Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: Re: looking for an agent
From: rivero@mdcbbs.com
Date: 6 Apr 92 17:01:14 GMT
Organization: M&E (Division of EDS), Cypress CA
Nntp-Posting-User: oakey

In article <34906@nntpd.lkg.dec.com>, seltzer@ics.enet.dec.com (Richard Seltzer) writes:
> Since the Art Buchwald suit, major studios and agents in Hollywood seem to be 
> particularly paranoid about unsolicited manuscripts.
> 
> I have a screenplay that I would like to sell.  I recently sent brief query 
> letters to about a dozen agents and a dozen studios who I believe would be 
> a good match.  In almost every case, my query letter was forwarded, 
> unopened, to the legal department, which returned it to me.
> 
> Does anyone out there have suggestions on how to get around this Catch-22 
> situation?  
> 
> Is there anyone out there who is looking for new writers and new material?  
> And if so, how can one make contact with them?
> 

  One writer took his new screenplay and parachuted into Hugh Hefner's mansion
after Hugh announced the Playboy film production venture. The young man was
escorted from the mansion, script and all.

  Studios won't accept unsolicited manuscripts at all. Properties are bought
by producers who prefer to work with agents. Some will still accept material
if submitted properly, but the Buchwald suit was only the latest in a long
line of legal abuses. There have been a few "individuals" in this town that
simply type up a 1 or 2 page premise, register it, then sue anyone who even
comes close. This has created a fox hole (or Universal hole) mentality
in the studios. Most times, the perpetrators of such frauds hope the producers
will settle out of court to avoid legal expense and bad publicity (which is why
the very first thing that happens in these cases is a press conference).

  However, in these days of gratuitous litigation, the pendulum has swung back
away from the writers and back towards the studios. To win a plagerism lawsuit
these days you need to establish 2 of the following issues. 

1. Similarity of property. This means you cannot have 1 page that says a boy
and girl fall in love and kill themselves, then turn around and sue
"Westside Story", or Bill Shakespeare for his use of "your" idea. A page by
page comparison must be able to convince a reasonable person that similarities
must be more than a matter of coincidence.

2. Proof of contact. This means establishing that the person sued actually had
your property (which is why you KEEP your rejection letters). Halan Ellison's
lawsuit hinged on establishing the "Brillo" script's paper trail from Columbia
to Paramount.

3. Proof of a working relationship. In the case of verbally transmitted ideas,
the fact that you worked with a person may carry some weight. The man who sude
Mel Brooks over "Silent Movie" claimed that he told Mel about the idea
of a modern silent film while they worked together.


  
  While studios and most producers will return un-agented material, most
agents will read your property, as YOU are the product they sell to the
studios. But, you need to follow the rules, which is to protect your 
material, either through copyright or Writer's Guild Registration. Hardly
anybody will TOUCH a non-registered script (and be sure to put the registry
number on the cover). You might want to call the agencies first and talk your
way into anyone who is looking at novice talent. Don't bother with the larger
agencies such as ICM; they won't even let you in the door unless you have
already sold the project on your own to a major studio (don't laugh, it has
happened that way). Call the writer's guild, get the list of franchised agents
(don't bother with anyone not on the list, they are flakes), and phone the
smaller agents. Once someone knows who you are and is expecting your package,
then mail it, and put on the outside the name of your phone contact, the fact
that this is a registered manuscript. 

  In addition, to submit to an agent, you should submit three screenplays which
show your range as a writer. Almost everyone has one good screenplay in them,
but professionals need to be able to write on demand, in a wide variety 
of styles and formats. Agents don't bother with "one trick ponies", they are
after people who can cank out the stuff on a regular basis.

Hope that helps. Good luck. Writing is a dirty job, but someone has to do it!


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|  Michael Rivero rivero@mdcbbs.com Homo Cyberneticus-Computational Man  |
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