How to Sell Your Screenplay Pt. 4: Getting Past the Gatekeepers

How to Sell Your Screenplay Pt. 4: Getting Past the Gatekeepers Today we're going to be talking about how to get past the gatekeepers, so that you can pitch your script to the producers, agents, managers, directors, and stars that you need to reach in this industry.  First, a warning, these techniques actually work. So before you use them, please make sure you have a pitch that is actually at a professional level. And even more importantly, please make sure you have a script that is at a professional level.  You don't want to do all this work of getting past the gatekeepers to pitch your screenplay, only to finally get into that meeting of a lifetime and realize you're not wearing any pants.  I've seen so many talented writers make this mistake. I've judged so many pitchfests, watching writers with really great stories pitch them in ways that made them seem unreliable and unprofessional.  And during my previous life as a producer, I've also seen so many writers show up with an incredible pitch, and then a screenplay that does not back it up.  If you make this mistake, you're not only wasting your time, you're wasting the time of every single person that you pitch. So if you have not yet gotten professional feedback on your pitch, and on your script, if you are not 100% convinced that your pitch and your script are at a professional level, hit pause on this podcast. It is not time for you to make a full time job of getting to the right people. Because all you're going to do is end up burning your contacts.  First, it's your job to make sure your content is incredible, so that when you pitch those right people, they actually respond. Unless you are already famous, you are not going to sell a great idea, what you're going to sell is a great screenplay. So get professional feedback. And when I say professional, please, this is not development notes from a coverage reader. This is not a bunch of written development notes from a contest. This is not feedback the lovely writers in your writers group who have not yet sold a script. This is not your mom, your friend, your family. This is feedback you want from a professional writer, somebody who has done this more than you have, who knows what an industry-ready script actually looks like and what an industry-ready pitch actually sounds like.  And if you need help with that, that's what we do here at the studio. So you're welcome to call us. And we will hook you up with somebody amazing who can help you develop your project.  So, now, we're going to make the assumption you've done all that work. You actually have a script that is ready to go when you show up for your big meeting. You're not missing your pants, you're wearing your finest suit.  So how do you get past the gatekeepers to actually get that meeting? The best way to get past the gatekeepers and sell your script is actually to never deal with the gatekeepers.  Remember the gatekeeper’s job is to keep you out. So if you can go around the gatekeeper, you want to. And there are so many wonderful ways you can do this!  As we talked about in Episode 3 of this Sell Your Script series, you can target very specific producers, directors, agents, managers and stars, and start to talk to everyone you know about them.  Shake the tree of your own social network, and you might be surprised to find out that somebody that you know, happens to know the person you’re trying to get in touch with. Even if it's a distant contact, a warm call is always better than a cold one.