Romance Writer Lands Representation After Stage 32 Pitch Session

I’m lucky. I like to pitch. My father was a traveling salesman and used to talk about his work at the dinner table. I understand the art of the sale. Because of this and what my sister calls our familial blind confidence, I have no fear of getting up in front of people to talk. I like sales. And I write screenplays.

That’s how I came to land at Stage 32 Script Services where they offer opportunities to speak with industry executives. You pay for time and expertise, essentially. Would you like a producer of action movies to read your script and give you notes? How about an eight-minute pitch to a producer or developmental executive who’s looking for romantic comedies?

I’ve been on Stage 32 for years, have a pretty decent profile with a photo, some loglines listed, and I trust these people. At the beginning of the pandemic, I started buying eight-minute opportunities to pitch to producers. I had representation, and although my manager was submitting my work, I wanted to supplement her efforts by casting my net as wide as I could. I’m out there hustling too. I go into these eight-minute opportunities believing they’ll like me, love the project, and ask for the script in the follow-up email. If they don’t, I’m surprised, but get over disappointment quickly and move on. Before being a writer, I was an actress and singer, doing stage shows and singing in hotels in Hawaii. I’m used to being watched and scrutinized. Also, I love to entertain people, so this combination helps me pitch.

When my manager drifted off into producing full-time in 2021, and I found myself without representation, I thought about pitching managers through Script Services. I like the Stage 32 method of being scored. The scorecard can help you refine your pitch if you constantly get low marks in one area. With that in mind, I read the profiles at Stage 32 Script Services Pitch Sessions and considered a few managers I thought might be a good fit for what I write and how I work. I’m a full-time writer, work hard, and expect a level of professional credibility in someone working with me.

You might know that finding representation as a screenwriter is extremely difficult unless you have that undeniable script that won the Nicholl. I do not have that, nor do I have one particular screenplay that’s heads and shoulders above my others, but I have several unique factors about me as a screenwriter. One is that I’m a USA Today Bestselling Author with sixteen published novels and a built-in reader fan base. The other is that I know my brand. I write Romance, either the A or B story. With that in mind, I realized that my product (me and my portfolio) might not appeal to reps who handle Action, Superhero, Thriller, or Drama Features. Or those who specialize in TV. I’m not looking to get into a room. It’s helpful to eliminate what you’re not when trying to figure out what you are. After playing the cold query game for months and getting no read requests I refined my search. I needed to meet managers, not email them.

In order for me to do my full meal deal pitch, I need to be on camera. Remember I said I used to be an actress? The person I’m pitching needs to see me or hear me, not read me or just listen to my voice on a phone. My enthusiasm is part of the pitch, my facial expressions are part of the magic. Having been given the advice to pitch like you’re telling a campfire story, I aim to captivate my audience. I cannot captivate anyone over the phone. I need to be on camera, with my bookshelf in the background stacked with novels that I’ve written. It’s a whole thing. I’m trying to sell eighteen years as a successful author as well as my ability to pitch and the value of my script.

One of the pitches I signed up for was with Tessa Shaffer of the Corvisiero Agency out of New York. She heads up the screenwriter side of a literary agency, and Marisa Corvisiero manages the book side. As an author who adapts my novels into screenplays, I thought we were a match made in heaven. I honed my pitch of a Christmas Romance screenplay after seeing her wish list and went into the session somewhat confident Tessa would be interested in me as a writer. Eight minutes is not long enough to chit-chat. In these sessions, after saying hello, I try to get to the pitch, foregoing the urge to ask what city they’re calling from, who’s that cat on their desk, if they’re a fan of the movie on the wall behind them. I launch straight into my schpiel. For Tessa’s pitch, I felt like I did a pretty good job. She took notes, asked a few questions, and at the eight-minute mark, off she went. Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am.

I don’t have a spreadsheet where I keep track of these pitches, even though I know I should. If anyone needs me, they know where to find me. When the read request came in from Tessa, I wasn’t surprised. I was surprised that she allowed me to send any script in the Christmas genre that I felt was my best. This is where it gets tricky because I have six Christmas Romance features. Tessa had given me good scores on the pitch, and I expected to wow her with the script. I sent one that I’d worked on with Hallmark producers, only to have it scrapped when the pandemic hit. I know this blind confidence can rear back and bite me in the butt, and it sometimes does, but I was hopeful. At this point, the executive usually reads, comments, and either says it’s not for them and why or they’d like to take the script to someone else. To be honest, I lost track of time, and it wasn’t until months later I got a DM from Tessa on Twitter to say we were both speaking at the same writers’ conference in Seattle in a few weeks, and she wanted to introduce me to her boss, Marisa. I wasn’t sure if she was just being friendly, but I told her to text me when she arrived. We exchanged messages, and by the time the conference weekend arrived, I expected to at least have a glass of wine with the ladies of Corvisiero Literary.

CUT TO: Tessa and I at an outdoor bar on a lovely summer evening sitting by the lake under an umbrella along with Marisa Corvisiero. I liked them both immediately, and although I knew the question was in the air about representation, I felt like if I wasn’t a good fit for them, I would still have made friends with two powerhouse women in the industry. I eventually left the bar to sell my novels at the book fair, where Tessa dropped by with two of my books for me to sign.

On the second night of the conference, we ran into each other again in the bar until the call for dinner had us heading to the ballroom. On the walk to dinner, Tessa and Marisa offered me representation. They’d been talking about me the night before and wanted to sign me as a client. I wasn’t sure I’d heard correctly and asked them to repeat the offer. At this point, I’d researched them online and knew we’d be a good fit. Through a big smile, I said yes. It was a lovely moment for me and hopefully for them. It’s almost like they’d chosen a puppy from the pet store and were ready to take me home.

A few days after the conference, we were in touch by email with an official offer of representation for my scripts and any new books I write. Shortly after that came the contract. When everything was signed by both parties, I had myself a literary manager AND a literary agent.

There were my stages to getting representation the second time. It didn’t happen in one big swoop. Firstly, I made sure I was ready for representation again. I had my product ready to sell and knew what I brought to the table. Then came the Stage 32 pitch and the request for material. Tessa and I followed each other on Twitter, where there is a large screenwriting community, and it was there she saw we were teaching at the same conference. That’s when the stars lined up to facilitate this perfect pairing. The IRL meeting could have gone either way, but by then, I believe Tessa had an idea I might be a good client for Corvisiero Literary. I like to hope it was a matter of feeling each other out and then sealing the deal.

CUT TO: This week, we’re collaborating on TV movie concepts I’ve submitted to an international production company that originally found me on LinkedIn. Tessa is helping me refine the pitches and soon will package one of my scripts to take around. Along with Marisa, I have plans to write a novel specifically aimed at a certain publisher. We have a game plan!

I look forward to my new association with this agency, collaborating with two talented women to see how far we can take my writing career. I’m pretty sure we’ll make some great deals together, and I’ll end up even more thankful for that day I signed up to pitch Tessa. I aim to be her most successful client.

A year ago, I aimed to be a Stage 32 Success Story, and here I am! Sometimes blind confidence comes in handy.

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