Mr. Deemer is an award-winning playwright, a screenwriter, an editor
and writer. He teaches screenwriting at Portland State University, is the
author of the book Screenwright: the
Craft of Screenwriting, and is the webmaster of The Screenwriters &
Playwrights Home Page. For more information on Mr. Deemer and his
work, please
click here. This column is a guide to using the Internet to a writer's
advantage in matters of craft and marketing.
Column #20: Getting Your First Reading
This summer I taught a seminar at Portland State University for a
small, select number of students on Marketing Your Screenplay. Each of
these students had been working with me on a script for nine months,
taking my screenwriting class and working one-on-one with me in special
conference sessions.
The results of this seminar make me more optimistic than ever about the
marketplace. Each student got at least one producer to request her script,
one student got over six requests, and another got over a dozen requests.
For each student, this was her first script. None has an agent.
The Marketing PlanHow did these beginners get producers to ask
for their work? By carefully following a step-by-step marketing plan.
- Rewrite until the script is ready to market.
- Each of my students has been working on a script for nine months.
They developed the concept in my beginning screenwriting class and
also wrote a draft of up to half the script there. Then they continued
to work with me on their script through the next two terms of the
school year. Each script, then, had had several rewrites by the time
they enrolled in my marketing seminar. I believed it was time to see
if producers would read their script.
- Prepare a short, effective query letter.
- I had each student write a query letter less than a page in
length. The focus was on pitching their story. Although none has any
credentials of note, I thought it was important for them to say that
they have been studying screenwriting at the University for a year.
The letters were short and to the point but also were "catchy" without
being cute. They presented their stories in a dramatic context that
made them appealing. Hopefully the reader of the letter would want to
read more about this story. (Interestingly enough, I did not think any
of the stories were high concept enough to be easily marketed. One of
them was a coming of age comedy, another a woman's family story,
another an adaptation of a 19th century novel, which also was a
woman's story. I was frankly surprised - and encouraged - by the
number of requests for scripts.)
- Research the marketplace.
- Each student used the Online
Hollywood Creative Directory to find appropriate prodcos for
querying. This was a two-step process. First I had the students list
movies similar to their stories and then to find the producers of
these movies. These were the first to be queried. But I also
encouraged the students to use the HCD to do a "shotgun approach,"
querying anyone who was not genre-specific in their credits. Most of
the querying was done electronically.
- Query to a schedule.
- I had the students send out a minimum of ten queries a week. The
more, the merrier. I had them do this throughout the entire course.
- Keep records.
- Finally, results started to come in. Each student's first request
for a script was like Christmas. I paused to remember my own joy at
this necessary first step in the career process. Requests for scripts
encouraged them to send out even more queries. I had the students keep
records of all responses - who asked for a script, who said no. The
first scripts were mailed out and the waiting began.
- Start another project.
- I encouraged each student to begin a new script. This is the way
to face the waiting head on - be fickle and find a new love, another
focus for your enthusiasm. Begin a new screenplay!
- Don't get discouraged.
- And then the first rejections. Fortunately, all my students
received "good rejections," notes that while the script was well
written etc., it did not meet the production plans etc. These
companies invited future queries, and I had each student put these in
an "A" File for future use. Interestingly enough, the warmest response
came to the student with the adaptation, including a long phone chat
with Spielberg's people, and as I write a producer is close to making
an offer for her script. But I emphasized how tough and competitive a
marketplace they had entered, and how sometimes "yes" really meant
"no," that initial producer enthusiasm could quickly turn to
rejection. Once again, I urged students to focus on a new screenplay
in progress and to continue to market the first one with the
detachment that accompanies grunt work. Market to a consistent
schedule but save your soul for your work in progress.
The Open MarketplaceWhat excites me most as a screenwriting
teacher is that all of my students had their first scripts read by
producers with credits. I don't take credit for this, although I do think
the short, snappy query letters and the students' own enthusiasm and
studies opened the doors, all of which I influenced. But this class tells
me that the marketplace is open, that producers will read your work if you
have an interesting story and promote it in a professional manner.
I will not be surprised if at least one of these students options her
script soon. Two have this level of interest.
And you can do the same.
- --Charles Deemer
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