New opportunity – Advice Needed!

JayPlays

To abbreviate a much longer story, the wife and I are off to the theatre tomorrow evening. Effectively it’s a reunion bash for a youth group she used to belong to, run by a number of well know names in the UK theatre game. And many of the former members have gone on to join this list of names.



She was asked to fill in a questionnaire - who did act with/under, what she’s now doing in the world of theatre (if anything).



I’ve always know why I married her – but this morning, she’s proved it again. She called me at work to tell me that in the last section she mentioned that she’s not doing that much; but I am writing, won several awards and gained some rather pleasant critical acclaim. And bless her, she listed my website address.



By why did she tell me this morning? Because she’d just received a letter from the organiser saying that a couple of producers and directors would be interested in talking to me after the show!



Now obviously, my plans for tonight are burn a couple of CDs containing my MSS – but can anyone give me any tips or advice on what to take in addition or lines to take when I’m talking to them?



(I just hope enough people will be viewing this in the next 18 hours to give me something that might turn me from excited to successful!)



Many Thanks



Jay
 

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Now I am sure people will disagree with me on this and granted, I am the world's worse networker, but I wouldn't take anything. Reading your email it sounds very much like a social, informal get together and personally speaking, I would see it as bad form to seem too pushy or arrive at any social gathering with copies of my script.

You could always offer to email a script the next day or post it, or whatever they ask for or you offer. A lot of people still prefer a hard copy and sometimes resent having to print out your unasked for script, or having to carry anything about on a night out. Though yes, a CD is a lot better to carry than a script. You could always happen to have a copy 'in the car' etc, if they ask, but the chances are they will want you to send it later, in whatever form. It seems to me that these people want to talk to you, hear your ideas and about your work to see if a relationship could be developed , think of it as a conversation rather than a meeting and you should enjoy it a whole lot more.

It might be just me, but I find theatre events a lot gentler than say anything to do with screenwriting. My approach would be to be relaxed, interested, enthusiastic and all those things you already are about your work. However, I would suggest looking up the people you are meeting so you are familiar with the type of wprk they produce and are connected with. You need to know about them as much as they need to know about you.

Best of luck - enjoy!
 

icerose

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I would strongly suggest having a printed copy in the car, but don't carry anything with you.

It's like when a famous musician goes to a social gathering and 20 people push their own recordings to see if that famous person can get them an "in". It's widely percieved as rude.

You could say you were editing it, have a few red marks on it, or whatever, be creative. The only thing you will probably need is a pen and paper in case they want your contact information or they want you to have theirs. A small pen and notepad tucked away in your pocket should suffice.

Most deplore electronic copies for several reasons.

Risk of Viruses - high, especially on disks because the file itself may not be infectable, but you could have a virus planted on the disk.

Version- they may not even have a program capable of opening it. I hate it when I recieve Microsoft works or word files. I have word perfect, I don't write on any microsoft program, thus my computer cannot open any microsoft products.

Readability - most people prefer to read on paper. You can get more comfortable and it is easier on the eyes over a period of time.

Computer literacy - there's no guarantee that they know what they are doing on a PC. There are plenty of people who still think CD trays are coffee cup holders, seriously.

Good luck with your event, but I wouldn't take anything other than a backup hard copy in your car, and a notepad and pen. Focus more on being likable and have the key points of your story memorized, remind yourself why you wrote it, so you won't get nervous, and be engaging. That's the best you can do. If you come off as likable but you ramble on endlessly and jump back and forth in your story, they will probably not ask for a read.

If you come off as a jackass but have a great story, they probably still won't ask for a read because they won't want to work with you.

But if you can manage both, you'll be doing better than any cd or printed pitch could ever hope to.

Let us know how it turns out, what an opportunity!

Sara
 

Maryn

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I'd go more or less empty-handed, packing only a business card (to make it easy to contact me later) and a one or two sentence summary of what my story is about. It seems to me that the opportunity to talk with movers and shakers after your wife's event is not so much an invitation to submit your ms. then and there but an opportunity to interest them in it.

But hey, what do I know, eh?

Maryn, wishing you well
 

JayPlays

Many thanks for the advice – and the majority of it was taken.

I guess I should tell you what the outcome was. Most of the talk was about if I had developed anything for youth theatre (I haven’t as yet) and where I have pitched my work to date.

I ended up being asked to send one of my plays to the theatre’s artistic director – although she did state that they do not commission such scripts, but they use them as a basis to determine if the theatre would be interested in commissioning a writer to develop a piece.

Another asked me to forward a script and was very interested in the subject of one of my plays… Before I managed to say that I had a copy on the car, my wife told him about extracts I have online. He then ‘said’ that he would have a look at that over the next couple of days – but to forward the script anyway.

And I was invited to the theatre’s playwright group and asked to forward a scene for consideration for their next public rehearsed reading performance.

All told, I think it was a very successful night – and the play shown that night was beautifully presented (Touch of the Sun – N C Hunter).

Again thanks for the advice

Jay
 

icerose

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Congratulations! I'm so glad it turned out for you. Best of luck with all your new leads!

Sara