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Momentum Talent and Literary Agency

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There's nothing to their website. Or am I missing something? I'm always leery when they don't have ANY info at all.
 

zmethos

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There's nothing to their website. Or am I missing something? I'm always leery when they don't have ANY info at all.

This isn't uncommon in the film industry, actually. Many have placeholder websites but expect you to either do more leg work to get to them or already have connections in order to reach them. They don't want just anyone and everyone at their doors. It's... a largely unfriendly industry, or at the very least guarded, which I suppose is necessary given how many people are desperate to get in. (I worked for a Hollywood producer for a while.)
 

writera

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Yeah, I heard screenwriting agencies can have pretty basic websites. I can't seem to find out much about them online, though. To see if they're legit (I'm sure they are as they are listed on a list of WGA-approved agencies, I believe). But also if they represent novels as they're called a literary agency? And any other info. (Also, trying to find more literary agencies in LA in general. I know most of them are in New York.)
 
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zmethos

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Your best bet is to try looking them up on IMDb. (IMDb Pro, if you're subscribed, is even better, as it allows you to see staff and clients.) Otherwise, you can contact them and simply ask. Some agencies do have lit agents who will look at novels, but usually only in the sense of determining whether they'd be good for adapting to the screen. Other agencies in Hollywood don't bother with prose. And then there are a few, like ICM, that do have publishing arms. It varies widely.
 

writera

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"Literary Agency" would imply books (to me) so book-to-tv or book-to-film rights perhaps. It seems to indicate more than just screenplays (but I might be wrong about that). And the "Talent" part would seem to indicate actors?
But a lot of these LA-based agencies have very little information online. Whereas most NYC and London agencies - all you have to do is check this forum, QueryTracker, and other places and you get lots of info.
 

zmethos

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Momentum does have actor clients, yes. And in Hollywood, a "literary agency" sometimes really does just handle screenplays. As I mentioned, IMDb [Pro] is where to look online for info on these kinds of agencies, since they won't be on QT and the like. There are print books that come out and list them all, too, and what they rep, but things change so fast that the books are outdated almost the moment they come out.
 

writera

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Are you familiar with Momentum, zmethos? Do you think they're legit then? I will check IMDB Pro for more agencies. That's a good idea. I have a fairly good knowledge about a lot of the NYC and London-based agencies, but still researching agencies in LA in general, and know very little about any of them.
 
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zmethos

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I have an IMDb Pro account, so I just looked to see if I recognized anyone in their "stable" (as they say). Claudia Christian was the only one I knew, and she's an actor. They have two lit agents, the rest rep talent. The lit agents didn't list any clients, though, only that they each have one title in production that they're acting as producer on. So I don't know that you'd get anywhere with them in terms of trying to sell them a book.