Film Courage: What are the different ways a writer can find an agent?
Carole Kirschner, Entertainment Career Coach, Speaker & Author: It's a question I get asked
all the time and there are a number of ways one is enter a contest and come in first
if your quarter finalist that's not going to do anything and as I said before if you're a quarter
finalist in the McGee Film Festival nobody is looking at that if you are in a very prestigious
competition and you come in first or second agents and managers will find you and the annoying thing
is is that agents say when you say how does somebody get an agent they say don't worry when
you're ready we'll find you and there's a lot of Truth in that no matter how annoying it is
so that's one another way is if it's television and you can get into one of the network
fellowships they will introduce you to agents and managers if you can find a mentorship program
they will introduce you to their agents or managers if you do a one woman one
man one person show and you put it up it has a fantastic reaction that's how fleabag came about
they'll find you another way my daughter who's a comedy writer an aspiring comedy writer one
of her best friends did a video that went viral and she was wrapped within a week and they keep
inviting her to go back to Saturday Night Live and apply to be a writer there so if you make
a Big Splash in social media that is a way to do it knowing somebody who knows somebody who
can get your script to an agent or manager or an agent or manager's assistant is one way to do it
I used to say don't bother with this but cold queries can work I've now had
three mentees and a client who wrote fabulous letters cold queries emails
and they made their themselves so appealing and the log line for one of their scripts so
appealing that the manager or agent said I'd like to read your script
and then they had a meeting with them because the script was so good and they got wrapped
another way is and this is hard if you're not in the business is to have a job working in the
business even if it's as a PA somewhere because you'll meet somebody who will know somebody who
will know somebody who will know somebody who can get your script in front of an agent or a manager
another way is to have a podcast these days podcasts wow that is super successful they'll
find you the easiest way is to already be making money as a screenwriter because agents
love to poach their competitions clients and those are the ways those are the ways
so with the people that queried and sent these letters out how did they know the names and where
did they find the contact information how they actually get the contact information IMDb Pro
has contact information for agents and managers I recommend that people look for a manager first
there's so many more of them than there are agents and the ones just
starting out are often willing to take newbies and and sort of invest in them
and one way to do it is to look at your favorite movie your favorite television shows go to IMDb
look up their name and see who represents them and then go to that person's contact page and that's
how you do it what should a new writer expect from a meeting with an agent in a meeting if you're a
hot commodity the manager or agent it's like being on a date when somebody wants to get you in bed
they will tell you anything how beautiful you are how handsome you are how much they love you
what you should be thinking about in that meeting if you're a hot commodity is
ask them very clearly where do you see my career in five years and how will you help
me get there the thing to remember is if you go with this person they work for you
you want to make sure that they've read your material and they get who you are
they really understand who you are as a writer and they get your Vibe and that your Vibes match
you may not you may want a super aggressive agent or that may not be your style and you want
somebody who's super hard working and ambitious but not super aggressive you can expect them to
ask you what you want in a relationship with a manager you can expect them to ask who do in the
business because the more people the easier it is for them to do their job they might ask you what
are your favorite shows what are your favorite movies they may ask you what is your sweet spot
as a writer what do you like to write what are you great at writing they will definitely ask you
what else do you have in your portfolio besides what they read for you to get to that meeting
that's probably about it they'll they'll make small talk to get you to now that's if you're
a hot commodity and it's all your choice because you're meeting with five different managers and
you get to decide it's really who you Vibe with and who has a track record in getting their
clients work if you're new and you're not yet a hot commodity you should be prepared to tell them
what else you have in your portfolio you should be prepared to tell them what your career Ambitions
are you should be prepared to tell them who in the business and the ways that you meet people
they're going to want to know that you should be prepared to ask them who are your other clients
that I might talk to they may take umbrage of that and if they do that's not the person for you
you should be prepared to ask them how do they see you getting to the next level in your career and
how can they help you do it they may ask you how often how long does it take you to write
a script and be prepared to be honest with that answer so unlike a first date where you wouldn't
say when when are we setting our wedding in an agent meeting you would be very upfront about
this is what I expect and what can I expect from you would that be a little bit too fast too soon
well you don't probably have a lot unless you're that hot commodity you don't have a lot of shots
with an agent or manager you probably have one meeting with them I'm not suggesting you come
in guns blazing I think you come in and you're complimentary to them and you say I would love
to work with you I it would be fantastic I'd love to ask you a couple of questions
and say it in a humble way but ask those questions okay so there's direction to the meeting it's
not just you're showing up and you have an actual plan yes you want to think ahead now sometimes and
it's not very often this may just be a meet and greet get to know you see what they think of you
and it's not what we call a signing meeting it's really just a get to know you they read
something of yours they liked it they they want to know more about you and then it's really about
having a relationship a conversation with them like you would with a friend or a new person who
you wanted to be friends with but if it turns to business be prepared to ask those questions
okay have that in your back pocket absolutely what are some red flags a new writer should be aware of
when meeting with an agent if the person is a jerk if they haven't read you if they're blowing smoke
if they're not transparent about the type of people they represent if they're late to
the meeting if they talk at you the whole time if they're just being blustery if they don't ask you
about yourself and again if they haven't read your work if they don't have an opinion about your work
these are red flags how do we know someone's blowing smoke if they tell you you're fabulous
you're fabulous you're fabulous and you've only written run script they're probably blowing smoke
if they say oh yeah I can get you a meeting with Spielberg I can get you a meeting with JJ Abrams
you need to that's a red flag because they don't know you enough yet and if they could get you
those meetings you're probably not meeting with the people that can get you those meetings when
you're starting out talking out someone versus talking with them yes oh pet peeve
they just talk about themselves it's a wall of words they talk talk they don't give you
any time to they never take a breath for you to say something they're just talking about
themselves and they're talking Non-Stop and they're not making eye contact and they're
not pausing and they're not reading the room they don't care about you
so they're not you you see they're not picking up on social cues right okay they take themselves so
seriously they love the sound of their voice that's not somebody who's going to help you
because if they're that way with you they're going to be that way with decision makers and that turns
decision makers off what if an agent rejects a writer that's sad but move on to the next one
but we're sensitive artists Carol we we we feel things this was our biggest painful it's painful
I worked at a job where my contract didn't get picked up for a second part
of it I was so devastated I ate ice cream for days I bought shoes I felt terrible
and then I moved on and my husband has a great way of looking he said wallow in it wallow in
your pain wallow in the disappointment give yourself three days to feel enough stay in bed
watch stupid television and then move on and then move on
unless you want to give up forever right then and don't do that this is part of the business
feel it acknowledge it experience it give yourself the space to do that and then move on to the next.