UK writers cracking US market

I don't think it's the case with producers, because they could care less where you live as long as they get your script.

However, with agents and managers, they tend to want to have close contact with thier clients. Being across the pond and many hours of a time difference away may be why your getting the cold shoulder.

I have a hard enough time contacting with my manager regularly and he's only three hours behind me. I hate it when he calls me late at night, when he's just sitting down for dinner and drinks.

I would try getting a local agent/manager who has connections in the US.

Of course this may not be the case, just a hunch.

You may also try getting one of your projects produced in Britain, or writing for tv in Britain while you're trying to break into Hollywood. If you had solid credits from Britain that would take you much further than trying to break in when you have no credits.

UK writers

US specification?! that's not the problem. the problem is that you've got to write what you know. most US writers could not write a great script set in Eastend London.....or Brooklyn NYC for that matter. It's about flavor, tone, and style making the location believable. If you got it, you got it!

however, there are exceptions. many NYC flicks are shot in LA or Canada. and most recently.....what was the name of that flick set in NYC but shot in Ireland? you know the one where the family moved to the city but were too poor...and their neighbor (a black african) died....and - well, the location shooting was so NOT NYC....blah, blah, blah! exceptions

I couldn't disagree more.

Of the dozens of scripts I have written, few, very few, take place in the US, NYC, BOSTON, NJ (where I lived). I've written scripts that take place in India, England, Nova Scotia, distant planets, and even Hell to name a few.

"Write what you know" is subjective to the amount of research one does in the location they wish to use in their script, not where they walk the streets everyday.

So, to summarily say that this person can't sell to the US market because he doesn't live here, because he can't give an appropriate feel for the locations, is ridiculous.

I may sound harsh, but I haven't had coffee yet this morning and I am a little cranky. Sorry if I offend.

Actually, I don't know who you queried, so I'd say we have insufficient information to say that your UK location in and of itself was why didn't respond.

At this point, just keep plugging away contacting people in the US and Britain. Should your work get into the hands of the right people, anything can happen.

As for my screenplays, two of them take place in the UK. That was partially because the characters, and the issues that they deal with would go over better in Britain than in the US.

The others take place in places I've lived, like New York or Los Angeles. I basically agree with Joe.

The writers of Hercules and Xena, the tv show, wrote shows that took place in Greece and Rome. I'd wager that most of them aren't Greek, Italian, etc.

Oh, e-mail queries can reveal your position if you have an email address that ends is something like co.uk.

But if you find that e-mail querying is what does it for you, obviously keep doing it.

If you're UK-based and want to make an impact in America, you might try entering US screenwriting competitions. The organisers don't care where you're from and if you win or become a finalist it could give your career a real shot in the arm.

Querying via snail-mail from the UK is a logistical nightmare. Most UK agents would tell you not to bother at all and suggest you try to make a name for yourself where you are first. You'll find that many UK agents have connections with American agencies anyway. The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook lists such details.

I can't comment on querying the US via email. I imagine that agents' and producers' opinions on that will vary widly from person to person.

NikeeGoddess said:

US specification?! that's not the problem. the problem is that you've got to write what you know. most US writers could not write a great script set in Eastend London.....or Brooklyn NYC for that matter. It's about flavor, tone, and style making the location believable. If you got it, you got it!

however, there are exceptions. many NYC flicks are shot in LA or Canada. and most recently.....what was the name of that flick set in NYC but shot in Ireland? you know the one where the family moved to the city but were too poor...and their neighbor (a black african) died....and - well, the location shooting was so NOT NYC....blah, blah, blah! exceptions

Click to expand...

I agree with Joe here. If writer's limited themselves to writing only about things they'd seen, places they'd been and experiences they'd had - think of all the brilliant, fascinating, wonderful worlds we would never experience.

The "write what you know" addage - should not be taken literally. In my experience I end up writing what I need to learn as opposed to what I already consciously know.

Also the issues of where something is set and where something is shot - have nothing to do with each other. Shooting locations are normally based on budget (shooting in Canada is cheaper) or the preferences of A-list directors and/or actors. Many films, no matter where they are set and where the exteriors are shot are shot partly in LA on sound stages, because you have more control over what happens on a sound stage - you can configure the interiors any way you need to, the ceilings are high enough, there's ample storage and room for the trucks, etc, you can create whatever weather and time conditions you require (i,e. you can shoot an evening scene at 12 noon) you don't need permits, etc.

Unless you are hired to write something with specific limitations and/or criteria - you should set things where they need to be set to tell your story in the best way. You do not need to have been somewhere to write convincingly. I once read a script set in Louisana, it was so real, so authentic you could feel the muggy heat and smell the flowers in the bayou. You'd think it was written by someone who'd spent their whole life their - turns out the writer had never even been there. The writer did research and used her imagination to bring the bayou to life.

Write what you want to write - just do the necessary research to make it as authentic as you can. The internet makes much of that research easy, painless and free.

Hi massdriver,

You might be interesting in an earlier thread where we discussed writing for US companies outside the USA.

Try this link: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10897

Mac
(PS: I tried posting this earlier, but it seems to have failed. Apologies in advance if this comes out as a double post)