I have three finished production-ready screenplays. What next?

corybaker

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Here are the loglines for three scripts that I have finished and polished to a point where I believe they're production-ready. I won't post them here because obviously that's not allowed. But before I continue on with this post I just want to give you guys an idea of what I'm working with here.

THE RUN-AWAY: When a mysterious young girl shows up at their door, a young couple is forced to reconcile the darkness within their long, storied partnership.
A MOMENT: Two crude teenagers try (and fail) to find themselves in each other on an emotional odyssey through their small, rural town.
I LOVE YOU, MOM: An ailing mother flushes her psychotropic medications down the drain and proceeds to unintentionally hurt the people that she loves.

I want to start sending out query letters. I really, really, really do. I have work on my hands that I want to put out into the world. I feel ready.

But I'm a college student. And I live in Tampa.

How do I even find producers or writing managers to send query letters to? I read somewhere that I need to send out hundreds. But I need to find producers that will actually be interested in the style of work that I have here. And I don't know how many producers have their contact info lying around on IMDb for just anyone to find. I hear most good producers are pretty secretive. They have walls up because of just how many submissions they recieve.
Do I submit to screenwriting competitions? I hear that scripts that are more execution-dependent than high-concept fare better in those sorts of environments. But I don't think these scripts are JUST execution-dependent. They HAVE concept. I just don't know how attractive they're going to be to prospective buyers -- they're all kind of gloomy.
 

DevelopmentExec

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Hi Cory,

When it comes to buyers you have to target who you pitch to - i.e. seek out producers who have produced the kinds of projects that you are querying - . As for contests - there are only a small handful that means anything to the people in the industry (Nicholl Austin, Sundance and a few others) most are a waste of money.

You say your scripts are production ready, but have you gotten that assessment from anyone in the business or in the business of helping writers get into the business (i.e. a script consultant)? I ask because generally speaking it takes years of writing numerous drafts of numerous scripts before most people master the craft enough to write at a professional level (if they ever do) and writers rarely have the knowledge or objectivity to judge their own work.

If you post a few pages on the screenplay board on the Share Your Work subform https://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?60-Screenwriting-SYW I'll take a look (I'm a produced screenwriter and former development exec ./ script consultant)
 

halion

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Is script writing harder than essay writing?
 

ranjitmore

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This should help. I think it's the blog of the contributors to 'The Black List'. Anyway, it's very helpful. The writer is also a produced screenwriter.