right people and getting them to take you seriously—well ahead of when they need you.

  So keep writing and working towards your target goal, but also keep communicating with as many people outside of writing as you possibly can all while learning about the overall business. Constantly improving your writing arsenal is a given, but you need to people to showcase and discuss your work with. Gain your professional foothold by consistently maintaining (and expanding) your network of connections and by understanding the business behind Hollywood—so that you can always find a unique way to wedge yourself into Hollywood’s ever-changing landscape.

  Is it worth submitting spec scripts to screenwriting festivals and contests?

  Yes! If your spec script is shortlisted by a festival or contest—and especially if it wins—you can absolutely use this triumph as a way to get this same script to the head of the line during submission to production companies for review. And you can also use this win to pitch yourself when reaching out to production companies to submit future scripts or when requesting pitch meetings. It’s also not unlikely for directors of development to be the judges in some of these events, who might also reach out to you directly to commission your talents regardless of whether you win or not. And in a worst case scenario, if your script does not “climb the ranks” and come out on top of a festival or contest, understand that you will generally receive detailed feedback from whomever made the decision to pass on your script—this feedback is extremely valuable to your overall growth as a screenwriter, so take this criticism as a constructive way to build your talents and strengthen your writing muscles. Festivals and contests are a wise investment.

  Six

  To Live and Write in L.A.

  In this chapter, we’ll prepare you for the day-to-day hustle of Hollywood. From building a reliable reputation to negotiating your own contracts… . We’ll transform you from a novice writer into a screenwriting entrepreneur, capable of inventing your own paid screenwriting opportunities, all while protecting yourself (and your ideas) along the way.

  “Not My Department… ”

  The fantasy for many of those on the creative side of the movie business is that one day their talents will simply be recognized and they’ll suddenly find themselves being represented by Hollywood’s ultimate trio of defense: (1) A major Hollywood agency, fighting tooth-and-nail on their behalf for every project; (2) a big-wig talent manager, running the show behind closed doors while inflating their image in the trades; and (3) a Harvard-educated legal team so ruthless and crass they could star in their own reality show. For a writer, this wall of protection would allow them complete space to simply focus on their scripts while leaving all that intimidating “business stuff” for the professionals to deal with.

  But there’s more than meets the eye with this idealized scenario. Think about it: If you want to be represented by Hollywood agents, managers, and lawyers (and actually believe that they’ll do all this daunting and tedious work-stuff for you), you will still eventually have to put pen to paper yourself and sign your own name over as a client to these entities. And believe me, they’re not in business for you, they’re in business for themselves (and your name will be just one more line item on their clientele list); and if you don’t know how to read agreements, negotiate like a pro, and construct deals on your own with your best interests established (in a way that’s fair to both sides), you’ll never see true protection for your work nor advancement in your career.

  It’s easy for us to imagine Aaron Sorkin or James Cameron simply sitting back, feet kicked up, thinking about their next great project while an army of minions handle all other aspects of their lives, but this fantasy just isn’t the way the real world works. Most of the breakout hits that writers or filmmakers experience, which are often labeled by the media as “overnight successes,” are really more in the realm of ten to fifteen years in the making. That’s ten to fifteen years of constant hustle, ups and downs, and (above all else) persistence. Most big-wig writers and filmmakers that I know are very professional and astute with all aspects of their careers and take an active role during contract negotiations and project management; they generally have agents, but at the end of the day they use their own judgment, insight, and wherewithal to make the decisions that affect their careers. And many distinguished Hollywood professionals I’ve known have pretty in-check egos, even after much success; their current and continuous levels of success are not from a brash attitude of know-it-all-ism and “take no prisoners” contract negotiation, but rather from one of compromise. It’s about what works, what doesn’t, and where the middle ground lies to get the project done.

