Want to sell your script?
Forget the Sharks, focus on the Sucker Fish
by Ben Cahan

Okay, we all want our script read by agents, managers and producers.  We get that and sympathize with that desire.  After all, they are the ones with the power to get our projects, and even us as writers, optioned, sold and produced.  However, for aspiring writers new to the game, I would suggest that worrying about getting the immediate attention of the Sharks early on is the wrong approach.  Instead, as the title of this article implies, I recommend targeting the smaller fish, the sucker fish who support, surround and who have access to the bigger fish.  Folks like…well…me…and others like me.

Those who know my background know I created Final Draft, the screenwriting software that dominates the professional ranks of the Motion Picture and Television industries.  As such, I have gotten to know, over the years, many of the folks in positions of power in Hollywood.  These days I might call myself a manager, or a producer (depending on my mood!), but in reality I am just someone who has been in and around the industry for decades, who has read a ton of scripts over those years, and who has enough street cred from the software I created to get my calls returned.  Trust me, there are many others with comparable reputations and bigger rolodexes, from screenwriting competition directors to coverage professionals to script consultants.  We, collectively, are the ones you should be focused on, for two reasons:

First:  There are lots of us compared to working producers, agents and managers

If we hate your work, big deal, there’s more of us.  We couldn’t greenlight or buy your script anyhow.  If your script is one we kinda like, where in our view the potential is there, we are also more likely to roll up our sleeves and help you hone, tweak and polish the script so that when it gets to someone who really matters, it shines.  Remember, we get something out of your success as well if we get known as someone who can find top-notch writers and projects.  We might get credit, we might get a positive reputation, we definitely get to brag that we were the one who discovered you and your script.

Second:  If we recommend a script, someone who matters will probably read it

When someone says “you should read this script”, it means less than nothing if it comes from the author of the script.  What else would anyone expect the author to say? For that reason, I tend to be against paid pitches offered at many websites.  We know you love your script, but of what value is that view to us?  A script behind great logline or pitch may be terrible or great, and vice versa, but reality is that there is probably not much correlation between the two.

Regardless, if a recommendation comes from a friend or from someone we at least know and respect, that vote of confidence lends credibility and gravitas to the read request.

An important thing to keep in mind is that when I recommend a script to an Industry friend, I am also putting myself and my reputation on the line.  I don’t want to be known as someone throwing spaghetti at the wall hoping something sticks.  One clunker will be forgiven, two and I become suspect, more than that and I probably have to remove that Industry friend from my email list.  This is critical to wrap your head around…anyone recommending you is connected to that recommendation, for better or worse.

So, what is a good strategy?

No matter where you live, whether in LA or Indonesia, the best way to get your script to the decision makers is first to impress someone down the line, someone who knows good from bad who won’t blacklist you if your script sucks.   The key here is that if your script is not yet ready to be seriously considered, these folks giving you tough love won’t dent your street cred, and they might just give you insights that help you make your work better.

Remember:  Script competitions promote their finalists, coverage professionals often work for producers or studios and can make a call or fire off an email if they love something, and online communities such as Talentville.com (which I run) can not only help you hone and tweak your scripts for little dough, but can also get you in front of someone like me, one or two degrees of separation from the folks with real power.  Get one of us on your side, someone a few rungs up the ladder from you. If we see potential in you and your project, we very well may be willing to pick up the phone to someone higher on the ladder than us.

Ultimately, my view is that your script will find its way to an Industry Player when it is ready to find its way to them, and not before.  Be patient, look at it as a long game, not a quick score.

Writers who send a project to an agent or producer before it is in top form tend to get an unwelcome reputation pretty fast.  Find those lower level fish who are around, available and who have the ear of the sharks.  If you can get them on your side, knowing they are also putting their necks on the line in promoting you, you are well on your way. 

Just avoid worms on hooks!

Ben Cahan