An email query is essentially what used to be referred to as “a query letter.”

A common tactic of writers looking to sell something they’ve written was to compose and mail a letter pitching their work to industry professionals; in the case of the film and television industry, this would usually include agents, managers, and production companies. Naturally, over the years, the query letter became the email query (“snail mail” is hardly used in the industry anymore).

An email query more or less follows the same basic format as a query letter: a logline of the script, a comparison to similar films or TV shows, and a short bio of the writer. The goal of composing and sending an email query is to get the industry professional to respond with interest and request to read your script (you should never attach your script to the email and only send it if requested). 

But do email queries actually work?

And if so: how exactly do you compose an email query that gets your script read?

How an Email Query Led To a Million-Dollar Spec Sale

Speaking from my own experience as a screenwriter, an email query worked for me.

Back in 2007, I was a young aspiring screenwriter, washing dishes for a living and residing in Pennsylvania. I had no film industry contacts whatsoever (I hadn’t even been to the West Coast before). An old high school buddy of mine, Fred Seton, and I wrote a spec script entitled Pierre Pierre: a darkly comedic send-up of the French New Wave. Initially, we sat on the script thinking it was too subversive and not commercial enough for Hollywood. However, after the success of Borat, I decided to pitch the script to agents.  

After doing some research on the internet, I made a list of roughly a hundred agents at major talent agencies who repped comedic screenwriters and along with a database that listed the email exchanges for all the agencies, I spent an entire night sending “copy & paste” email queries (I personalized the emails with the agents’ names, which is advisable).

I only got one response the following morning, but it was from a senior agent at ICM. The reply from the agent was simple enough: “Sounds funny.” 

That’s it. No “Please send it” or “I’ll take a look”. Nope. Just “sounds funny.” Still it was something, so I replied: “I think so. Want to read it?” He replied: “Sure.”

Bam! My script was solicited!

One week later, I got the call every aspiring screenwriter dreams of receiving: the ICM agent told me he had read Pierre Pierre and thought it was the funniest script he had ever come across. He took Fred and me on as clients and one year later we sold Pierre Pierre to 20th Century Fox for a million dollars with Jim Carrey attached to star and Jason Reitman attached to direct. 

The Pierre Pierre sale led to other spec sales and A-list writing assignments and Fred and I have both been working screenwriters for 18 years (both with our share of career ups and downs). Our entire lives changed because of one email query, so I’m definitely a believer in their ability to work. 

Email Queries Then & Now

Some of you more skeptical readers might be thinking, ‘Sure, an email query led to a big sale and broke you into the business back in 2007, but it wouldn't work today.’ 

Well, there haven't been any major technological shifts in this regard: email is still the primary form of communication between people in the film and television industry. So you still have a chance of contacting an industry professional via email.

But maybe you think industry professionals were more open to unsolicited email queries in 2007: not the case at all. As I stated above, I only got one response from the hundred queries I sent, and that ICM agent later told me he rarely responded to queries (he just happened to be killing time as he was picking up his kids from school). Everyone we came across in the industry told us how uncommon it was for outsiders to break into the business via an unsolicited email query. The Pierre Pierre sale was considered a real-life Cinderella story and it was not a typical scenario by any means.

So, in reality, the chances of an email query leading to a big spec sale are roughly the same in 2024 as it was in 2007: not likely. But just because something is unlikely doesn’t mean it’s impossible (my story alone proves this). At the very least, you might still get an agent or manager out of an email query. Even if an email query is just your first step into the industry and helps you to introduce yourself and get people familiar with your work, it’s worth a shot.

After finishing your script, you should circulate it to as many industry professionals as possible: whether via email queries or entering it into screenwriting contests. Yes, the screenwriting marketplace is highly competitive and it’s a numbers game; this is why you shouldn’t limit yourself or your approach. If there’s any way you can get an agent, manager, or producer to read your script, go for it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.    

What Great Email Queries Have

Whenever I read that Pierre Pierre email query I always cringe: it’s not well-written by any means and there was even a spelling error. However, I got the basics right: I adequately described the script’s concept with a concise and impactful log-line and I wisely compared it to Borat (a big hit at the time). I also conveyed the script’s irreverent tone with a little bit of humor in the query.

So despite the noted shortcomings of the query, it stood out and gave my first agent a good sense of the script. Furthermore, Pierre Pierre sounded funny to him (hence his reply “sounds funny”). This is perhaps the most important thing I accomplished with the query: it offered the promise of a funny, politically incorrect comedy, and the script delivered on that promise. 

Regardless of your script’s genre, your query needs to offer the promise of its genre. In the same way, a query for a comedy should make your script sound funny, a query for a horror should make it sound scary, a query for an action/adventure should make it sound exciting, etc. It’s not unlike what a trailer does for a film: your query is selling your script to a potential audience. 

So when you’re composing your email query ask yourself the following questions:

What do most people want from my script’s genre and how do I convey the promise of its genre?

What recently successful film(s) is my script similar to?

How do I convey what my script is about in a concise and impactful logline?

And finally, how do I convey my script’s tone, and what makes it unique?