It's Who You Know: But Be Ready!

Do you have any idea how Jaws made it to the screen? Steven Speilberg was on the beach one day, ran into a producer, pitched his idea about a man-eating shark, and the rest was history. A lot of times people say that it's who you know and that's partly true, but the other half is being ready when being presented with an opportunity, so it doesn't go flying past you.

Another example is Nia Vardolos and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. She was waiting tables when Tom Hanks and his wife walked in and sat in her section. She developed a rapport with them, pitched her idea for a screenplay about her Greek wedding, and when the Hankses said they'd love to read it, low and behold, she just happened to have a copy on her! (Now that's being ready!)

As mentioned yesterday, I'm between teaching jobs. My father told me he had a lead for me. A coaching friend of his knows someone who is in with the superintendent in a particular district. I called the coach and left a message. Tonight, as I was in the middle of my writing work, he popped over my house, cell phone in hand, and announced, "My buddy's on the phone." He handed the phone and the interview began. I suddenly had to answer questions about my teaching background, my education, my skills, and where I worked in the past. If I did not answer correctly, I would not be able to meet with the superintendent later. Needless to say, I was ready since I've been ready for any last minute job interview that might pop up.

But, I had to learn all this the hard way. A while ago, when I was young and green, I had cold called literary agents trying to find representation. Most of them hung up on me. Surprisingly, one said, "Ok, pitch your story." I was flabbergasted and unprepared. I did not have a pitch ready. Instead I attempted to retell my story (badly) in about five minutes in the most convoluted way possible. At the end of my "pitch" the agent (God bless him) very politely responded, "I don't think you have what we're looking for.  Good luck to you" and hung up.

I missed an opportunity there and probably scared that agent off of ever answering his phone again.

So, be ready. Have your screenplays or novels finished and ready to go. Have your pitches learned (not memorized--make them a part of you!) Be ready when an agent or producer says, "Pitch me your story" and be ready to pitch them another if they respond, "That's not quite what we're looking for right now."

Speaking of agents, I began my search for agents to query. Between job searching, talking to unemployment, and my impromptu telephone interview today, I managed to pull out a long list. It wasn't easy at first. My copy of The Writer's Market has gone AWOL. That means it has either gone on hiatus in the attic accidentally or I got the brilliant idea to donate it somewhere because it wasn't a 2009 edition. No worries, as they say in Oz. If you log on to wga.org/agency, the Writer's Guild of America has a long list of Writer's Guild signatories to choose from listed by state. I went through the New York listings and chose twelve to start with that I haven't already submitted to. Then I cross-referenced them with imdbpro.com (Internet Movie Database Pro), where I looked up particular agents in the agencies to target, who they currently represent, and what screenplays their clients have written so I can tailor my query letters to each individual.

This took a very long time and proved to be unfruitful for most of the listings. So, I have a bunch of agencies that I'll have to branch out beyond imdbpro into the internet to find information about them.

Overall, it has been more of a "business" day. Not much creative writing has gotten done. Tomorrow I may not get any writing done as I will be traveling to Philadelphia for the day. I will try to find time tomorrow evening to blog and let you know all about my day trip! In the meantime, write your story! You have one inside of you!
Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GD9X8BE