Read 'Submitting your material to production companies' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got these questions recently:

“I have 115 page completed, professional script that I want to pitch, however 1) should the query letter be on an entertainment lawyers letterhead, 2) should I send a trailer on DVD or USB with it and 3) where can you find a listing of production companies seeking material?”

I’ll break up my answers below.

“1) should the query letter be on an entertainment lawyers letterhead” – if you have a lawyer who will submit the script for you, then sure, you might as well use him as the point person. But this isn’t mandatory and I’m not sure it even really helps much.

“2) should I send a trailer on DVD or USB with it” – I would be careful with this. In my experience most novice writers who have produced a trailer have produced something that is sub-par and not up to industry standards. By submitting something that is below industry standards all you’re doing is broadcasting the fact that you are a novice. Once you’ve pitched them your log line and they’ve agreed to read the screenplay, make them read the screenplay, don’t give them reasons to NOT read the screenplay. Now if the trailer is part of your pitch I would only include it if you are 100% sure that it is high quality and makes your screenplay look better. I would say as a general rule only include it if the people who produced this trailer work professionally in the industry and it’s up to industry standards. If it’s just you and your friends with a video camera trying to put something together, don’t include it. It’s not going to help you.

“3) where can you find a listing of production companies seeking material?”

I highly recommend you read this post: How to Sell Your Screenplay (in a nutshell).

Also this post details how to find actual contact info for companies: Getting your screenplay to producers and production companies.

In general your best bet for finding company info is The Hollywood Creative directory and IMDB Pro. Both have a wealth of information on production companies contact info.

Read 'Should I mail a query letter to a producers home?' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got this question recently.

“A well known producer lives in my area and I know his home address. He has an interest in the local area and my script takes place here. Do you think mailing my query letter directly to his home is unprofessional?”

Yes, mailing it to his home is certainly “unprofessional.” But that doesn’t mean it won’t work. I once read about a struggling screenwriter who went around Los Angeles and threw his screenplay into the backyards of producers. He supposedly got some meetings and launched his career that way. Certainly that’s unprofessional, too. Sometimes you have to think outside the box and try things that no one else is trying. You just never know what might work.

I’m not in any way endorsing this method of promoting your screenplay or suggesting you actually do it, but if you do try it, please let me know what happens… and send me the producer’s address, too!

Good luck!

Read 'Following up with agents who pass on your screenplay query letter' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got this question recently:

I could really use your advice. You did an agent blast for my horror screenplay yesterday, and I have gotten a bunch of emails asking to read it already, which I’m really excited about. I was going to use the email addresses of the agents who said ‘no’ and pitch my comedy screenplay, but I was thinking it might be a better idea to get you to blast the comedy screenplay to your producers database instead. I’m also a little concerned that if I blast these two separate scripts that I might get an agent for one, and then another agent will want to represent the other script.”

Having two agents wanting to represent two of your scripts is a great problem to have! I hope you find yourself in that situation.

The thing is agents and managers know that as writers we’re sending out our material as far and as wide as we can. They know that other people are reading the same material that we’ve submitted to them. If you end up getting two different agents interested in different scripts you would most likely have to choose one and go with them.

What’s probably going to happen, if you’re lucky to find an agent who likes one of your scripts, is that they’re going to immediately ask to read another script, which in your case you’ll send them the script that they haven’t read. Agents want to represent writers not scripts so when they sign a writer they’re most likely going to want to see at least two good writing samples.

I think it’s a great idea to pitch another script if they send you a polite email saying they’re not interested in the one you pitched them through the blast service. Strike while the iron is hot. If they still say no, no problem, just keep their information in your database and email them again in the future with any projects that you finish. This is exactly how you build relationships. Part of the whole reason of doing these blasts is not just to sell and option that one script but to try and network and gain some industry contacts. If you’re polite and professional and you email the company every few months with a new log line of your latest completed screenplay you just might eventually write one that fits with what they’re looking for. Until they tell you to stop emailing them I would keep them on your list.

As far as doing a producers blast, I’m obviously happy to do that but what I usually recommend is that you wait for a month or two until the agent blast has run it’s course. If you can find an agent or manager to represent your work then you can do a producer blast and you can list your representation in your query letter. A cold query letter is much stronger coming from a writer with representation. In addition your agent or manager will most certainly have some advice about how you should proceed with your career and they will hopefully be able to guide you through the submission process in the future.

So I would continue to pitch your other screenplay to all the people who say ‘no’ and I would wait for two months before doing a producers blast for either of your screenplays. In fact if you don’t land an agent through this blast you might consider doing another agent/manager blast with your other screenplay before you try the producers blast.

