Emerging screenwriters often seek representation early in their writing careers, hoping to kick start their potential and sell their screenplays. This begs the question: should I get an agent or a manager. Realistically, the question should be: CAN I get an agent or manager?

To determine that answer, it's instructive to understand the differences. In general, an agent represents the DEAL, and a manager represents THE WRITER. (There are numerous technical differences, but for now, the simple description suffices).

Agents are generally deal-driven. They sell screenplays and get writers hired for projects. Because of this, agents rarely take on unsold screenwriters, unless you already have a script in negotiations and then they'll usually be happy to help. In general, agents take 10% commission for negotiating the deal for you, and if they are well connected, they can often negotiate a higher fee for you.

Managers are more geared toward marketing the writer as an entity, although they often negotiate deals and find opportunities as well. They are image constants, marketers, and networking sources. They help you focus your career and find opportunities. They can take anywhere from 10-20%, although15% is common for well-connected managers. Managers tend to be more flexible with untested writers if they believe that you have potential.

In either case, neither agents nor managers make a penny unless you do, so they are highly selective. Always treat them as you would a prospective producer. Queries first, and then see what happens. Keep in mind that real agents and managers will not charge you upfront for their services (one caveat- if they require that you have a screenplay analysis before reading your script, it MAY be legitimate). Research, research, research!

For a list of agents and managers, CLICK HERE

One of ASA's members, Brian Ruberry, is a represented screenwriter and has created a FREE writing webinar open to our members. This is a great opportunity to network with a panel of experienced writers from Lifetime, Netflix, ABC Family, and The Hallmark channel.

This free webinar is for writers at all levels who want to learn how to write and sell holiday-themed movies to Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix, and other networks and streamers.

An A-list panel of writers will help you:

• Get an overview of the TV movie landscape during the Covid-19 lockdown
• Learn how to cater your scripts to the specific needs of individual networks
• Hear how to become a produced writer by getting your scripts to the right producers

Why Attend?

Trying to break in as a screenwriter can be a frustrating experience. For writers who don't have agents or managers, selling that first script can seem like an impossible challenge.

Still, every year there are numerous TV movie scripts sold to networks and producers by writers who don't have representation. And even as the number of theatrical films produced by major studios continues to shrink, the demand for original TV movie scripts has never been greater.

This free webinar teaches you the do's & don'ts for writing TV movies to help jumpstart your career.

You'll Learn

• How to build your script around the female lead, often the point of entry for holiday films
• How to focus your story on the lead romantic relationship
• How to consider act breaks (or not) when writing your TV movie
• How to add twists, turns and reveals, particularly before act breaks
• How to write memorable meet-cutes
• How to add essential ingredients for Christmas and holiday scripts (hint: think snow)
• How to sell your scripts without an agent or manager

Meet the Panel

• Gary Goldstein (moderator) is a writer for film, TV and the stage. He has written 15 produced telefilms including "The Wish List," "This Magic Moment" and "My Boyfriends’ Dogs." For Christmas, he wrote the Hallmark movies "Angel of Christmas" and "Hitched for the Holidays," the streaming feature (for PassionFlix) "Mr. 365," and was a writer on ABC Family's "Hannah Clause" and Lifetime's "Rediscovering Christmas."
• Rickie Castaneda is a film and TV writer who has written Hallmark Christmas movies for the last 10 years. She has over 15 movies produced for Hallmark, Lifetime, and UP networks. Her recent hits include “The Mistletoe Secret,” “Christmas Stars,” “The Magical Christmas Shoes,” and “The Christmas Chalet.” She and writing partner, Megan Hocking, are currently working on movies slated for Christmas 2020.
• Zac Hug is a former digital executive turned writer for television. Credits include “Drop Dead Diva” and “Shadowhunters,” as well as several Hallmark TV movies including “Road to Christmas” and the “Christmas in Evergreen” series. Zac teaches television writing at UCLA Extension, DePaul University and University of British Columbia.
• Rhonda F. Baraka is an NAACP-nominated writer/director. Last year she directed Lifetime’s "Pride & Prejudice: Atlanta," an all-black, updated version of the classic novel. She has written 22 produced TV movies and written and/or directed 10 Christmas movies for UP, TV One and Lifetime. She created and wrote UP's "Chandler Family Christmas" franchise and directed Lifetime’s “You Light Up My Christmas.”
• Nina Weinman has written for many TV networks including ABC Family and UPTV. Most notably, she has 23 TV movies on air for Hallmark, including the 2019 holiday films "Christmas at Dollywood" starring Danica McKellar and Dolly Parton, and the Christmas/Hanukkah hybrid "Double Holiday." She also has 8 movies in development scheduled to air on Hallmark in 2020 and 2021.
• Topher Payne is a playwright and screenwriter based in Atlanta. He has written five films for The Hallmark Channel- “Broadcasting Christmas,” “Rome in Love,” “My Summer Prince,” “A Gift to Remember,” and its sequel, “Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2.”

Here is the link to register:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/writing-holiday-movies-for-tv-tickets-102368079682

I found a great article that addresses how streaming technology is impacting screenwriting, written by BBC entertainment reporter Steven McIntosh. The article explores how streaming services have changed the composition of TV and film consumption, and, by extension, has also changed the nature of the writing required for such shows.  He postulates that although the volume of shows has increased due to a greater appetite for programming, the need for quality screenwriting has equally grown. In fact, he stated that there is greater opportunity for screenwriters than ever before, albeit with a different emphasis due to the ever-expanding marketplace.

I highly recommend that you give this article a read, as it may help you focus your writing to fit demand.

