Had an agent from a small boutique agency contact me after I queried him about representation. He requested the first twenty pages of my best script and a picture of myself? He claimed that there was a height and weight requirement for all the writers they represent. Anyone ever here of this?
Is this legit?
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that is one of the most ridiculous things i've heard. maybe their last client, Two-Ton Tessy sat on him when he couldn't sell her script and he now has a phobia. it's not illegal to pick and choose your clients any way you wish but methinks their selection process may not be in your best interest. or he sent you their "actor" requirements which means he's a dodo bird. i'd stay clear OR i'd send him a picture of my favorite obscure actor just to mess with him.
Yeah, I had a fealing this guy might be bogus when I had a short phone conversation with him about my scripts. He kept asking if I ever wrote a biopic about any famous artists. I asked which one's, VanGogh, Picasso, Dega...? He said, "No I was thinking more of a Jackson Pollack. Because I'd like to paint a Jackson Pollack on your face." I got to get out of this town.
Does he wear any sort of headgear with a red ball inserted in his mouth?
Seriously, he doesn't sound stable, let alone legit.
Seriously, he doesn't sound stable, let alone legit.
Yeah, but this is a great story that you can embellish for years. Glad you didn't go meet him.
JJ
PS. Welcome.
JJ
PS. Welcome.
I wouldn't trust this guy with my work. On the other hand, he sounds like excellent screenplay material.
This is NOT legit!
Please do not continue contact with this agent.
There are many scams out there and we must remain forever vigilant for ourselves and each other.
billythrilly spent two months negotiating a free option with a Czech supermodel turned producer only to find out that he was a 10 year old kid in Japan. And Scarletpeaches has already fallen for the free Editor Breast Exam scam twice.
Please do not continue contact with this agent.
There are many scams out there and we must remain forever vigilant for ourselves and each other.
billythrilly spent two months negotiating a free option with a Czech supermodel turned producer only to find out that he was a 10 year old kid in Japan. And Scarletpeaches has already fallen for the free Editor Breast Exam scam twice.
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Great advice in this thread so far.
Count yourself lucky, at least they didn't ask you to send them a kidney. Overnight medical package delivery costs are outrageous.
-Derek
Count yourself lucky, at least they didn't ask you to send them a kidney. Overnight medical package delivery costs are outrageous.
-Derek
I can't help but be reminded of that scene in Will Farrell's movie Elf where they brought in the famous children's book author named Miles Finch played by Peter Dinklage.
I'm a little confused, shouldn't you know if they're legit or not? What is their track record? Did you research them before querying them?
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after the Jackson comment, I would have offered to give him the Van Gough treatment.
You know, take him out to a nice field well away from the city. Shoot him in the gut, and then let him crawl back to town so he could lay in a hospital bed for a week adn 1/2 before finally shuffling off this mortal coil.
You know, take him out to a nice field well away from the city. Shoot him in the gut, and then let him crawl back to town so he could lay in a hospital bed for a week adn 1/2 before finally shuffling off this mortal coil.
Perhaps they plan to shoot you out of a cannon or into outer space?
You sure they're not an acting agency that's decided to do scripts? Most writers are not the most photogenic bunch...which is why they're not actors.
Apart from everyone on AWC of course.
Joe270
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It could be that the only office space left in the prodco offices is the little room under the stairs. . .
Oh, sorry, that's where all writer cubicles are in prodco offices. Sometimes they can fit four writers in there, if they're small.
Oh, sorry, that's where all writer cubicles are in prodco offices. Sometimes they can fit four writers in there, if they're small.
I appreciate the comments but I don't think most of you realize the crap a struggling screenwriter goes through over a ten year period, which is how long I've been doing this. Had an episode early in my career where I got a lead on a new start-up production company looking to option material from new writers. I looked the guy up on IMDB and he actually had a few credits to his name, nothing big, but enough to make him seem completely legitimate. I sent him a couple of scripts and he called me back to set up a lunch meeting with him to discuss one of the thrillers I sent him. "This is a project that I think I can get off the ground", was his comment. First red flag, we had lunch at Arby's. But this could be explained because it was right next to the office building the production company worked out of and he was a very busy man and couldn't take the time to go uptown to have lunch with an unknown newbie writer. The meeting went extremely well, so well that he left to make a couple of phone calls and came back to ask me if I could take a meeting with a couple of potential investers who might be interested in financially backing the script with himself as producer. "Great!" I thought, "I'm on my way." Second red flag, when I went toward the office building he worked out of, he stopped me, and said "No we have to meet them at their office. "Okay..." I said and a half hour car ride later we arrived at a "Days Inn" motel. Not just a motel but a cheap motel at that. I get out of the car half laughing and say "Are you fucking kidding me, this is a motel for Christ's sake." Half smiling he says, "Yeah." He puts his hand on my shoulder to lead to the so called "office" and I clocked him. Laid him out with a good haymaker punch, and as I'm walking away he yells at me, "You'll never work in this town again!" Found out later that the address he gave for his office was completely bogus, an insurance company did business out of that floor. Ah, but what are you going to do. The great thing is that once I do make it after all the crap I've gone through, the writer is still treated like the lowest scum on earth by all the studios. Ah, the life of a screenwriter.
