"Trying to take a sip from a firehose" is a popular expression in Hollywood these days. It describes the overwhelming feeling of being barraged with a heavy stream of incoming scripts and pitches. Earlier this summer, I was in a manager's office talking to him about his firm's director clients for an ODA (Open Directing Assignment). He told me that the manager/producer in the office next door had received 400-500 submissions for staffing season. A show she was producing was about to start Season 2 and needed to fill 2-3 open slots. Imagine being submitted 400-500 scripts over a few short weeks! Even if we assume that he overestimated the number of scripts, I'd be willing to bet that she received over 200-250 samples.
Trying to take a sip from a firehose. I'd bet that she had to prioritize her reading and probably chose to first read scripts by writers she already knew, then scripts by writers whom she knew by reputation, then scripts from agents/managers whose taste she most trusted. It's very likely that she could not read many or any of the lower priority scripts on such a tight timetable.
It's a stark reminder that we all must nurture our relationships and build our credibility as best we can. Luck is when opportunity meets preparation, right? If you're in an earlier phase of your career, you can still build relationships and credibility. For many people, that will mean placing in prestigious writing contests. The contest readers are drinking from the firehose so that a busy manager/producer can sip from a regular-sized glass.
Just curious...:) Why would they accept receiving screenplays anymore and not say "Stop sending us spec scripts and pitches" and just close the gates...? (at least temporarily, like a "no spec year")
Well said, Regina. It doesn't hurt to remind us of the other side of the firewall occasionally. Thanks for posting. Your advice also serves to remind us writers to target our potential customers carefully and precisely to those who are seeking our product.
I like Victor's suggestion -- build a big fence round Entertainment. Lock the doors. No spec sales for a year, no contests, no new voices. Keep making the same stories with the same folks. Anybody who ain't part of the Industry will have to make Entertainment on their own dime. Hmmmm.
Dan M, kinda like the old days, huh? Even during those olden times, I recall taking 10 - 12 scripts home over the weekend. I can't even fathom today's onslaught. Sometimes retirement has its perks.
Dan, I think it was a question..:). There must be a reason why, despite receiving many screenplays, few people "close their doors". ( I read that the big studios do this as they don't even bother with spec scripts, but I might be wrong...). I, despite writing scripts for a few years now, feel like I still don't know many things... Still don't understand a lot of things, so...
My new mantra: "Be the Fuji water."
Even with the firehose there still seems to be a lot of effort to find material. To stick with the metaphor, Hollywood keeps its mouth open wide.
I'm in a new, little contest right now, for example, and yet most of the judges are real players, very successful managers, agents, producers, execs, and I know of a production company that's been behind some big films over the years that email-blasted requests for various types of scripts this summer (I was on their email list because they'd liked a script I'd sent earlier) and even encouraged sharing the opportunity with other writers. I'm kind of amazed at the openness of the system.
There will soon be a huge sign next to the Hollywood-letters up on the hill: "stop writing scripts".
"Stop writing junk scripts."
What do you mean by "the Golden Circle"?
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Regina, my take-with for this post was "we all must nurture our relationships" :-)
Dan G, I'm showing my age here when I say Right On! It's all about personal interaction.
Dan M, I too am interested what this term really refers to & where it came from.
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Sure folks! I've said many times selling spec screenplays is akin to being a salmon, or perhaps even a less capable fish of swimming up Niagara Falls. I've now procured six option deals and only one of them came from a spec screenplay I wrote. And even that one came about because I had the guts to roll the dice and quickly write an earlier script that a producer was looking for. But this producer and I have worked on four different projects. This producer has gotten my work into some major players including Paramount, Tyler Perry (three times), Emmett Furla and A & E. About five weeks ago, I answered an add from a director looking for a true crime/bio script. And not for someone like Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde or the Unabomber. His subject was far more obscure. I was 98 percent certain nobody had a spec script about it. And, I was right. So, I pitched the director a logline and general idea of where I wanted to go. He told me if I could write a script he liked, he'd option it. I wrote the first draft in ten days and he optioned it last week. Now, the director liked about 65 percent of my first draft. But that was enough to seal the deal. This option will be announced on Thursday at in the Inktip newsletter. But for now, my advice is to look for someone looking for a subject, where existing scripts are sure to be few or none. Writing what producers and directors are looking for, and quickly, will increase your odds of getting optioned. It has for me.
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Yes Uncle Phil, personal contacts help. don't they?