New York agents, managers, and opportunities

Michael Bluth

Hi again, cats. It's me. I've moved to New York.

I've also lost my LA agent, not so much due to the move as to his sucking.

So I have two questions:

1. Can I still look for LA agents/managers from here, or should I stick with the (much shorter list of) NY representatives?

2. Does it even matter because I've screwed myself out of a writing career?

I happened to read Writing Movies For Fun And Profit by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant on the plane, and there's an entire chapter that is, quite literally, "YOU NEED TO BE IN LOS ANGELES" bold, underlined, all caps, for several pages in a row.

There are some production companies here, like HBO, but I know from a decade in LA that most of the action is on the West Coast. I've joined a (non-STC) writing group here, and when I bring up the fact that most deals and meetings are happening in LA, there's an uncomfortable silence, as if people don't know want to acknowledge any additional obstacles -- or have the confidence to dismiss my fears.

I don't see many relocation threads on this board, at least not for people moving away from Hollywood. I did, but now I'm in the next-best city. Is that enough? And if it is, where should I be looking for representation?

quade · Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:50 pm Post subject:

Have you ever considered writing books or plays?

I've been giving a lot of thought to what would be the best path for a writer to take if his goal wasn't necessarily to write a million dollar spec, but instead actually have a profitable writing career that might include a film at some point along the way.

It seems to me that by and large chasing the spec sales path is somewhat futile and can screw the writer out of certain rights. However, if the writer had a pre-existing work, either book or play, he already has those rights and if the property shows its value through almost any amount of sales, makes it more likely the property will be optioned.

Separated rights are important. Think of the financial fortunes of R.K. Rowling vs Linda Woolverton. This same concept shows itself again in Stephanie Meyer and Suzanne Collins. Just think of the difference separated rights mean in the little Mockingjay pin. Suzanne Collins will get a royalty on every Mockingjay pin ever sold. R.K. Rowling gets payments for all of the Harry Potter merchandise. Linda Woolverton sees nothing from any sales of any item from Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Alice in Wonderland . . . not a cent. So that's the profitable part of what I'm talking about.

You could write a brilliant screenplay and fight to try to get people in Hollywood to notice it . . . or . . . you could write a brilliant book or stage play, have something to show for your efforts and the possibility of Hollywood optioning it (which you'd negotiate first crack at writing the screenplay for).

This is currently the path I'm looking toward. I have a project I'd love to see made into a film and since that's what I'm most familiar with that's the way I'm writing my first draft of it. But, once I have that down, I'm turning it into a stage play.

It's a more circtitious path, but I think I can get the play produced and at the very least I'd have retained those rights and proof the story works in front of an audience.

Now, think about how Aaron Sorkin got his break. A Few Good Men was an off-Broadway production in a little poo-hole of a theater run by Lewis Black.

The King's Speech by David Seidler was going to be a stage play first, but was optioned off the table read.

Michael Bluth · Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:18 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the advice, but I want to screenplays. I already have. They've done well in contests. I had an agent, I've had some meetings.

I have no experience writing stage plays or books. I don't see how starting over in a completely new field with no connections or experience will help me towards my goal of writing screenplays. I don't care if I'm writing direct-to-video Barbie animated films that are only distributed in Belgium, if that's my full-time job.

I'm not saying that your strategy won't work, as it has many precedents. But there are equally as many precedents for writers getting representation off a spec script and then not selling it (as you said) but using that writing sample to get assignments. That's all I want. I don't care if none of my screenplays ever gets made.

Again, thanks for your advice. I think it will work for you. But I don't think it will work for me.

quade · Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:28 pm Post subject:

Well, there is a vibrant indie market in NYC. I think if I was absolutely fixed in my goal of just writing screenplays and located in NYC, that's probably the crowd I'd want to start hanging out with.

Mike Rinaldi · Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:33 pm Post subject:

As I'm in California, I'm no expert in this subject matter. Though I can tell you that even living a couple hours north of L.A. makes it inconvenient at times to fulfill all the requests for meetings that I get.

But there are plenty of places one can have successful screenwriting careers such as New York, Austin, and Dallas. Realistically, a screenwriter with a good track record (not extremely easy to establish) and a really good L.A. rep (good reps are tough to come by anywhere) and good L.A. social connections can probably write from anywhere providing that you don't care to be involved in production and you're making semi-regular flights to L.A.

The caveat being that I suspect you'll find it difficult to get assignments from companies with whom you don't already have a pre-existing relationship. So much happens in development meetings and those are often in person. That's how you really get jobs. Hopefully more companies will cozy up to the idea of Skype meetings, but that's not the norm yet. And especially when they don't already know you, they want the development and pitch meetings in person.

Agents sometimes help you get these meetings, but they don't have the meetings for you and they don't get the job for you. You still have to be there.

Some of the cats who will have more insight than I include Alvaro Rodriguez (Austin, but obviously well connected everywhere), Helena Campbell (NYC, formerly L.A.), Martin Blank (Washington, D.C., formerly NYC), and John Austrian (Minneapolis, formerly NYC).

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Michael Bluth · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:38 am Post subject:

Any other thoughts from anyone on having a Hollywood writing career while living in New York City?

Boshuda · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:23 pm Post subject:

As a fellow New Yorker (welcome, by the way), as much as it pains me to say this, I think it's really tough to nearly impossible to have a successful "Hollywood" screenwriting career and live in NY. There are some obvious exceptions to this rule - Woody Allen, Darren Aronofsky, Harmony Korine, etc. - but they all have very specific career paths, mostly involving coming up through the low budget indy world (or, in Woody's case, moving into the low budget indy world).

Of the current screenwriters I know who are New Yorkers and have succesful Hollywood careers, all moved to LA either before or when they started to gain some traction.

I think, in order to have a Hollywood-style career in NY, you need to have another hook. If it's not books or stage plays, then it's stand up comedy or slugging it out for no money in the indy scene and hoping to get lucky with an indy that actually goes mainstream.

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