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Now that would have presented me with a moral and ethical dilemma. Would I have gone inside and done whatever he asked of me in the hope that he might buy my script, or would I have insisted on dinner first?
Good story, V.
-Derek
Sounds like an excellent basis for a script, but it'll have to be good to compete with the likes of 'The Player'.
I hear you on the crap front, but you cannot seriously think that an agency that demands your photo can be interested in your writing... maybe it's run by the same guy who lured you to the motel...
Oh, you have no idea. I've got dozens of painfully hilarious experiences with producers, agents, directors and actors over the years. When I first got started I broke in with my first option only two years after I completed my first screenplay. I thought I just got lucky and signed with a small production company that just got a new producer from Paramount that loved my script. I later found out that Paramount was throwing his ass out the door and he was there only temporarily til something bigger evovled. The option agreement was only five pages long but seemed to cover everything except it was only a hundred dollars up front. But I didn't care because the real money was in the back end of the option which gave me 5 NET points on everything the movie would make. And my script was so good it was going to make millions, Ha Ha. So after I sign the option, the producer calls me and says he's hired another writer to work with me on the rewrite--well,no--actually a team of writers to help me get it up to speed. I thought, Wow! they must really think a lot of the script if they're shelling out the jack for a team of writers to help me with the rewrite. "I'm on my way!" The producer tells me to meet him at his house on Saturday to meet the other writers and go over all the scenes that need to be punched up. Hmmm, meeting at his house on a Saturday, strange day to start but okay. On Saturday, when I get there the producer is leaving to go out of town but he introduces me to the head writer he hired to help me with the rewrite, Juan. He tells me, "Just do everything Juan tells you because he knows what I want. I kind of faltered because the Juan guy looked like an illegal immigrant and later found out that he could barely speak English. For the next ten hours I did everything that Juan and the "team" of writers working with me told me to do, which included moving all the funiture in the producer's house to a new house that the producer had just purchased. All these guys were illegals and I was part of the moving crew, they could barely speak English! When I realized what was going on the producer even had the balls to call me the next Saturday, and told me to meet with the writing team again at the producer's brothers house(I imagined to clean the fucking pool)! Unbelievable, and the worst part was that the option was completely legal, he owned the rights to the screenplay for a year. I could have been working with Juan and the writing team for the next year cleaning and moving all of the producers friends and familie's houses for the entire year. God help the struggling screenwriter.
Something similar happened to me a few years back.
A producer optioned a script, and then demanded that I kill his wife. One of my friends also had a script optioned, and he's now building a house for the producer.
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All right boys.
I want you stand up straight and tall in front of the mirror.
Look yourself in the eye and shout
"SHOW ME THE MONEY!"
These stories illustrate WHY writers are the bottom feeders.
"We" don't stand up to people like this.
Why didn't you walk away from the moving crew, call the Producer up and say "You know what, I have some pride. I'm a writer, not a mover."
It is only through standing up for ourselves against this kind of crap that we will gain the respect we deserve.
BUT congrats on laying that one guy out!
I want you stand up straight and tall in front of the mirror.
Look yourself in the eye and shout
"SHOW ME THE MONEY!"
These stories illustrate WHY writers are the bottom feeders.
"We" don't stand up to people like this.
Why didn't you walk away from the moving crew, call the Producer up and say "You know what, I have some pride. I'm a writer, not a mover."
It is only through standing up for ourselves against this kind of crap that we will gain the respect we deserve.
BUT congrats on laying that one guy out!
Yup, no struggling screenwriters here....
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Anyway, I don't know how/why you keep getting involved with these people. They really have credits? It seems like you could tell that some were not legitimate before even submitting to them.
And yeah, I wouldn't sell your option for $100 again. That pretty much means they don't respect you. There is a WGA minimum afterall.
And be careful, because if you get associated with these people, other people won't hire you. If you are taking a meeting I wouldn't ever tell them these stories. It makes you look incompetent. I don't mean that in a mean way, I'm just saying, I wouldn't spread around that these things have happened to you.
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On the other hand, the picture thing isn't necessarily completely illegitimate, but if they wanted to know what you looked like they'd probably just take a meeting with you. But in novel publishing, looks can make a big difference. If you write chick lit and you're a good looking chick they will market you harder. Hollywood loves young people and good looking people and how you look could impact an agent's decision to pick you up. But as noted, they'll probably just meet with you.
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