Screenwriters 'Submit' Online

By: Christopher Wehner

(Note: URL addresses to all web sites discussed will be listed at the end of the article)

As screenwriters the word "submit" conjures up all kinds of emotions for us; fear, hope, satisfaction of completing the script, but mostly just fear. For those of us outside of Hollywood the word submit takes on even greater dimensions. Finding avenues for submitting our work to agencies and production companies is an arduous task at best. Cold calling producers or production companies is intimidating and most will not even talk to us. Trying to pitch a script from long distances usually only gets us a large phone bill and a lot less hope.

The Internet provides writers with the means for connecting with production companies and producers who are actively seeking material. Before the Internet it was virtually impossible for unknown writers, outside the inner-circle of Hollywood, to sell their writing. Even if you lived in Los Angeles you still needed to have connections. Often the only way to do that was to find an agent who could help. On top of that it's hard getting a good agent, as most do not take on new unknown writers. They want established writers who will make them money now.

There are a growing number of Hollywood producers and production companies who have embraced the Internet as a means for finding new writers. Producer Adam Kline has optioned scripts from writers he discovered via the Internet. Myra Byanca the screenwriter of Reasonable Doubt was a virtual unknown before Largo Entertainment got the script from Adam. Melanie Griffith, Tom Berenger and John Ritter starred in it. Producers and production companies find writers on the Internet by constructing a simple web site so writers can pitch their screenplay to them online.

There are also message boards on the Internet where producers can post "wanted" ads when they are in need of new material. The only problem with this is that anyone can post a message, so be careful who you send your screenplay out too. It is a little unnerving to send out your material after only a simple email exchange. Talking with someone over the phone feels more real, but it doesn't improve your ability to judge the validity of what they are telling you. No matter how you go about submitting your screenplay, you should always protect your work by copyrighting it. Also, always ask for a letter of rejection if they pass on your script. This way you have evidence if you ever end up needing it. For example, you get a rejection letter, then two years later that same company makes a movie disturbingly similar to yours. You've got evidence.

Terence Michael, producer of If Lucy Fell, Finding Interest, Beach House and others has optioned several scripts form writers via the Internet. One of Michael's recent films, Die Wholesale, was scripted by unknown first time writer Michael Addis. Terence received an email pitch from Addis thought it was great and requested the script. Soon after a deal was done. I had a chance to ask Terence about the Internet and how it can help writers, "...well, I've helped quite a few people, sometimes just answering their questions, and of course I've also optioned a couple of scripts via the Internet."

When you find an Independent production company or producer's web site take a moment and consider your approach. Remember, every contact is a potential buyer of your script. When you find a producer who you feel would be interested in your writing, and s/he lists email along with phone and fax numbers, I recommend you send an email for your initial contact instead of calling. If you are set on calling, do so later in the afternoon (after 5:00pm) when the staff is long gone. Then the only one left to answer the phone is the boss.

Producers and production companies get a lot of email from writers. So think your query out completely before you go about submitting it. Be thoughtful and consider every possible way to stay in contact with these potential buyers. Try asking a question or two and use the opportunity to learn something. Most Hollywood types are willing to respond to someone who communicates with intelligence and is professional. They even appreciate it when a writer contacts them without trying to pitch something to them. Then, after a couple of correspondences, ask them to read your writing and most will say "yes" -- this way you don't look desperate. Desperation is something any good agent or producer can smell.

But if you're sitting there thinking that you've got a cool web site and all you have to do is wait for Terence to find you, you're wrong. As for writers who see getting a web site and posting information about themselves and their writing on it as a way to make connections Terence reminds us, "For the most part, producers don't have the time to go check out web sites and search for material. In theory, it's a terrific idea. But the reality is simply that it's too cumbersome to have to go and connect to the Internet, find a writer's web site and read page samples."

Recently it was big news on the Internet when a French screenwriter sold his script as a direct result of an email pitch. It was important enough that VARIETY magazine did a small piece on it. In the article it was reported that producer Larry Thompson (And the Beat Goes On: The Sonny and Cher Story) purchased the film and TV rights to France's Philip Devereaux's Internet thriller Murder.com. Thompson inked a low six-figure deal with the 23-year-old Murder.com scribe and did so without any prelim discussions or read-throughs. What's both humorous and important to note from the article was that Mr. Thompson had no idea how the writer got his email address.