  If you want to truly succeed in Hollywood, then you must fully understand the business behind the movies and how it operates, from beginning to end. You must be able to read agreements, understand term structures, and negotiate what’s important (while leaving behind what is not). As we’ve stated before, it’s not the writing aspect that holds most novice writers behind, it’s the inability to manage their own careers. That means you need to be the one taking an active role managing your own screenwriting career.

  Don’t panic! Before you get antsy or nervous about the prospect of taking on all those intimidating contracts or business negotiations, remember two things: First, you can Google any legal phrase and get a very clear definition of what it means, and second, if the person on the other side of the table knows something (anything) about contracts, negotiations, or the movie business in general, there was a time when they did not (meaning everything in this world is learnable). Even if they’re using acronyms you don’t understand or terms you’ve never heard… . There was a time when they’d never heard them as well. And if you think a power trio of agent, manager, and legal counsel makes you untouchable, just imagine how well-off you are when you’re the one calling your own shots (and not having to pay all their commissions)!

  As the old saying goes, if you want something done right, you’re better off doing it on your own. Same applies here… . So let’s get started.

  Hollywood Myth Busting

  Myth #1: You Need an Agent to Get Work

  A common set of assumptions held by most writers is that producers and production companies contact agents when they either (a) need to hire a writer to draft a work-for-hire screenplay or (b) if they’ve come across a spec script they wish to acquire. There’s some truth to these assumptions, with a ‘Hollywood twist’ of course …

  If a producer or development executive at a production company stumbles upon a spec script they really like, they’re only reaching out to that agent because the writer signed with them; if there’s no agency agreement (and no agency info listed on the cover pages of the script), then those same producers and production companies would, instead, reach out to the writer directly. And if that same producer or development executive reaches out to an agent to find a writer to complete a work-for-hire script, they’re not reaching out blindly… . There’s often a long running ad hoc “friendly understanding” where they each cash in favors with one another.

  But wouldn’t an agent who likes (and signs) a brand new writer go out of their way to find them available opportunities in the marketplace? Isn’t it the agent’s job to ensure all of their clients (writers) are getting promoted and receiving work? Not really… . Agents are busy enough dealing with the workload already on their plates. And since agents work purely for commission (taking 10 percent of every dollar a writer earns), they’re much more focused on whichever writer is already getting attention (meaning, whoever is already selling properties). If you’re the newbie, signing up with nothing but a few spec scripts and the hope of Hollywood success, you fall way down into the “out of sight, out of mind” category. That agent won’t be out in the marketplace trying to hustle work for you (cashing in favors on a writer they’re not 100 percent certain will deliver); they’ll be focused on whomever on their clientele list is already selling (and is the
most direct line for them to earn their commission).

  You’ll have to prove yourself first. That means you will have to be the one out hustling to secure yourself with writing jobs and getting your talents noticed (no agent will do this for you, not when you’re a beginner). During your early years as a newbie writer starting out in the business, you can either sign with an agent and then hustle all alone to get yourself some legit writing credits (then pay your agent, who did nothing, 10 percent of your money), or you can enter the marketplace—doing the same amount of work with the same results—and pocket 100 percent of what’s paid out (while building all those valuable Hollywood connections directly).

  Once you’re out securing your own jobs, building a stellar reputation as a writer who can deliver, agents will be coming to you… . But until then, you’ll have to be the one creating your own opportunities for work; no one will be doing that for you. Signing with an agent will not put you ahead or increase your odds of getting screenwriting work. Signing with an agent does not make you appear more valuable or incentivize production companies or producers to hire you… . Only your talents and your ability to present yourself in a professional manner will secure you with legit writing gigs—which is something you can do entirely on your own.

  I would only agree with the myth “you need an agent to secure you with work” if you were trying to be an actor… . Talent agents have privileged access to casting lists called “breakdowns,” which are detailed reports “breaking down” all the available acting roles that production companies need working actors to fill (down to things like weight, race, hair and eye color, gender, etc.). But as a newbie screenwriter, whether you have an agent or not makes very little difference since no breakdown lists like these exist for writers.