Screenwriting : Standing out from the crowd - Signing with an Agent in the UK by Andy Redfern

Here in USA, competitions generally means 0, like kissing your sister.

The best is a show biz peer/champion vouches for your writing samples and they recommend you to an agent/rep.

Three produced features under my belt. One #4 on Amazon Prime. One #1 on Hulu. All SAG level productions with a few household names. all with distribution deals, two with theatrical releases. Published a book on craft that's recommended by a former director of UTA's story department. Written blog posts about the industry shared by the likes of Jonathan Wolf (ex-head of AFM).

UK agents only reply to my emails to tell me their books are full.

It's brutal out there. Makes much more sense to bypass them and target filmmakers instead. The rep side of things isn't very speculative these days.

I'll say this too, as someone who's worked on the producer side of things casting roles, agents are surprisingly good at killing deals and reps are notorious for doing the bare minimum. A rep agent is worse than no rep. There's an old saying, "you only need an agent when people are shocked you don't already have one".

Hi Andy Redfern! If you shoot me an email at success@stage32.com I can send you some great resources on this topic from Stage 32 :)

Thanks for all the feedback guys I really appreciate it. CJ I've been following you for a while now man and honestly you inspire me so thank you for commenting, also looking forward to reading your book once it arrives! Emily that would be amazing, I'll drop you an email shortly.

That warms my heart to read, Andy. Thanks so much for the kind words. I hope the book gives you some inspiration and guidance. All I can say is, you're in one of the best places to be asking questions.

I do the basics - get a copy of Writers and Artists Yearbook - write a long list of potential agents - go on their websites to see if they take unsolicited scripts - find out that a lot don't - a lot say it's dependent n individual agents = and a lot don't tell you if they do or not. Contact by email the latter and ask them - compile a spreadsheet of shortlisted potential agents with columns of notes, actions and responses. Keep the spreadsheet because you may need to use it again in 12 months. Unfortunately, it's a weekend of work but if you create a basic list you can use it again - updating as you go. You'll just forget who said what after several submissions, so it's important to keep info updated. Its like sales prospecting - you need to keep records. Good Luck.

Andy Redfern I never tried to find an agent in the UK, I got one in the US by calling the different smaller agencies every time I finished a screenplay. I don’t know if I would ever go through that process again but that is how I got one. I heard it is easier to get a manager when first starting out so that might be something you might consider doing first.

I've only had a manager, Andy Redfern, and that was in the US, but he signed me after we built a relationship. I think the best way to get an agent (and anything in the industry) is to build relationships/network. You know about IMDbPro, so I suggest building relationships with industry pros who can recommend you to agents, and I suggest reaching out to those agents at the same time. By phone and email. A brief, entertaining query letter will help get the attention of agents. Dan MaxXx gave an example of his query letter on here once. It was brief and entertaining. If I was an agent, I'd request the script.

I agree with Maurice.

All great advice guys. At the risk of sounding naive, what's the main difference between a manager and an agent? Surely they both represent you? I also have quite a varied portfolio. TV Drama pilots, Sitcoms, an action comedy and a thriller feature, as well several shorts in a variety of genres. Is it worth mentioning when I reach out to these people that I have other work aside from what I'm pitching?

Cheers

Andy Redfern There is a difference between having a WGA Agent and a Manager. WGA Agents are regulated and Managers aren’t regulated. So a Manager can charge money upfront if they want to and can charge whatever they want. Since they aren’t regulated there are a lot more of them running around and they will often work with newer screenwriters. Managers are only as good as their connections.

WGA Agents can’t charge writers anything upfront. They can only charge 10% and actual expenses toward making a deal and they cannot charge anything until the writer is paid. They aren’t there to try and help newer screenwriters break into the business so they look to represent screenwriters with more experience and who can write well-written screenplays on a regular basis. The upside of having a WGA Agent is that they can get your screenplays in front of more decision-makers and bypass the Readers most of the time. They can also get the WGA Attorneys to review your contracts before you sign them for free.

When you pitch an Agent pitch whatever screenplay you think they would want to read. For example, if they prefer dramas pitch the drama screenplay. However, the number of screenplays you have under your belt the better but if have thirty and you don’t have a track record you might not tell them you have written that many. I would tell them a dozen instead.

If you pay to pitch here you would probably be pitching to a Manager because I haven’t seen too many WGA Agents here on Stage 32 and they can’t charge money to read someone’s screenplay.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, Dan Guardino, but I’ve only heard and read of managers getting paid when writers get paid.

Stage 32 published a blog about the difference between a manager and agent, Andy Redfern (www.stage32.com/blog/managers-vs-agents-top-industry-reps-explain-the-di...).

Maurice Vaughan That would only apply to when a writer gets paid. They can charge their clients for services they may provide when their client isn’t being paid anything. Also unless a manager is a lawyer they can’t negotiate or write a contract. However, a WGA Agent can do both of those things.

Ok, gotcha, Dan Guardino.

https://screencraft.org/blog/everything-need-know-agents-managers/