Good in a Room: The Latest

Rouge Wavers know how much regard I have for Stephanie Palmer of Good in a Room. I have taken Stephanie's workshop and will again. You can sign up for Stephanie's newsletters by going to her website (link at the end of this post). I received today's newsletter and am reprinting it here with Stephanie's permission; I know this is an issue that many writers are dying to learn more about. So here you go:

What is the best way to meet an agent or a manager? Get hot.

And it’s not as hard as you think.

Agents and managers are heat-seekers. They only make money when their client’s careers are on fire. This is why agents spend a great deal of time poaching from each other’s lists—they would rather work with proven talent.

However, agents are also looking for the next big thing. In other words, YOU—provided that you’re generating enough heat to attract them. You don’t need to be working if you can demonstrate that you and your projects are getting serious attention.

How do you generate heat? Here are some questions to consider:
• Have you staged a reading or theatrical performance of your work? Could you produce it?
• Is your material the kind that wins screenplay contests? Could you adapt it?
• Have you created a short film or teaser?
• Could you partner with other people who have short films and put on a festival?
• Has your work been reviewed in the paper?
• Have you gotten any endorsements from successful people?
• What are you doing to publicize your work? Do you have a website? A blog? A YouTube clip?

If you’ve got some dynamite material that you’d like to sell to a major studio, you might benefit from having representation. The trick is to create the right strategy to generate enough heat for your project, and more importantly, your career. That way, when an agent or manager meets you, they can see that you have the potential to be a long-term client.

The next step is to polish your meeting technique so that, once you get in the room, you know exactly how to position yourself. Until then, keep working on your material.

There are two spots left in the Finding Representation workshop which starts next Monday, March 26th. For more information, go to:

www.goodinaroom.com/findingrepresentation.html

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