SeanPaulMurphyVille: Writer Tip #36: My Querying Process

Monday, September 26, 2022

Writer Tip #36: My Querying Process

Seanie Goes To Hollywood

I follow the adventures of my fellow screenwriters on Twitter. It is clear to me that many budding writers believe that producers and directors will flock to them if they win a screenwriting contest or get a high score on a screenplay hosting website.

I'm sure that can happen. My screenplay I, John was optioned after it won the Kairos Prize. I have also gotten requests and assignments and offers of assignments because of scripts I posted on the website InkTip. Entering contests can be helpful. So can posting scripts on websites. However, I can say with absolute certainty that all of my success as a writer, which now includes books, fourteen produced features, a number of Emmy-award winning shorts and an upcoming streaming series, came as a result of querying. I never waited for producers to come to me. You shouldn't either.

To me, the query process begins before I type the first word of a screenplay.* As I consider an idea, I wonder who would want to make this film. Then I begin compiling a list of films in the same genre or that explore similar themes. I usually have dozens, possibly hundreds, of films on my list before the script is completed. When you consider that every film has five or six producers, it doesn't take long to build a list of hundreds of names, not counting directors, agents or managers.

I'm not getting into query letters here. My blog The Query Letter includes some of my successful letters. My blog Anatomy of a Query Letter explains my philosophy concerning those letters. Feel free to read them both.

If you are looking for an agent or manager, you should approach them before you contact producers or production companies. Trust me, they will be much less interested in your script if it has already been pitched to everyone in Hollywood.

When approaching agents and managers, you should focus on people who handle writers. How do you figure out who they are? Easy. Use the IMDbPRO.

In the old days, I got most of my contact information from the Hollywood Creative Directory. They had one for productions companies and another one for agents and managers. The IMDB put them out of business. The IMDBPro should be your most important resource for querying. You'll find the contact information for thousands of people on that website. You will not be able to reach the top studio personnel or the staffs of the top production companies over the transom, but you will find a surprising number of people.

How do you identify the right agents and managers? The same way you identified the right producers and directors. Find appropriate movies and see who represented the writers. Most agents will not have their individual email addresses listed on the IMDB. They only post the general information email address for their agency. You're not going to get anywhere there. That's where the next website comes in handy: Everyone Who's Anyone. The database seems to have been updated recently. That's good because agents move around quite a bit. Seems like a lot of agents are now becoming managers. More money I guess.

Generally, I prefer querying producers rather than directors. Why? Producers are more likely to be sitting on a pile of money -- or have access to one -- than directors. Forget all that film school stuff about the auteur theory. Most directors are hired hands who are as desperate as you to find work. That doesn't mean that there aren't directors who can't move your project forward. I've just had better luck with producers. And don't bother approaching writer/producers who have only produced their own material. Trust me, they probably have twenty scripts of their own they'd kill to produce before they'd even consider yours.

Here's something that might surprise you: I do not approach my top choices first. I like to test the query letter before I do. I want to make sure it is working. Once I feel I am getting an adequate level of response, I approach my top choices. What do I consider an adequate level of response? In the old days, I hoped for a response rate of one out of four emails sent that didn't bounce back. (I don't include invalid emails in my calculations.) Today I am happy if I get a response for one out of every ten emails. I attribute the change to the sheer amount of emails that producers and/or their assistants get nowadays. Or maybe my query letters simply aren't as good. Who knows?

Every response is positive, even if they are not interested or say they do not read unsolicited material. I've had people who said they were not interested in reading a script, or who said they didn't read unsolicited material, request another script later. I put everyone who responds in a special database. Those email addresses are golden. Always treat those people with respect. Don't bug them. Remember, for that script at least, no means no. Read my blog No Means No! on that subject.

How many emails do I sent out at a time? Once I am satisfied with the letter, I send out about ten queries every three or four days. If my responses start drying up, I start tinkering with the query letter again.

When do I give up? That depends. I continue as long as I am getting reads. I don't think I'm being fair to my script if I stop querying before I send out at least five or six hundred emails. That's right. I said five or six hundred. Minimum. Don't expect me to be impressed when you tweet that you've queried two producers last week! However, if I get ten or twelve requests and receive no positive feedback on the script, I will stop to consider a rewrite.

Here's what I don't do: I don't call people. When I was an associate producer at an advertising agency one of my main jobs was preventing vendors from getting through to my creative director. I don't want to be that guy on the other end of the phone now. Plus, I don't want my personality to be a factor. They're not going to buy my script just because they think I'm funny or intelligent or thoughtful or correct on every social issue. The script has to stand on its own two feet. I want to be judged on my writing alone.

Nor do I query people on social media. When Facebook began, I approached a few people online but I always felt slimy afterwards, as if I was invading their personal privacy. I know plenty of folks who felt no such qualms and have enjoyed success that way but I don't do it. (I have approached book reviewers through social media, but usually only after they have posted an interest in reading new material.)

An important key to successful querying is managing your expectations. Ideally, I would like to sell a script and make a movie. However, when querying, my goal is simply to get reads. Period. The only metric I consider at this stage is the number of emails I send out compared to the number of requests I get back. The road to success starts with short, simple steps. If you have talent and a great story to tell, your script will find a home if you can get enough people in the industry to read it. Concentrate on that. Don't worry about the Academy Award yet. Getting reads is something you can accomplish now. Don't believe anyone who says people don't read anymore. Yes they do!

Also, when it comes to expectations, remember that few if any of the people who you contact with your query will have the power to greenlight a movie. Your goal is to get someone, with more connections than you, to fall in love with your script. Then together you take the next step and then the next one and the next one until you have gathered a team that will get your story on the screen.

It's all about taking one step at a time.

And that first step is querying.

*My process for querying about books is different.

Other Writing Tips:

Writer Tip #1: The First Act

Writer Tip #2: Write For Actors

Writer Tip #3: Don't Work For Free!

Writer Tip #4: Make The Changes

Writer Tip #5: Manage Your Expectations

Writer Tip #6: Hone Your Scripts

Writer Tip #7: How To Make Movies For A Living

Writer Tip #8: The Query Letter