This is probably the most commonly asked question by aspiring screenwriters.  After all, you can’t get work as a screenwriter without an agent, but no agent wants to represent you unless you have work. So how do you do it?  The first thing is to write a great script!  No easy task, mind you.  But know that great scripts do stand out.  To agents, producers, directors, actors, studio execs.  Hell, to every busboy in the greater Los Angeles area.  And word travels fast.  So learn the craft, write a great story, rewrite it till your blue in the face, then send it out.  To who?  Anyone you know who has a connection to agents in Hollywood.  It could be your Aunt Martha’s dentist in Poughkeepsie who has a son-in-law who is sleeping with a girl whose roommate is an assistant to Tori Spelling.  Remember people aren’t always crazy about being asked to help, but often take a fancy to being asked for advice.  So ever so politely inquire if they have the bandwith to tell you what they think of your script.  If they think it’s good, then ask if there’s someone they know at an agency that might like to read it.  More often than not they do.  In the perfect world, they’ll want to play some part in the project as well.  Thank them profusely for sending it over and go with God. That’s it?  That’s it.  Sure, you can do the requisite follow-up with the agents, but don’t hock ‘em.  They have 80 other scripts on their desk to read, and chances are the folks who sent those probably know someone who slept with someone too.   

– Michael Lucker

Writers Weekend with Michael Lucker

If you liked this tip and want more, Lucker is offering the opportunity to share his expertise with Atlanta-area writers by hosting a Writers Weekend on August 10th-11th. Over the course of two eight-hour days, aspiring writers will be guided from the germ of an idea to the final pitch, learning everything they need to know about crafting a successful screenplay.

This weekend workshop packs nearly every nut and bolt of the screenwriting craft into one wild and woolly two-day seminar that teaches you what you need to know to bring your story to life.  We are proud that The Writers Weekend will be held in conjunction with the Atlanta Film Festival at Georgia State University. 

Writers Weekend

Saturday August 10th - Sunday August 11th

REGISTER - http://screenwriterschool.com/register.php