Screenwriting : Agent or manager or both by Thom Reese

No. Just write and when you have a project that is tight and ready to go out to the world, try and get it made.

Thom Reese I agree with Maureen re: the writing bit, but conventional advice would likely skew towards manager over agent initially for us rookies as the former is more likely to aid you in growing as a screenwriter, i.e. development vice a tenacious salesperson...

Can you afford to have both, manager & agent? You also need a 3rd party lawyer because you cant trust your reps with contracts. Thats minimum 25% fees before income tax.

Most writers would shoot for a Manager first as someone who can better help shape your career and focus on your vision for your writing

Manager first. Their first job; find you an agent.

My wish list would be a manager first - they help develop a career they see promise and profit in. :-)

Manager first, Thom Reese. But understand that even with the best manager, his/her attention will be diverted with other clients. You will always be your biggest advocate and the person pushing your material the most. That's why I always tell every screenwriter that working on networking and relationship building every day is part of the job. This industry runs on relationships. And for a screenwriter, relationships lead to reads and open doors.

I'll echo what's been said here: Manager. As Dan pointed out if you have a manager, agent, lawyer, and then add Uncle Sam's taxes, well, you won't have much left.

I started out with an agent which I think was a mistake. If I had to do it over I would first start out with a manager and if the manager did a good job I probably wouldn't switch. Just my own opinion.

Totally agree with Richard "RB" Botto on this. You're entering a partnership with your representation and you need to be putting yourself out there as well. Continuing to hone your craft and get better all the time is just as important, so that you become more marketable for yourself and your representation. To paraphrase Steve Martin: "Everyone asks me how do I get a mahager? How do I get an agent? But what they should be asking is How do I get good".

As a rookie screenwriter, neither. Remember, you are a business, and if you want others to invest in your business, the product must be amazing! Start by getting your work as great as possible, and be sure to have not just one spec script but three. Be so good that you don’t have to convince anyone of your talents, then seek out a manager. Managers who are worth anything will not hold your hand through the learning curve of the industry. They’d rather invest in someone who has read all the books, studied the business through courses and webinars like on Stage32, and will make it easy to get them work because they are dedicated and have proven material. Also, never have just one great script. An executive from HBO told me many don’t trust that a person with one good script can replicate the success. You might have spent years creating that script. They need writers who can create a hit in months, not years. You need to be ready to write whatever they throw at you. So if they see two to three great scripts, they trust that you can deliver consistent content within a shorter period of time than say two or three years.

Thank you all so much for your great feedback. Manager, it is! I appreciate you all!!!

Thom Reese I have to dork out for a second because "Thom" is a central character in Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" series (like religious texts to me), and I had never "met" an actual Thom until now!

Both are incredibly difficult to get. And even then you’re still going to be doing a lot of work on your end. I would say learn the business as much as you can so you can be an advocate for yourself. Learn how to talk “Hollywood” and then the managers will come