New Boss same as Old Boss. There is an abundance of scripts; just a shortage of bankable Talent in front and behind productions. The Big 3 agencies (CAA, WME, ICM) control about 70% of all TV. They'll figure an algorithm plan to divide up $$.
John - the takeaway is not more unsolicited spec scripts but fewer better quality scripts. I'm out of the reader rat race but I do recall having ten scripts to read over a weekend after a 50+ hour week in the writer's room.
I see a glut as a good thing. Because if I am better than a million scripts I look like a genius. Being better than four isn't very impressive. The number of competing scripts has no impact on the quality of my work. Writing is not a lottery, the less tickets the better your chances. The only thing that gets harder is people have less time to search, therefore get in front of them becomes harder.
C Harris - A reader can generally tell within the first two pages if it's worth reading. Hold a script out at arm's length and riffle through it - if it's heavy in text blocks, put it down. Lots of white space on the pages means it heavy into dialog - that's a good thing.
If I was paid to read a script I would read the entire script. I'd probably be able to tell it is crap in a few sentences. But my job is worth more to me than cutting corners. Hard to write a note on something you haven't read.
Woof! If that isn't a depressing read for hopefuls like yours truly I don't know what is.
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New Boss same as Old Boss. There is an abundance of scripts; just a shortage of bankable Talent in front and behind productions. The Big 3 agencies (CAA, WME, ICM) control about 70% of all TV. They'll figure an algorithm plan to divide up $$.
2 people like this
No gluts, no glory!
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John - the takeaway is not more unsolicited spec scripts but fewer better quality scripts. I'm out of the reader rat race but I do recall having ten scripts to read over a weekend after a 50+ hour week in the writer's room.
2 people like this
I see a glut as a good thing. Because if I am better than a million scripts I look like a genius. Being better than four isn't very impressive. The number of competing scripts has no impact on the quality of my work. Writing is not a lottery, the less tickets the better your chances. The only thing that gets harder is people have less time to search, therefore get in front of them becomes harder.
That's why they only read the first 10 pages...
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C Harris - A reader can generally tell within the first two pages if it's worth reading. Hold a script out at arm's length and riffle through it - if it's heavy in text blocks, put it down. Lots of white space on the pages means it heavy into dialog - that's a good thing.
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If I was paid to read a script I would read the entire script. I'd probably be able to tell it is crap in a few sentences. But my job is worth more to me than cutting corners. Hard to write a note on something you haven't read.
Dan, a wise agent - stick with her.
Let's get our glutes out of the glut! Let's hightail our hineys to higher ground.
For me the takeaway from that article is that the agencies need to hire more staff and invest in additional coverage.