Have you written a screenplay but you don’t know how to get industry professionals to read it?
This is important because ultimately it’s about getting as many eyes on your script as possible. The more people who read it, the more chances that someone will see potential in it: the law of averages, right?
This is why you have to “go wide” with your script (i.e. circulate it to as many industry professionals as possible). Thanks to the internet and various screenwriting resources, there are various means to get your screenplay read regardless of who you know.
Below are 5 Ways To Get Your Screenplay Read:
First and foremost, you should try to get your script read by literary managers.
Having the right manager can potentially open career doors, and they can help you sign with an agent, sell your script and get writing jobs. Once you know the name of the manager you want to contact, try emailing or submitting to them directly. Many management companies have websites with a submissions page and/or guidelines. Follow the guidelines and submit accordingly.
If you’ve acquired an email address to a specific manager, send them an email query in which you include a logline and describe your script. It’s best to keep your description as tight and concise as possible. Managers are constantly getting scripts pitched and submitted to them and most will have little patience for a long email that doesn’t get straight to the point. In general, concepts that are shorter and less complicated are better received by industry professionals.
Don’t attach your script to your email query (this is likely to turn off many managers). Per your logline and description, if your script sounds like something they’d be interested in, the manager will ask you to email it to them. That’s when your script has been officially solicited and it’s appropriate to send it.
One of the best ways to get people to read your script is to enter it into a screenwriting contest.
Some of these contests, like Final Draft’s Big Break Screenwriting Contest, include a meeting with top managers as a prize for winners (and there are various award categories). In addition to having top managers as judges, many of the readers are people working in the industry (e.g. readers for movie studios or production companies, other screenwriters, etc). Sometimes if they’re friends or an associate of a manager, a reader might even recommend the script to their contact (regardless of if the script placed in the contest or not). Because of this, screenwriting contests are great for networking and they can lead to multiple industry professionals reading your script.
Before entering the contest, carefully read the rules and make sure you’re submitting your script into the right category. The better prepared you are, the better your chances. This is an opportunity for your script to be read by industry professionals and it should be taken as seriously as any other submission. There have been numerous success stories from these contests and they have led to writers from every corner of the world getting managers.
When you enter a screenwriting contest, you shouldn’t be thinking solely of placing or winning, but also how much exposure your script will be getting: it’s being presented to industry readers and judges and that in and of itself is an opportunity.
In addition to providing feedback that can help you improve your script, getting professional script coverage is another method of getting people to read your script.
There are many screenwriting platforms that offer script coverage for a fee and they’re sometimes used by managers to connect with writers. The Big Break Screenwriting Contest also offers script coverage as an option that you can add-on when you enter your screenplay in the contest. So in addition to getting your script read by industry readers and possibly A-list judges, you can get helpful feedback on your screenplay at the same time. And as mentioned before, sometimes readers will pass along a script they’re doing coverage on to a producer or manager if they think the script is something they might be interested in.
You can always do some in-person networking if you live in LA or anyplace where there are movie or TV productions (which is becoming more geographically varied these days). Go to parties, events like a movie screening or any social situation where you might interact with people in the industry.
In general, people don’t want to feel like they’re being “chatted up” or befriended just because they can help you with your career. Do your best to make a genuine connection and focus on individuals that you share interests or common ground with. Perhaps you have similar taste in movies? Maybe you have a similar background? Or maybe you have some mutual friends?
Although befriending someone in the industry doesn’t guarantee you’ll sell your screenplay, it does increase the chances of more people reading it, and the more opportunities you give yourself, the better. Maybe someone you met at an event is friends with a manager or producer who is looking for a script just like the one you wrote? You’ll never know if you never put yourself out there.
These days many people in the film and television industry work remotely, so it’s no longer necessary to live in LA to be a professional screenwriter or to get your script read by the right people. In fact, you don’t even have to live in the United States.
Big Break winner Ben Johnson, Jr. lived in South Africa and his spec script ‘Canaan’ won in its selected category. I interviewed him a couple years after his win and Ben told me the biggest benefit from his Big Break win was in the networking. Even after his initial industry meetings in LA (one of Big Break’s grand prizes), he continued to set up meetings with people in the industry. Finally, one of the other Big Break winners set him up with their manager, Plain Text Lit, and was introduced to Mark Finley. This led to Ben getting repped and eventually getting high profile writing assignments on various international projects.
Ben viewed Big Break as a networking tool: he “worked his win” and it paid off. And his most significant networking happened after he had returned from LA. Thanks to technology and the industry becoming increasingly global, geography is no longer an obstacle: aspiring screenwriters can connect with anyone from anywhere.
Submitting to management companies, entering a screenwriting contest, getting professional script coverage and networking are all ways to get your screenplay read. As stated, it’s about getting as many eyes on your script as possible. You put in the work and wrote your script, now let’s get people reading it.