Here is the link to the original article:
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-48880126

Creativity ebbs and flows. Flows and ebbs. It is finite, yet it is infinite. Sometimes there’s a story inside us dying to get written. Sometimes, there isn’t. As screenwriters, our creative juices don’t flow at will. Their will, not ours. But it doesn’t all have to be doom and gloom. Embrace the messiness of the screenwriting process.

Here are some stages of screenplay genesis. They are not absolute. They may overlap. But they are discrete stages nonetheless.

THOUGHTS

This is when you activate your boundless imagination. Mine it for story ideas.

You may be tossing around some unformed concepts in your head. They may be a scene, an image, a line of dialogue, a dream, or a question of what if? These thoughts can be disconnected or partially formed. These thoughts are the ingredients of your screenplay. They may not all get used, but you need to consider them all. Think hard until your mind gets tired. This is the brainstorming process.

Don’t start writing yet. Your story is barely at the formulation stage. A far cry from an outline, let alone a completed screenplay. Let your thoughts ferment for a while. Put them in mental storage to settle.

AGITATION

Bring your thoughts back into the light and look at them with fresh eyes in a few days. Massage these fragmented thoughts into more fully-formed ideas. Flesh them out. Are they grounded? Can these ideas be attached to a character? Sort your ideas into those that definitely, possibly and certainly don’t belong in your screenplay. Let your thoughts have a boxing match in your mind. May the best thoughts win.

You can start making some concrete decisions about theme, tone, genre, and plot. Think about your story and what your screenplay might look like. This is the first part of the screenplay execution phase.

You can start taking some general story notes at this stage., but do not start writing. Think of this stage as beating story cake batter. Essential, but inedible.

EXCUSES

This is the period of too much thought, self-doubt, and fatigue. This is the stage where screenwriters think of dozens of reasons why they shouldn’t write their screenplay. Is the story any good, are the characters strong enough, am I good enough?

This is the sweet, but frustrating, spot in the creative process. Swim in your sea of excuses for a short time, but do not drown in it. Wait until your creative urges cannot be suppressed any longer.

This is all part of the process when you’re at creative war with yourself. Your willpower to start writing begins to overshadow your excuses for not writing. Don’t fight these feelings. But don’t fully succumb to them just yet. Meditate on your desire to write.

OUTLINE

You can’t take your excuses any longer. You spend some more time getting agitated and refining the thoughts in your head. You obsessively read your story notes.

You start forming the screenplay spine in your head. There is a definite beginning, middle and an end. it takes shape. You look at your previous story notes and edit them. You keep and expand on what story elements belong in your screenplay, and remove what those that aren’t.

You have entered into the next phase of the screenwriting process.

You are now ready to write a screenplay outline. It could be two or three pages. It could be ten or twenty. Just keep writing until you get to the end of your story. Then let it rest for a while. Return to the first stage of the process; your thoughts. But not for too long or you risk falling back into the excuse phase. It no longer serves you. Let it go.

While writing your script outline consider both the philosophical and the granular aspects of your story.

Think about what inspired you to write this screenplay. Why it demands to be written by you, and why does it deserve to be written now? Get angry and excited at the same time. Have your thoughts been expressed in the sharpest way possible? Do you have a main character and a theme? Have you decided on key plot points and scenes?

Refine. Give yourself a fixed time to write your outline. This is the most dangerous creative phase because screenwriters are at most risk of either abandoning or procrastinating their stories. Endure the pain.

Enjoy it because the next stage will finally bring you relief.

FIRST DRAFT 

This step is a pivotal step in the story creation process. It is the next part of the story execution stage. You need to switch your mind from a creative one into a mechanical one. Start writing your screenplay based on your revised outline.

Don’t stop until you reach the end of your script. At various points in the execution phase, your mind will revert to its primal creative impulses. You will discover character traits, plot holes and new ways to tighten your screenplay. Incorporate these elements into your first draft, but don’t dwell on them for too long. If your creative mind brings up unanswered story questions, jot them down for later. Don’t fall into the trap of reimagining your initial story yet.

Stick to your outline as much as possible. Your subconscious mind has invested a ton of time in the process. Don’t derail it by overthinking. If you find that your initial outline no longer serves the revised story you want to write, consider rewriting the entire outline. If your story takes a markedly different turn so that it becomes a totally new story, you may need to go back to the thought and agitation stages to gather and refine your thoughts. This is the nuclear option. Take it only if absolutely necessary.

Your rejected, partial draft is never a waste of time. It may end up in a different screenplay. It means that the story you chose to write was not the one most burning to get written. Heck, you’re a screenwriter and you probably have a dozen ideas in various stages of development. However, screenwriting is a bottleneck. You can really only focus on one quality screenplay at a time.

EUPHORIA

This is the first stage of accomplishment. You become elevated and bathe in positive serotonin-laden bliss. You are a screenwriter and you have completed a screenplay. You have something tangible. Think about that.

Put your screenplay aside for a few weeks. Not a day or two, but weeks. Your story is still too fresh to be rewritten. You didn’t really think the first draft of your screenplay was ready to be circulated to talent, did you? Not now, but in a few drafts time, it will be.

By J Gideon Sarantinos
Editor/Author
Gideons Screenwriting Tips

As you all know by now, writing a quality logline is critical for successfully pitching your screenplay, and some would argue equally critical to writing your screenplay. After all, if you can't succinctly describe your movie in one enticing sentence, you may not really understand your own screenplay. Unfortunately, writing a great logline is much more difficult than you think! There are tons of scholarly articles out there explaining the path to creating a great logline, but there is one that I particularly like entitled "How to write a logline producers won't pass on." There is a free tool they offer if you sign up for their email list, too; Here is the link:

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/write-compelling-logline-examples/#What-is-a-logline?