Submission letter to an agent

Question

I preparing to send query letters out to agents. Would it be a good idea to include a DVD with two produced shorts? The shorts were produced by up and coming filmmakers (not me) and, IMHO, are very good.
Would agents even look at it?
Phil

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I preparing to send query letters out to agents. Would it be a good idea to include a DVD with ... produced by up and coming filmmakers (not me) and, IMHO, are very good. Would agents even look at it? Phil[/nq]
Some thoughts:
1. Why even bother while the strike is on? They don't want to hearfrom you now as they have nobody to "sell" you to.
2. Are the shorts on the DVD ones YOU wrote? If not, then why evenbring it up? If so, then don't do it anyway. Only send them a DVD if they ASK to see it.
3. Upload the shorts to YouTube (or an equivalent) and send them thelink. If they want to see them, they'll go look. That'll save you a ton of money in replicating, labeling, postage, etc.

-ADS.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]1. Why even bother while the strike is on? They don't want to hear from you now as they have nobody to "sell" you to.[/nq]
Whiile agents may not be able to sell any writer right now, that doesn't mean they're not looking. The strike will eventually end.
[nq:1]2. Are the shorts on the DVD ones YOU wrote? If not, then why even bring it up? If so, then don't do it anyway. Only send them a DVD if they ASK to see it.[/nq]
I wrote the produced scripts. I'm thinking this might be a better alternative ti writing samples.
[nq:1]3. Upload the shorts to YouTube (or an equivalent) and send them the link. If they want to see them, they'll go look. That'll save you a ton of money in replicating, labeling, postage, etc.[/nq]
The directors of the shorts don't want to post them on Youtube. While I can make copies of the shorts for personal use, I can't post them publically.
Phil

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]1. Why even bother while the strike is on? They don't want to hear from you now as they have nobody to "sell" you to.[/nq]
[nq:1]Whiile agents may not be able to sell any writer right now, that doesn't mean they're not looking. The strike will eventually end.[/nq]
Uh huh.
Here's how you open your letter -
Dear Agent,
Want a job? I'm prepared to pay you to read my screenplay...

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I preparing to send query letters out to agents. Would it be a good idea to include a DVD with ... produced by up and coming filmmakers (not me) and, IMHO, are very good. Would agents even look at it? Phil[/nq]
Here's some good advice I got about approaching agents. Find out the name of the actual agent you are targeting, not just the agency. Call them up first. Make sure you have a polite, professional manner. You'll be talking to the agent's assistant don't try to get through to the agent. The assistant will say 'I can help you.' Say thank you. Get his or her name. Tell him or her your name. Ask how the agent likes to be approached. Most likely, they will not want to see the DVDs; put them on your CV.
I'm sure you've heard this before, but the best way to an agent is through a professional recommendation.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I can have the disks burned cheaply. The roommate of a close friend did it for me for $100 for twenty copies and that included a decent looking menu. Making more would cost me significantly less, I believe.[/nq]
That's bit steep, considering that a DVD burner costs $40 and blank DVDs cost about a quarter each. I guess you're paying for the DVD authoring, but a 12 minute short does not need menus - just chapters, and all that's done automatically by free authoring software.
Remember, you want those people to bother putting the DVD in the player in the first place (which most won't do). Don;t complicate things cutesy menus. Pop it in, start play automatically, bam you're in business!

But they won't play it. You're selling your script, not the production.
jaybee
jaybee

Submission letter to an agent

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