On Writing : Question by David Speaker

Welcome to the community, David Speaker. I’m a Stage 32 Lounge Moderator. I wanted to let you know that I moved your post from the Introduce Yourself Lounge to the Authoring & Playwriting Lounge because your post is writing related. Let me know if you have any questions.

If it says, "By referral only" or "We're not looking for talent right now", then you're totally screwed.

Anything else, try sending them a short query email. Just make sure that your genre is something they actually work with.

Happy writing.

David Speaker, Stage 32 has some great education on this topic that you can look into-

https://www.stage32.com/education?p=8944839885107

https://www.stage32.com/education?p=8944833429811

https://www.stage32.com/education?p=8944851616051

https://www.stage32.com/education?p=8944902209843

Hey David - that is the question as old as the industry itself. Feel free to drop me a not at success@stage32.com - I am a Writer Consultant with Stage 32 and have been in the industry for 20 years working in representation, development, production and finance. I can certainly give some thoughts on how to start making inroads into the industry. I hope to hear from you.

This may be old-school advice but the only way I've ever seen it consistently happen is by writing a script that gets heat, making a short film that gets noticed, making a digital video that people like, or doing those unitl one of them pops a little. Keep creating and it gives you the best shot. And elevates your networking here which can change everything.

It's the ultimate Catch 22.

Agree @Sam Don't wait for an agent, in fact don't wait for anyone's permission for art. Put quality work out there whether written/visual/audio. Get feedback & noticed in front of the right eyes. Nothing is lost, even if you pitch in future, a project already in the ether is a bargaining chip. Some Indie artists do this to get a built in fan base.

Lots of great feedback here - the only thing I can add is to treat your writing like a business. An agent is likely going to want to sign based on what you're already doing. Andy Weir is a great example of that. I would suggest looking up how he got the attention of the masses.

Sent a letter to CAA once asking if they had any agents who were accepting screenplay submissions. I didn't send a synopsis of my work, no pages, no nothing besides "are you accepting submissions?" They sent my letter back to me with a notice telling me of their "no solicitations" policy and "for this reason we are returning your materials to you". Whoever opened my letter at CAA lacked the shred of intelligence necessary to realize that I didn't include any materials. I was asking if they were accepting submissions and got the aforementioned condescending response in lieu of more professional behavior.

This is a good questions. I really appreciate the great feedback.

Make comic books, build your audience, and let the agents find you.

They don't need to open your query. They just send a "No Solicitations" response automatically. They don't know you.

I can't speak to getting an agent as a screenwriter. I sort of gave up on that dream years ago. They way I got my screenwriting career to start moving was to seek out avenues that were unconventional. I went into corporate marketing, which allowed me to write and produce commercials and advertisements. I used this opportunity to write and produce some shorts. This led me to get scouted to write an animated series for a company that wanted to do unconventional marketing. I still don't have an agent, but I do have several commercials, multiple produced animated episodes, and a lot of other paid writing on my resume by taking this route.

A couple years back, I published a blog post about my journey on this topic on the Stage 32 blog, but the search function isn't working properly, so I can't find the link right now. But if you are able to search my name, it should come up.