The Representation Myth

The most ardent wish of new writers is to get a manager or agent. This, they believe, will open all doors. And it does. Kind of. Wavers, I know from experience how much representation feels like a brass ring and how deeply we pine for it. I know it so well that a few years ago I actually accepted representation from a manager who, while she did live in LA, usually had a barking Chihuahua in the background and who, as it turned out, never got my work to anyone that she mentioned she would. I never met her in person, though I offered to fly down at meet her several times (I lived in San Francisco at the time) and was naïve enough to be surprised when, a few months later, a loud whump on the front doorstep heralded the return of all my work and a note which read: Wave-inatrix, I am done representing you. Had I done something wrong? Was it something I said? Was it that my work sucked? Wavers, I had done something wrong all right. I had chosen a bad manager indiscriminately because I was desperate to have one at all. If this manager were still working, I’d mention her name so you could avoid her but it doesn’t matter, really. Bad managers are bad managers. And they prey on writers desperate to be repped. They might charge fees for representing you. You know, to cover the copying and postal fees incurred. They talk a very big talk but aren’t actually known or respected in the industry. But you have no way of knowing that. Because all unrepped writers see is a blurry, moving target somewhere in the middle distance. And beyond it – Valhalla.

Today I am indeed lucky enough to have a respected and connected manager who has been running a marathon with a script written by myself and my partner. He believes in the script like nobody else does, through thick or thin and he never gives up. But it took me a long time to find such an amazing professional.

Rouge Wavers – two things: 1) Be selective about who reps you even if the search is long and arduous. A bad rep is worse than no rep at all. Remember, your rep serves YOU not the other way around. For some reason that is lost in the mists, this concept has been turned on its head in the perception of many. It is not thus. You should not beg to be repped. Your rep should be thrilled to have you. 2) Know this. Being repped will not necessarily change your life.

The difficult thing about this business, dear readers, is that it is a highly dichotomous one. Hope and fear. Success and failure. Possibility and things gone wrong. Creativity and cold hard business. I would be lying to you if I said that getting a rep isn’t a huge step and that it could change your life. But I would by lying by omission if I didn’t point out that it might also get you and your material absolutely nowhere. It happens.

Oh – what a depressing post, Wave-inatrix! Geez! Ah but Rouge Wavers, here’s the thing: your career is in your hands. Nobody else’s. Take charge, be the master of your own domain – I mean, destiny. Say you’ve gotten a reputable manager or agent. Fantastic. Reason to celebrate. Go out to dinner. You’ve earned this. I am in no way diminishing the level of the joy you should feel.

What I am saying is that the same powerful belief in yourself, your writing, your goals and your purpose that infused you when you wrote that great script should continue to infuse your every business decision and action going forward. Question your manager, give him or her feedback and suggestions. Continue to be vigilant about the market, suggest particular actors or producers. Be a partner in the process. Because at the end of the day – it is your material, your career and your life. A manager or agent is, at the end of the day, a broker. A friendly one, maybe even a snarky, Ari Gold one, but a broker, nothing more or less. You are the creator of the item being brokered. Don’t give up that power, stay in the know and do not rest on your laurels.

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