Re: bulletin!
hey, apw... it wasn't 'advice'... it was an observation
No...it was presented as advice. And, how can you credibly call it an "observation?" Have you worked in these industry mailrooms before? Do you work in one now? Have you been witness to hidden camera investigations of these mailrooms? Do you have any firsthand knowledge whatsoever of what actually takes place in these mailrooms, or is your entire argument based on rampant speculation and urban myth hearsay?
and you don't seem to read too well, as i did NOT say 'reader'... i said 'mail room clerk'... not the same thing, bubba...
Apparently, age has hampered your eyesight and reading comprehension as well, Mom. APW never said "reader," either. His exact words were, "No one in any mail room is going to block someone's requested script from getting through."
Which, unlike what you said, is totally correct.
In fact, since your comprehension of both what APW wrote and what YOU wrote is obscenely faulty, I'll repost it for your review:
...getting past the first cut from the mailroom clerks, who use the simplest methods imaginable to determine which of that day's zillions of submissions go on to an agent's or prodco's second assistant to the chief assistant reader... if a script has 3 brads, a stiff or bright-colored cover, or 121 pages, it'll often be dumped before the first page is even scanned... if it's a comedy, 95-100 pages'll be the trash point... Maia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is immature advice at best. For one, you should never, ever send a script unsolicited to any company, be it an agency or prodco or studio. They'll throw them all away, regardless of length, for liability and personal responsibility reasons.
Send a query, or call the agent and make your pitch. If they request the script, send it, regardless of length. No one in any mail room is going to block someone's requested script from getting through. The very notion is hilarious, and shows a complete lack of understanding of how mailrooms work. - APW
As can be ascertained from what YOU originally wrote, while you never explicitly invited/suggested that newbies send their unsolicited scripts to companies, you presented your "opinion" as though that strategy were sound.
i also never said anyone should send anything unsolicited... but the fact is that many newbies do send unsolicited scripts to prodcos and agencies...
No, but you made no attempt whatsoever to steer newbies in the right direction, either, by swaying them from possibly making the mistake of sending unsolicited material. Your above paragraph actually made it sound, from both tone and content, that not only is it acceptable, but if it's going to be done, you offered how NOT to do it (rather than doing the correct thing and telling them NOT to do it at all).
Your "opinion" was crafted in such a way as to imply that if one
were to send one's work to a company, that one must get it "past the first cut from the mailroom clerks." You then go on to describe these clerks supposed methods of filtration/gatekeeping when you assert that they "determine which of that day's zillions of submissions go on to an agent's or prodco's second assistant to the chief assistant reader" by using standards such as "a script has 3 brads, a stiff or bright-colored cover, or 121 pages, it'll often be dumped before the first page is even scanned" with which to base their script "trashing" on.
Your entire point was, of course, ludicrous. For one, why would anyone in the mail room open an agent's mail? That is a federal offense. Maybe you don't know, but the main job of these mail room clerks is to simply SORT the mail, UNOPENED, and then deliver it to the company representative it is addressed to. Certain agent's/manager's/producer's assistants may have the authority to open that person's mail, but I assure you, no one in the mail room does.
So, there is therefore NO WAY IN HELL that anyone in the mail room would even see that a script has "3 brads, a stiff or bright-colored cover, or 121 pages," let alone have the authority to "trash" it.
Also, your point of a comedy being "trashed" if it is 95-100 pages is almost equally as absurd as your other misguided points. Average script length for a comedy is 90-110 pages. If one comes in around 95-100, that's a GOOD thing, not bad.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to question your authority or knowledge on this board. I mean, you've had so many movies produced? Right?
No?
Okay, then. You've sold so many scripts to major Hollywood studios?
No?
Well, you're a "writing consultant" to individuals, including screenwriters, so you've at least had a script optioned, right?
Then, surely you have an agent, right?
Have you even written a screenplay before?
do you always misquote folks and then lambaste them for what they never said?...
He didn't. But, apparently you do.
Before you go around making wild accusations and defenses of your posts, it would behoove you to check your facts, check your posts, and check yourself.
Because, recklessly posting horrible advice and passing it off as insightful, insider and valuable when it is the opposite of all of those things, and then getting pissy and defensive when called out on it is not only the sign of an industry dilettante and pedant, but...
"that's 'immature' fer sure!"