Marketing on the Internet


By 2002, it was clear that marketing screenplays on the Internet was becoming more and more an important option for screenwriters. Let me give but two examples of this growing resource, one a free opportunity to pitch your scripts to an established production company, the other a paid service with an incredible track record.

Pitching Online

At InZide.com, screenwriters can pitch their scripts online. If the pitch interests a producer at the website, the entire script is requested, which then is uploaded in Rich Text or some other common format. No printing, no postage!

This is the way the Internet should be used by producers, and InZide.com is ahead of the curve. Whether this becomes a meaningful option in the marketplace probably depends on the bottom line, whether or not a money-making script is found this way. I am optimistic that more than one will be found since scripts from all around the world can be pitched this way.

Having used this website myself, I am especially impressed with how user-friendly and sensible it is. Initial pitches are in the form of loglines and limited to a small number of keystrokes. The genre is identified and the script must be registered, preferably with the WGA. You can pitch as many scripts as you like at no cost. When a script is requested, you hear back within a month (I've had three requested and passed on as I write).

You don't need an agent to enter this process. You don't need anything but skill at pitching and a decent script to deliver as follow-up.

Exposure to Producers

Another way the Internet is being used in the marketplace is as a warehouse for scripts, a central database where producers can browse for material. This is the approach of Writers Script Network at www.writersscriptnetwork.com, which charges $30 for a six-month script listing. The script must include a logline and synopsis but also can include a treatment and the entire script at no extra cost.

What is most impressive about this website are its statistics of success. WSN publishes a weekly electronic newsletter and each issue celebrates one or more success stories from the past week, an occasion of a writer finding agent representation or getting a script optioned by using the resource.

This site, too, is very user-friendly in its design. The writer can access statistics showing how often a logline or synopsis or script has been viewed, and by whom. The cost strikes me as very reasonable ($5 a month per script) for the service.

These are but two of a growing number of online marketing options for screenwriters. I believe this trend will grow, which also helps to decentralize the marketing process and makes it less essential that writers of spec scripts live in Southern California. It should be noted, however, that full-time screenwriting is still a regional job since most work is at rewriting and these assignments come from having meetings with producers who live in L.A.

The Pitch Fest

A recent phenomenon is "the pitch fest," where beginning writers get the opportunity to pitch their scripts to producers one-on-one. I had an opportunity to witness such a "fest" and talk to writers who participated in it at the 2002 Screenwriting Expo in Los Angeles, where I gave two lectures and taught a workshop.

What I don't like about pitch fests is this: writers are charged to participate. At the Expo, over 1000 writers (!!!) paid $25 for the opportunity to spend no more than five minutes pitching to a producer. I talked to beginning writers who stood in line for over seven hours to get their pitch tickets. They did not complain -- on the contrary, they were thrilled to have the opportunity.

But here's my problem with the pitch fest (and more and more conferences are now doing them). If the WGA, the screenwriters union, will not endorse agents who charge reading fees because this behavior is unethical and takes advantage of writers, then why are conferences and producers who charge pitch fees let off the hook? What's the difference, in terms of ethical behavior, between agents who charge reading fees and producers who charge pitch fees? None that I see. Both take advantage of the dreams of beginning writers.

Fortunately, there are many ethical and free opportunities for beginning writers to pitch their scripts, particularly via email and on the Internet. You don't have to pay for the privilege of letting someone know how great your story is!


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11/02