Here is the answer for how to get your script optioned

[scriptwriter74]

I want to share with all of you the secret to getting your script optioned. This is fairly simple and amazingly almost no one out there is doing this. I have had specific conversations with actors who were amazed that they have had little to no one approach them in this format. I didn't want to share this info until my first script was optioned and I assume that IMDB will want to hunt me down, but here it goes.

First let start off by saying I'm going to assume you have a script that is ready to go. Please don't use this avenue for a treatment or a partially finished script. Make sure it is polished and is ready to be ripped apart.
Okay here we go:

The biggest problem for most is not having the connections or network to put their script into the hands of people who can make a difference. The usual routes like inktip are too passive and using the HCD or IMDB to blindly equery or snail mail query major productions companies or major producers who have no idea who you are is rediculous.

What you want to do is to establish relationships with people already in the business, kind of along the lines of the 7 degrees of kevin bacon line. I found that the best way to accomplish this was to use IMDBpro.com and scan their list of individual actors who are also listed as producers. Ideally you want an actor who has his/her own production company. This is going to usually be an actor in the 7,000-60,000 imdb list of actor or producer rankings. Then you want to approach one by equery with an email in 2-3 sentences giving your logline and quick pitch and state that you think they would be great for X role. If they end up liking it, maybe they bring it on to their slate. At the very least if they like but don't have the $ to produce at this time, let them know you appreciate the feedback and if there is someone they think would be in a position to produce that you would be willing to attach them to the project if their introduction leads to an option. It's amazing how friendly people become when there is a financial gain for them. Ideally you want to approach the actor/producer with a good supporting role but not the lead because unless that individual actor/producer is going to produce, no larger production company will want to have one of the leads alread promised to a "b" or "c" level actor. I have established relationships with close to 20 actors and 5 producers this way and now I have connections in place for future scripts.

I hope this helps you, now get out there and make it happen.

[Jake G]

Scriptwriter,

That is a great idea and I look forward to stealing it. It's a nice twist on the "not what you write, but who you know" idea.

[scriptwriter74]

exactly, I truly believe some of the best writers will never have their scripts made. It's the writer that works as hard on their own marketing plus writing that will succeed.

[Celia Cyanide]

I have had specific conversations with actors who were amazed that they have had little to no one approach them in this format.

As an actor w/a small production company, I get blind e-queries all the time, as well as unsolicited headshots and resumes from actors. I would be more inclined to respond favorably if the writer had a specific role in mind for me.

[Opty]

Good idea but not at all new or a "secret." I know several people who have used that approach for several years (some had a little success with it; most didn't).

[Stijn Hommes]

On an off-topic note, it's six degrees of Kevin Bacon...

[creativexec]

There are options and there are options.

Most actors who have production companies - but not the clout to get films greenlit - probably have little or no money to pay you.

Getting your script "optioned" for little or no money (like $500 for a year or two) only ties up the script - keeping it off the market and out of the hands of someone who could potentially do more (and pay more).

What's the sense of a $500 (or low/no money) option? You might be able to tell your friends and family you're an optioned writer, but people in the industry know which companies have money and which companies don't and which ones make movies. So, an option with just any actor certainly isn't going to turn heads or make the writer a more valuable commodity.

I'm not saying there isn't validity to what you suggest. But one needs to consider the terms of the option, if the company truly has the ability to get a film made, and long term goals.


:)

[nmstevens]

I want to share with all of you the secret to getting your script optioned. This is fairly simple and amazingly almost no one out there is doing this. I have had specific conversations with actors who were amazed that they have had little to no one approach them in this format. I didn't want to share this info until my first script was optioned and I assume that IMDB will want to hunt me down, but here it goes.

First let start off by saying I'm going to assume you have a script that is ready to go. Please don't use this avenue for a treatment or a partially finished script. Make sure it is polished and is ready to be ripped apart.
Okay here we go:

The biggest problem for most is not having the connections or network to put their script into the hands of people who can make a difference. The usual routes like inktip are too passive and using the HCD or IMDB to blindly equery or snail mail query major productions companies or major producers who have no idea who you are is rediculous.

What you want to do is to establish relationships with people already in the business, kind of along the lines of the 7 degrees of kevin bacon line. I found that the best way to accomplish this was to use IMDBpro.com and scan their list of individual actors who are also listed as producers. Ideally you want an actor who has his/her own production company. This is going to usually be an actor in the 7,000-60,000 imdb list of actor or producer rankings. Then you want to approach one by equery with an email in 2-3 sentences giving your logline and quick pitch and state that you think they would be great for X role. If they end up liking it, maybe they bring it on to their slate. At the very least if they like but don't have the $ to produce at this time, let them know you appreciate the feedback and if there is someone they think would be in a position to produce that you would be willing to attach them to the project if their introduction leads to an option. It's amazing how friendly people become when there is a financial gain for them. Ideally you want to approach the actor/producer with a good supporting role but not the lead because unless that individual actor/producer is going to produce, no larger production company will want to have one of the leads alread promised to a "b" or "c" level actor. I have established relationships with close to 20 actors and 5 producers this way and now I have connections in place for future scripts.

I hope this helps you, now get out there and make it happen.

It's always worthwhile networking, but it's important to remember that the goal is to get a screenplay first, optioned, second bought, third produced and fourth, distributed.

Screenplays can easily run aground at any stage in the process. Never optioned, optioned and never bought, bought and never produced, produced and never distributed.

You've got to keep your eyes on the ultimate prize -- my script made into a movie that gets distribution.

Attachments are definitely a way in, but it's also important to realize that attachments can come in two kinds -- balloons and ballast. The world is full of people who want to attach themselves to your script, presuming it's a good script, because they hope that your script will lift them up.

But you don't have any particular interest in lifting somebody else up. You're looking to attach your script to somebody who can lift the script up. You don't want to attach your script to an actor or a producer who acts as a drag on your script -- an attachment that, when you move on to a next step, doesn't bring anything in particular to the project. It's just -- oh, so-and-so is attached. He's a producer, he's attached to play this or that part. Who is he? Do I know him? Does his name "mean anything?" -- a cruel phrase that you tend to hear a lot.

Does someone "mean anything" or "mean anything in foreign?" That is -- will someone give you money because that person is in your movie? No? Then his name doesn't mean anything. In fact, because that person is occupying a slot in your movie, even a secondary slot, that's one slot that's now filled and thus can't be filled by someone who's name does actually "mean something" to somebody.

And often it isn't obvious who means something, especially overseas. Some people you'd think would have great importance simply have no meaning in overseas markets, whereas some people you wouldn't think about -- get them in your movie, even in a secondary position -- that "means something" overseas.

Thats sort of why you want to keep your casting decisions open if you can, and why you don't necessarily want to tie your script to people who might have a lot of enthusiasm, but don't necessarily have the ability to move your script forward.

Ultimately, the best offer you get is the best offer you get, and you have to make decisions accordingly, but sometimes, the best decision, even if it's the only offer on the table, may be to turn down the offer.

In the end, the ability to say no to an offer is one of the few powers that we as screenwriters actually have. Once you say yes, your power is essentially gone.

So one must be very thoughtful and judicious, even taking into account that opportunities to say either yes or no may come quite infrequently -- don't always jump to say yes.

NMS