The best online location to find updated email listings for production companies is at the Hollywood Creative Directory web site, if you can afford $99.99 for one year access. But, it's not the only place. Emails and addresses for companies are swapped on a daily basis on the web, you've just got to know where to look.

In 1997 I found the home phone number of a producer (his credits included Demolition Man, among others) listed in the Hollydex. How do I know it was his home phone number? I called him. He was surprised to say the least. Needless to say, he didn't ask to read my script. To him I was a prank caller. Sums it up for all of us who still try cold calling producers. We're just another prank caller. Of course, calling him at home was not the best move. But I had no idea I was calling him at home until he ask "How did you get my number?" And I told him. It seems his assistant accidentally entered his home phone number when the office number would have been appropriate. He asked that I call him the next day at the office. I did and I am still waiting for that return call. I later checked his listing and not surprisingly his number was gone. Luckily I had written it down and called him back. But to my dismay it was disconnected!

The Hollydex is a neat place to find FREE listings of Hollywood producers, agents and directors. You could even find a crew if you needed one or how about an attorney or make-up artist, hair dresser, you name it. It's a great place to start your search for an agent or independent producer. But be careful, as the Hollydex makes it clear they do not verify listings. Anyone could list themselves as a producer or whatever. Finding those isolated wannabe independent producers and struggling agents online will always be an option. But what about the big fish?

Thus far the executives for major studios have stayed away or so we thought. Rumors have surfaced about mysterious boards (web sites) where major studio executives pondered, ridiculed and on a whim decided the fate of writers and their screenplays. In a recent article by Brendan Bernhard in L.A. WEEKLY, he exposed these boards for what they are -- exercises in arrogance and stupidity.

I spoke with a produced writer who currently has several projects in development, one rumored to be at Dreamworks SKG (Steve Spielberg's company), and he asked that his name be withheld. When I asked him for a response after reading Bernhard's article, he had this reply:

"I knew these web sites existed. I think insidiously they are changing the way scripts are marketed. I think it is ridiculous for any writer or producer to dismiss them as stupid and only for high concept scripts. In fact, they can ruin the prospects of a script that takes chances and is fresh with just one lame comment by someone that doesn't understand the project. It could taint future interested parties."

There are a growing number of places on the web offering screenwriters the chance to submit synopsis, log lines and complete scripts so that producers, agents and development personnel can review them. The success of these web sites is uncertain as they do not tell you who they've helped. The Spec Script Library, for one, tells its visitors that their purpose "...is to connect those who write scripts with those who source scripts."

Bravo, only they do not tell us about all the success stories they have to share which would be very beneficial. In their "Scripts Wanted" section, where producers and companies can let it be known they're looking for material, we find a very disappointing nine listings (as of this writing 8/99). Hardly enough to get excited about. It's not the fault of The Spec Script Library, it's the unwilling producer who's to blame. There's not enough of them out there. We know some are out there and we know some of them are eager to hear from you. On the other hand, how many times do we have to go through the agonizing task of submitting our work to producers who aren't really producers and agents who aren't really agents. We send out our scripts and wait and wait never to hear from them again...not that we needed to hear from them at all. It often becomes obvious from the get go that we made a mistake.

So, you be the judge, is it worth your time and in some cases your money to submit your material online? Is it safe?

What is the future of marketing your screenplay on the Internet? Unfortunately only the future can tell and then of course it's too late. There are some excellent opportunities to find work via the Internet. Writers are doing it, they're making it all the time armed only with their script and a computer. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. But, with the ignorance that is displayed towards the Internet by studio executives and most producers, that light could very well be an oncoming train.

Hollywood Creative Directory
http://www.hcdonline.com

Hollydex
http://www.hollydex.com

Message Boards
http://www.hollywoodlitsales.com - Hollywoodlitsales.com
http://www.screenwritersutopia.com/messageboards/ - Screenwriters Utopia

Brendan Bernhard article, "Top Secret! Development hell on the Web"
http://www.creativescreenwriting.com/articles/art,4,14,99.html
(Creative Screenwriting received permission to run this column on their web site.)

The Spec Script Library
http://www.thesource.com.au/

Other services and resources for soliciting producers
http://www.screenscripts.com/
http://www.scriptshark.com