If you would like to learn more about the email/fax blast services that we offer go here: Screenwriting Tools

Read 'Production companies are telling me they do not take unsolicted material' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got this question recently:

“I bought the Hollywood Directory and wrote to 100 producers, none of them asked for my story because they do not accept unsolicited material. How can I get it out there for consideration when no one knows it exists? What can I do to get someone to read it? And consider it?”

First, read this post: Submitting to companies that don’t take unsolicited material

Honestly, I think you need to re-work your query letter. If you did 100 letters and got zero “yes” responses it means your query letter is not getting any interest. The easiest way for a production company to say “no” is to simply say they won’t read “unsolicited material.” But trust me, if they like your query letter and story a few companies will read your script.

Getting the no “unsolicited material” response is going to happen even to the best writers so don’t worry too much about it. Rejection is a big part of being a writer.

If your list of 100 companies was hand picked and you only picked large well known companies than it’s possible your response rate isn’t typical. The larger companies are less open to new writers so keep that in mind when building your list of 100 companies to send to.

So my recommendation is to completely rework your query letter and send out another 100 letters to see what sort of response you get. It’s also possible that your query letter is okay but your story concept is just not as compelling to others as it is to you, in that case there isn’t much you can do except start writing another screenplay. But in most cases if a story is compelling to you it will be compelling to some other people as well, so it’s just a matter of writing a good query letter and finding those other people by sending out lots of query letters.

If you join my screenwriting tools I (and other members) will even help you rewrite your query letter.

Read 'Is it bad form to send multiple query letters to agents within the same company?' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got this question recently:

“Is it bad form to send multiple query letters to agents within the same company?”

I posed this question to Script Doctor Eric who has worked for literary agents and this is his reply: “I’d say that if it’s weeks apart, that’s fine. I wouldn’t send more than one letter to the same company less than two weeks apart. Give it a month to be safe. Otherwise it could look desperate and/or spamy.”

I would say that’s good advice. While you can send out the same query letter to lots of different companies at the same time, I wouldn’t send the same query letter to the same agency at the same time. I would query one specific agent at an agency and then if you haven’t heard anything back in a month I would query another, different, specific agent at the same agency and wait to hear from them for a month. In general even the largest agencies aren’t that small, especially the literary departments, so it’s quite likely that someone would notice multiple letters at the same time and think, as Eric points out above, that it’s a bit spamy.

Read 'How much scrutiny should you give a query letter rejection?' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got these questions recently:

“I recently started sending out query letters for a script I completed. I received a couple of requests for the script and some rejections. One of the rejections said, ‘We already have a similar project.’ Does this mean I should scrap my script altogether and just move on to the next one?

Another rejection said, ‘Your query letter reads more like a writing sample than a movie.’ Even though I had a script consultant edit my query letter, should I consider revising it? In general, how much scrutiny should a new screenwriter, such as myself, give to the ‘feedback’ included in a rejection?”

You should not abadon your script just because some other company has something similar in development. I can pretty much guarantee that some production company somewhere has something in “development” that’s similar to just about any story idea you and I could come up with. A statement like ‘We already have a similar project’ could be as simple as your script is a teen comedy and they’re developing a teen comedy. If anything I would take this as a compliment as it means your working on ideas that have at least some commercial viability.

Now with that said if a movie comes out and is fairly successful that’s very similar to your script you might want to put it away for a while. I’m not talking about “similar” in terms of tone or style or genre I’m talking about some high concept premise that is basically the same as your high concept premise. Unless your take on it is vastly different you’re probably not going to get a lot of traction. For instance, if you have a movie about a guy stuck on a bus that had to maintain a speed of at least 60mph and you were trying to shop it around right after Speed came out I don’t think you’d find much interest – but that’s the sort of similarity I’m talking about. The great Blake Snyder has a whole chapter in his great book Save The Cat about how Hollywood wants “the same thing only different” so if your script isn’t at least somewhat similar to something that’s been done I’d say you might have a bigger problem than if someone thinks it’s too similar.

I’m not sure what the person meant by ‘Your query letter reads more like a writing sample than a movie.’ I’m just not sure how a query letter could read like a writing sample. If you’re getting some positive responses from your query letter than I would say it’s working.

In general I try and look at the feedback I get on a query letter or script in a broad sense and try and see if I’m hearing the same sorts of things from different sources. If that’s the case than you can start to get a sense where the troubled areas are.

Read 'Do I have to give away my surprise ending in my query letter?' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got this question recently:

“I love to have a twisted ending. I want the reader/audience to sit at the end of the movie/screenplay with mouth on the floor, and say, Oh, that was a badass ending. What is the best way to include this in the query letter without making it a dead give away? Or do you want it to be a dead give away?”

