Query letters to studios?

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Is it pointless to send query letters to studios, to see if they might request my screenplay to read? or should I stick with querying agencies in hopes of finding representation? I think somewhere I read just query agencies, but somewhere else I read go for it and query studios, directors, and maybe even actors. Thoughts? This is my first screenplay, but I think it is quite good, and perhaps more importantly I have run it by a couple of consultants and they have been blown away by it, saying it is some of the best stuff they have every read. So I am encouraged, and want to get agency representation, ultimately sell it of course. And I am writing a second and third screenplay now also to quickly get a repertoire of three features.
Randall

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[nq:1]Is it pointless to send query letters to studios, to see if they might request my screenplay to read?[/nq]
Studios? Yes, it's pointless. Universal Studios (say) doesn't buy screenplays, practically speaking, and they don't read them. Probably don't read query letters, for that matter.
[nq:1]or should I stick with querying agencies in hopes of finding representation?[/nq]
You can also query production companies, which actually produce movies - often with a studio's money. The trick is to do your homework and approach prodcos that are likely to do the kind of work you're trying to sell. For instance, there's a very low-end prodco called The Asylum, that does horror and slasher kinds of things, generally coat- tailing on some larger film that's made a name for itself. They might well read something from a new writer, but not if it's a romcom or a high-budget techno-thriller and probably not even if it's a Judd Apatow-style comedy; that's just not what they do.
[nq:1]I think somewhere I read just query agencies, but somewhere else I read go for it and query studios, directors, and maybe even actors. Thoughts?[/nq]Actors can be a worthwhile approach if you've got something that works for the actor in question, especially if that actor isn't so big a deal that everybody's out there trying to get their attention. A lot of B-list and C-list actors have prodcos solely for the purpose of finding them projects they can star in. They won't be summer blockbusters and they probably won't even get a theatrical release, but that means you're not competing against Shane Black for the chance to get your script read.

Same deal with directors, but keep in mind that both actors and directors - the ones you've heard of, anyway - have agents who are also out looking for work for them. No one's sitting around waiting for you to give them something to do, especially if they have any chance of turning a script into a film.
[nq:1]This is my first screenplay, but I think it is quite good, and perhaps more importantly I have run it by a couple of consultants and they have been blown away by it, saying it is some of the best stuff they have every read.[/nq]
Remember the ****b Paradigm, and that no one gets repeat business from people they've disappointed.
[nq:1]So I am encouraged, and want to get agency representation, ultimately sell it of course. And I am writing a second and third screenplay now also to quickly get a repertoire of three features.[/nq]
Quickly isn't the most important thing at this point, but you're headed in the right direction. Spec scripts, as a rule, don't sell, and what you're offering isn't a stack of pages - it's your ability as a writer, rather than something you've already written. Three really good scripts and you've got an argument that you're actually able to produce material.

Life Continues, Despite
Evidence to the Contrary
Steven

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Good advice Steven, nice tips. Thank you.
~Randall

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...
[nq:1]Quickly isn't the most important thing at this point, but you're headed in the right direction. Spec scripts, as a rule, don't sell,.....[/nq]
That is depressing, sigh. =(

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[nq:1]Remember the ****b Paradigm, and that no one gets repeat business from people they've disappointed.[/nq]
...trying to recall a disappointing ****b...
Alan Brooks

A with an Underwood
Unless you meant
Blaw Jab
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If specs don't sell, why write them?
W : )

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[nq:1]If specs don't sell, why write them?[/nq]
They're calling cards. When scripts are assigned the producer wants to know if you can write.

"Hydrodynamic resistance is a low order priority when you're painting a front porch." - Neal Marshall Stevens

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