I Have My Foot in the Door and I Can’t Get in Any Further?

Question:

I work with a popular actor and their people who shall remain nameless, but from being closely involved with them and others, one thing I’ve learned is that most people in the industry can be quite selfish and unhelpful.

Here’s my problem. I’ve recently completed a screenplay and it’s highly marketable. To be honest, I’ve done my actor friend’s management team numerous free favors over the years and have recently asked them for my first ever return favor, to consider taking a look at my screenplay, and possibly helping me find an agent if nothing else. Their response is silence. The problem isn’t that they’re reading it and disliking it, it’s that they’re not reading it at all. Such is the life of a writer I suppose.

Thing is, I’ve not written my life story, which ironically is quite dramatic but I’m not arrogant enough to think it’s gonna fill seats. I’ve not written a little indie, nor a cliche horror flick or comedy. I’ve written a unique big budget action/thriller. I’m not the kind of writer who throws 100 slices of bologna at the Hollywood wall hoping one sticks. Majority of my ideas are specifically high concept, and this script I’ve completed is ready to move, I just need wheels to move it. Right now I’m on blocks though, lol. But the first person to help me out, will see great benefits, from this and my future works. There’s a lot of talented writers out there and I’m not saying I’m the best, I’m simply saying that I can make people money. I just need to find someone who will read my work. So how do I do that when I’ve exhausted all options and get no responses to query letters? I know unsolicited works are ignored because I’ve been in the position for my actor friend to receive and ignore them myself, lol.

If you have any idea what I should do now, it’d be appreciated. I’m literally at a loss. Thanks so much.

ScreenwritingCompass:

You should feel lucky that you are in this situation. Most writers trying to break into Hollywood don’t know anyone in the business. If you are not able to have ANYONE read your script, then that would be something you should work on. I’m not talking about execs, but you should have other writers to support you on your journey. I know a lot of writers that are part of writing groups and they get together a few times a month to discuss what they are working on and they read each other’s scripts. This is something that is going to help you out, because as commercial as you think your script is, it may also be too generic. That’s the funny thing about the industry. As cookie cutter as the studios want scripts, they also want them unique and fresh.

The fact that you are friends with an actor and you help out his reps should be a clear way to get them to read. Here’s the second part, and you have to realistic about who your actor friend is. Is your actor friend at a big agency? Is your actor friend maybe at a boutique talent agency where they don’t even have a lit department? Is your actor friend important to that agency? If your friend is an important client, they should have read it. You need to ask them once a week. Get your actor friend to call for you as well. If nothing is being done, you can bet that your friend is at the bottom of the pile.