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Questions on this page (2 of 2):
1: I wrote two sitcom [spec] scripts a while ago for Ellen and Roseanne... I sent them out to a few agents only to hear them say it's great, how
about writing for Cybill or whatever is HOT. I agree that persistency is
everything, BUT when do you get in the door? I really feel like it's an
insiders' game.
2: I feel I can write 'em all right, and have done so, but am told that one
must have an agent in order to present a sitcom script. Any advice on how to get around the agent trap?
3: What trends in popular culture or society in general are depicted the
most honestly and compellingly in TV comedy today--and what evidence do
you have for that?
4:- What are the most common reasons for a sitcom script being rejected?
5: Apart from a pen or a computer, what is the most important thing an
aspiring sitcom writer needs to possess?
6: As a screenwriter working in feature films, I'd like to ask if you could
explain the major differences between writing for a theatrical intended
feature film and a Movie Of the Week (M.O.W.)
7: My series was revised without my permission and I raised hell. No more gigs
for me in Finnish TV . . . They have dramaturgs inside the TV-houses who'll help you, but in general a
writer just drops in to deliver pages and vanishes back to her/his den to
write, write, write...
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Q: I wrote two sitcom [spec] scripts a while ago for Ellen and Roseanne... I sent them out to a few agents only to hear them say it's great, how
about writing for Cybill or whatever is HOT. I agree that persistency is
everything, BUT when do you get in the door? I really feel like it's an
insiders game.
A: Getting in the door is tough. No question about it. An attention getting "spec" and persistence are the keys. The shows you wrote are not widely read. Every season there are a few shows that are the ones to "spec." "Roseanne" is over (literally now, but as a "spec" it's been over for years), "Ellen" is considered too "special." These days "Cybill," "Drew Carey," "News Radio," and "Larry Sanders" are widely read. (There are probably a couple of others that are escaping my meager memory.) Arbitrary? You bet. But that's the way it is. If you are getting good response from agents (that are actually in the business, i.e., have clients working on sit-coms) you should be encouraged and get them what they need to help you get inside. Remember, everyone on the inside used to be on the outside. I don't know exactly where on the outside they were, but as the naked man hiding in the bedroom closet said casually to the unexpected husband when asked what he was doing in there - "everybody's gotta be somewhere."
Hang in there, wherever there is.
You can't get around agents for long. They ARE THE BUSINESS, they sell,
they create demand, they tell the lies that make the whole world sing (to
borrow from Barry Manilow, which should give you some idea of how desperate I
am, and you think you have problems?) There is, however, a narrow window of
opportunity, when starting out, to go it on your own. The trick is making
personal contact with someone who can hire you, if not to write scripts at
first, then to make coffee and run errands. Getting behind the Palace Wall
in any way you can is a tremendous leg up. Personality counts. A lot. I
know many extremely successful writer/producers who started as "runners."
Use the phone, be inventive, make friends with assistants. Of course,
you're going to have to move to LA to make this gambit work. And as soon as
it starts to work, you'll find at least one agent barking up your alley.
(I'm assuming you're residing in an alley at that point.) I realize you're
poor and disconnected, fear not, you'll have plenty of company here.
Find the funny in it all. Keep dreaming and doing. It can be done. Good
luck.
If I had evidence of anything, anything at all, I'd take it to the
authorities immediately. - What are the most common reasons for a sitcom script being rejected? The most common reason for rejection (I assume you mean by agents) is that they haven't read it. It's reflexus rejectus. Goes all the way back to agents in the Roman Empire.
They don't have time. The simple arithmetic is staggering. There are
endless numbers of folks who want into the game and there are probably fewer
than 100 agents actually in the TV business. Of those, only a relatively
few (usually early in their own careers) are interested in representing "new
talent" since they are far too busy, from early breakfasts through drinks
before dinner, dinner, and drinks after dinner, stealing big money clients
from each other. I exaggerate, but only a little. Agenting is a high
stakes, rough and tumble business.
I really couldn't point to what is most important in aspiring comedy
writers, but I do know it doesn't hurt to be funny.
I'm coming up a bit short on this one. I don't work in this arena,
and
therefore have limited direct knowledge and experience. I do have friends
who do this work. And I occasionally glance at their work, hear war
stories
and the like. What I can say with authority is:
What I've said so far is based on my experience in American TV. I
understand things work differently in Europe and other places. Although it
sounds like some things are not all that different, i.e., struggles over
content, vanquishing the loser etc. My sense is - if you're going to take
the money - have as much fun as you can under the circumstances and don't
fight aimlessly out of ego. If issues of gravity arise (e.g., major
distortions of your work that could cause you to be associated with morally
reprehensible material) there are WGA protections and pseudonyms can be
used
to avoid embarrassment. The check will still come to the name on your
account. You can, after sending it through, write a check of your own made
to a the good cause of your choosing and cleanse yourself thereby of the
whole rotten mess. (Boy---am I mad now!!!)
I don't want to make too much of the MONEY. There can be other
rewards in
TV work. But, like in most other aspects of life, they are of your own
making. Many of us tend to take "our" writing too seriously. To take
ourselves too seriously. Which is not to say we haven't an obligation to do
our best and make a sincere effort to meet high standards. There are,
however, harder and easier ways. It is easier (and I think better for the
work as well) to be gentle with ourselves and others, and to hold our
ideas/opinions/attitudes a bit more lightly. |
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