How to get an Agent

Ryan wrote out an email to our little writer's group the other day asking what was the best way to get an agent.

I've seen this question asked time and time again by people over and over. Before I had one - I asked it. Sad to say - out of our little group - while I am the most undeserving - I am the only one who has an agent. And I barely have one at that.

I remember coming out of film school and thinking that it would be easy to get an agent. After all - I was brilliant and it was only a matter of time before everyone else realized it. All I needed was an agent to tell the world.

I was a director - so I brought my reel and went to every agency I could find in LA and dropped one off. Never had a call. One place had me in for a meeting - and that was it. Nothing.

I went to meeting that had the writers of Batman Forever at it. People kept asking them how to get an agent - and they said - don't bring us your scripts. Just write something brilliant and the agents will come to you.

Arrogant dorks. The movie sucked and they sucked. I understand their point - but I completely don't believe it. If you have to be brilliant to get an agent - then how did I get one?

Truth is - for me - I wrote a script. Got it to some people I know. Started getting my own money behind it - and that made people pay attention. But not much. Then we ended up getting some attachments. I got a manager who was a friend from Film School who worked at a high profile company with two Academy Award winning directors. Even still - I couldn't get an agent. My manager had another writer repped by CAA - and told them who was attached to my script - and they still wouldn't read it. No one really cared.

And then an assistant to a development VP at Lion's Gate got my script. He loved it. And he asked if he could pass it to a couple of agents. And he did. And they started chasing me. They tried to get me work. And they did a good job. And finally I had agents.

But it wasn't my brilliant script.
It wasn't the money I had to do the film.
It wasn't my manager.
It wasn't the stars.
Maybe it was a combination of all those things.

But my point is that it wasn't just one thing...It ended up being a very round about way... and believe me - it wasn't about talent. Although that helps...It's just about the hype. If you can get people talking - then you can get an agent.

It's all air in Hollywood.

So how do you get an agent? I don't really know. Have my agents helped me? I don't really know....

It's chicken and egg.

Like anything in this business...you have to have something for them to sell. And not just something - it has to be something that people want. Or they think they want. And really - in my case - I still have to do most of the work.

If I wasn't a producer - pushing to get the script to people through my other producer - the movie wouldn't go anywhere.

Last month - my agents ignored my calls and emails. This month - once they heard that stars are reading it again - they called me 5 times. Now they have all sorts of "new ideas" for the script... :) go figure.

So if you think an agent will save you - forget it. An agent is great once you are a commodity that people want. It's your job to make people want you. You write the great scripts. You get people talking. You make the contacts that get you out there... and then the agent is perfect - cause so many people are chasing you that they can weed out the ones you don't wanna talk to and take all the credit and percentage of your sucess... :)

Or - if you're like me - you blow all the good will of your opportunities and go to China to do skin care commercials.

To be fair - my agents got me into 20+ meetings with various companies and studios. They got me chances to do takes on 4 different projects - and they could have had my film set up at a couple different companies.

But I had my own ideas.

Like toiling away in relative obscurity... :) But hey - I'm big in China...

So not to burst anyone's bubble... but the truth is - getting an agent is only one step. Getting your stuff out there is the first step. You hear time and time again that someone read something and wanted to buy the script - but the writer didn't have an agent and so the studio recommended someone - and then they got an agent.

The key is to make friends. Something that comes hard to writers. Make friends with people who are in the business. And get them your stuff. And keep going. Keep writing. Have a good group that screens your stuff first who help you make it the best it can be - and then get it out there. And don't wait. Keep on writing - cause the best part is that you can only get better... each script is hopefully a bit better than the one before...

So write.
Make Friends.
Get your stuff into as many peoples hands as possible.
And keep going. Don't quit.

And maybe one day everyone beats down your door and you make it big.

Or you end up in China...

Either way - as my dad says - there is no silver bullet. Everyone has to make their own way.

But don't give up. If an idiot like me gets an agent - you can too....

Actually getting paid to write?

That's a whole nother story....