Basil Argento: Screenwriter and director in Dublin, Ireland.

Good morning fellow screenwriters. 

So I finally have representation and I just wanted to give my thoughts and kind of some harsh truths (because I don’t believe in gatekeeping).

When I first started taking screenwriting seriously (probably about around 2017) I thought all it took were good ideas, skill/the ability to execute, and good scripts. 

I had to come to find out that unfortunately that wasn’t the truth. I would have meeting after meeting with managers/agents and I would hear the same thing “you’re an amazing writer but….”

1. This just didn’t connect with me 

2. I’m not the right person for this 

3. I don’t have the bandwidth for new writers right now 

Rinse lather and repeat.

And for the longest time I thought it was because of me. I thought managers didn’t want to sign me because I wasn’t good enough. It took me maybe about 3 years (2021) to realize that.. managers and agents don’t want writers that NEED representation.. they want writers that WANT it. 

I was straight up told by a lit manager “you’re wasting your time trying to find representation.” 

So I started doing work on my own. Found producers to attach to my projects. Got them packaged with talent. Got with a production company with a first look deal. And now I have two projects on the market. 

And then I started following up with managers who I had been keeping in contact with. THEN I got signed. 

And with the momentum I had for my other two projects that are packaged, my manager can use that to get me in the door for my other projects I’ve written. 

So long story short… if your main goal is to find representation you’re wasting time… (don’t be like me lol) you should be showing that you know how to be a producer as well. That you know the industry, you can get things done on your own, and that you understand the business… and a manager can come in and help facilitate. Because if the writers strikes taught us anything.. you can’t just be a writer. You HAVE to be a multi-hyphenate. 

That is all… hope this helped. 

This is an interesting subject matter for the modern day director, which could easily have been posted in the Acting Lounge. However, I’m a Director and wanted a discussion about this with my fellow directors.

Stephen Follows knows how to crunch the numbers. For this article he scrutinised the data of “385,723 live-action fiction movies made worldwide”.

“As a quick primer, an Intimacy Coordinator is a professional advocate responsible for choreographing and overseeing scenes of intimacy in film and theatre, ensuring the well-being, safety, and consent of the actors involved.”

Here are my thoughts.

The role of the Intimacy Coordinator is to “[ensure] the well-being, safety and consent of the actors involved.” This seems like it should be the role, not of a third-party consultant, but the Director, who by the time they get to ‘those scenes’ in the film will/should already have developed a relationship of trust with the actors. If not, then there are greater concerns about the production. If you can’t work together with your actors on ALL scenes, then want are you doing?

But isn’t this the same as having a Stunt Coordinator for the action scenes? In a word, No.

Action sequences are high-risk environments and need the expertise of someone who can deliver on the safety and well-being aspect of those scenes. To then consider an intimacy scene as just another ‘action sequence’ is a concern to me and ultimately devalues the whole notion of intimacy and character development.

What are your thoughts about this, my fellow directors?

https://stephenfollows.com/how-many-films-employ-an-intimacy-coordinator/?

After his son's unexpected death, a grief-stricken widower disowns a young man who was like a second son but when his decision backfires he learns that he can't erase one part of his life to fix another.

Hi Basil. I'm RB, Founder and CEO of Stage 32. As a screenwriter, producer, actor and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work, landing representation, launching projects, securing funding and simply making the connections that will make a difference in their careers. That's why I created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 1,000,000+ members representing every country on the planet making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth.

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Hello Basil -

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