I’ve gotten this question a few times. I don’t think there is a right answer to this question. The main thing you want to do, at all costs, is get people to read your script, so if that means giving away the ending in your query letter then that’s what you have to do. If you can write a compelling query letter without giving away the ending, then great, but if by giving away the ending you feel like your query letter is better and you will get more requests for the full script, then that’s what you must do.

Read 'Reading between the lines when a production company offers to read a re-written version of a screenplay' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I had a screenwriter asking about his follow up with a production company. His email went something like this (I’ve edited his text a bit for brevity):

“I submitted a script to a company and it took them 5 months to review my script and I had to prompt them for an update. They said they enjoyed my work and would read a revised draft. A week later I tried to submit the rewritten screenplay and they refused to review it for some unknown reason.”

In my experience when a company says something like “We liked your script and we would be willing to read a re-written version at a later time” they’re politely saying “no thanks” and they really mean “no thanks now and forever.” In a few cases I’ve rewritten a script and tried to resubmit it but it’s never worked out with a script sale or even an option.

In every case when I’ve optioned or sold a script the producers thought the script needed rewrites. It’s the nature of screenwriting. All scripts need to be rewritten. If a producer really thinks that the script is only one rewrite away from something they want to pursue they will most likely option it from you.

In your specific case, I think you would have been better off waiting a month before resubmitting it. They probably felt that you did the rewrite so quickly that you couldn’t have changed too much.

Sadly, I don’t think your experience with this company is out of the ordinary and you should get used to this sort of treatment (or worse) if you ever expect to succeed in this business.

Read 'Specifically who should you address in your screenplay query letter?' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got this question recently:

“When I’m perusing the The Hollywood Creative Directory (HCD) for production company employees to send query letters to, what types of job titles should I focus my attention on? I feel like those containing words like “creative”, “production” and “assistant to” are a good bet, but am I being too narrow minded? Should I ignore the big name CEO/Chairmen, on the basis that they probably don’t read any of their own mail?”

With larger companies in the HCD they usually do list titles and I do exactly what you’re doing. I look for a title like “Development Executive” or “VP of Development” or “Director of Development” or “Creative Executive” or “Feature Literary.” Any title with a word like “literary,” “development,” or “creative” in it.

If I can’t find a title like that, I will look for something as simple as “Producer” or “Executive Producer” where the person isn’t the CEO/President/Owner of the company. Those sorts of titles are usually people looking for screenplays.

Many companies in the HCD are small and will list the CEO/President/Owner and an assistant. I’ve tested this both ways where I’ve sent a letter directly to the CEO and where I’ve sent a letter directly to the assistant. I think in most cases the assistant is going to open the letter no matter who you address it to. I’ve never seen a dramatic increase or decrease in my response rate by doing one or the other so either method is probably okay.

Many companies in the HCD simply don’t list titles. In those cases I simply pick one and hope for the best.

Read 'What’s the difference between a screenplay synopsis and a screenplay treatment' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got this question recently:

“I’m a little confused. Say you have the Hollywood Creative Directory and have only the fax and address of a given company. Do you fax the query and treatment or just the query by itself? And if you use use snail mail, do you send the query and treatment? What is the difference between a treatment and synopsis?”

Typically a treatment is a much longer and more detailed description of the screenplay than a synopsis. Treatments are often written before the script is written as a guide for the screenwriter and producer so that the screenwriter doesn’t waste time writing a draft that the producer isn’t going to like. In fact many paid writing assignments have a payment schedule which includes the treatment as a step towards the first draft. I’m a big proponent of outlining your story before turning it into a screenplay, but there really isn’t a good reason to write up a formal treatment if you’re writing your screenplay on spec.

Typically a synopsis will be a less than one page summation of your screenplay’s story. I usually try and include a short synopsis (like less than half a page) of my story in my query letters. In some cases if you submit just a logline in your query letter you will get someone asking for a short synopsis and in other cases you might find an assistant who reads your script and likes it and then wants a synopsis from you to pass along to their superior. I also include synopses of all my scripts on my screenwriter website so if a producer is checking out my site they can get a good feel for which projects might be right for them. I also feel like a short synopsis really helps you boil your story down and decide what’s important, so it can be a very helpful tool in trying to do re-writes, too.

There really is no exact definition or specific requirements (that I’ve ever heard) that defines what a treatment is or what a synopsis is, but that’s the gist of it.

Now to answer your specific question about what to include with your query letters… I would include a short synopsis with your query letter no matter how you make your submission (fax, snail mail, or email). If it means sending two pages via mail or two pages via fax that’s fine. But if you can be very precise and pack your synopsis into your query and keep it all on one page that’s even better.

Check out my post Writing a synopsis for your screenplay if you have any questions about how to write your synopsis.