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Scriptwriters Network members received some practical advice on overcoming that perceived hurdle March 10 when a panel of four agents presented a frank discussion on the relationship between writers and those who represent them. Mitchel Stein (the veteran agent who put the "Stein" in Shapiro-Lichtman-Stein before founding his own agency), Peggy Patrick, a vice-president with Shapiro-Lichtman, Jerry Miko from Paradigm and Ryan Saul from The Jim Preminger Agency were interviewed by the network's own Georgann Grunebach. Stein, Patrick and Miko represent television writers. While Saul handles some television work, the majority of his business is done in the feature film arena.
"It's really about relationships," she explained. "The only difference between us and you is that we probably have more relationships -- somebody we can get to take our phone calls; somebody we can get to read your work." The pervasive mentality that one can't get work without an agent, she said, is "not entirely true." In fact, the panelists agreed that writers are largely responsible for finding their own work, whether they're represented or not. "It really is expected for a baby writer to go out and make the contacts and do some things on their own," said Miko. "You can make some progress. You really are expected to make some things happen before you approach agents." While some writers "take offense" at an agent becoming interested only after the writer finds work, Miko explained that a job or a sale means that "circumstances have changed" from the agent's point of view. "You're giving the agent more to sell with," he explained. "We all love to break the baby writer in, but our job really is about maintaining careers; taking them from a certain level and trying to open doors to bring them new opportunities." Stein echoed those sentiments, relating the story of a writer who continually sought his representation and was repeatedly turned down. Once the writer found a job, Stein agreed to represent him. "That was clearly a case where I was teetering," he explained. "The reason I hesitated in signing this individual early on is because I wasn't convinced there was enough of a body of work to go out and fight for him. The commission was nice, but the assignment meant I also had something to talk about -- which I didn't six weeks earlier." Stein said he has turned down a number of writers whose work he admired. "I can't bring myself to represent them, either because I don't believe they'll do well in a room, or they fall into the 'life is too short category,'" he said. "You spend so much time with your clients and put so much of your heart and soul into their careers that you want to know it's going to be a gratifying experience, whether or not you're successful in getting them work." Saul said he, too, encourages his clients to actively look for work. But when they do, communication with the agent is crucial. "One of the more embarrassing things is when we're both selling to the same person at the same time and don't know it," he said. "Make sure they know what you're doing." The agent-client relationship should be looked at as a "team situation," Patrick said. "We're not the Messiah," she cautioned. "We make phone calls. We try to get people to read your work. You can't say, 'I now have an agent; I'm just going to wait for the phone calls to roll in.' You should be out there schmoozing, sitting at the Scriptwriters Network, taking classes or meeting people. Your job is as likely to come from someone you know or tripped over or met or partnered with on a script as it is from us. Your career is your job. We're there to help you; we are not 'it.' You are still supposed to be doing the lifting." When considering scripts from prospective clients, Stein said he looks at dialogue. "Structure can be taught," he said. "But after 22 years, I still believe you can't teach dialogue. It either sings, or it doesn't." Patrick said she tends to be more conceptually driven. "I look for a story; something that's really fresh and new and creative that I've never seen before. I'm looking for certain kinds of stories and certain kinds of things. I agree with Mitch that it has to be well-written with good dialogue. But what would make me pick up the phone and call somebody is to find a story I haven't seen before, a story I know somebody is looking for, or one that fits exactly a certain marketplace that I'm looking to sell to." Miko said writers need not only a good spec script, but they need to sell themselves. "It's important to tell a little about yourself," he said. "If you have a law background, if you're a teacher -- it's important to get across a little about what you've done; what your life has been. We look at that as well." Saul pointed out that a good personality is an important trait, particularly for a television writer. "People don't want to work with jackasses," he explained. "You have to be able to accept some of the notes that you'll get. Even if the notes make no sense whatsoever and don't help the story, which is sometimes the case, you have to be open and available to do that." When writing the spec script, Patrick advocated trying to "think commercially" and to anticipate trends. "Don't look at what's happening at this moment," she said. "Look two years from now. One year from now. It takes from one to two years to sell your screenplay. Don't write what's on the screen now; write what we're going to see in the future. What you can do is look at trends; what's going on in the country. If you're going to try to be commercial, that's where the new, fresh idea is going to come from -- not from trying to copy Die Hard again." Miko agreed. "It's very important to forecast, and not submit what a thousand people have written and submitted," he said. Saul said it's important to "write the story that you want to tell," while finding a way to make it "commercial and appealing to the masses." Stein said writers should strive to write something that is "compelling." "I don't believe that you can predict the future in regard to trends and I don't think you should try and write commercial," he asserted. "I think you have to really write from your heart. And that is the most important thing you can do, in my opinion." Stein, who admitted to holding somewhat of a jaundiced view, said he looks at screenplays as nothing more than a calling card. "When screenplays sell, it's news," he pointed out. "That's why it makes the front page of the trades. There's no rhyme or reason why material sells. Every time you find out why a screenplay sells, there is this very interesting, convoluted story that takes place over seven years. To believe that a script's going to go out and be sold because it's so damned brilliant -- it ain't going to happen to any of you." Regardless of what the writer writes first, Saul said it is critical that it be followed up with another project. "If we're looking at the long-term career of the writer, it doesn't matter which comes first -- from the heart or commercial," he said. "Eventually, you will have to write that commercial screenplay. Write the story that's inside you, then hone your craft. I think everyone has one screenplay in them. The second is more difficult because that isn't one that you've been wanting to write." So what happens when it works - when everything clicks and a script sells? "There is no other business like the spec feature market," Miko observed. "This is something that could change somebody's life in three days. Every agency loves this market." J'Amy Pacheco is the editor of a law-oriented newspaper and writes a weekly humor column.
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