Writing a Great Query Letter
A good query letter should go something like this:
Month, Day, Year
(four spaces)
Company Name
Person You Are Sending To
Street, Suite
City, State
Zip
(two spaces)
Dear Mr. Bigshot:
(two spaces)
Here are my bad-ass creds; A graduate of USC, I am a Nicholl's winner, placed second in the Antarctic Script Competition and make great apple cobbler. Incidentally, I just loved BOOM CHUCKA DING DONG; what a great movie!
I have written a script called NUNS OF THE PEACH ORCHARD; a romantic comedy set in 19th century Italy. Here is a great logline, which tells you who the main character is, what the conflict is, what the stakes are and has a cute little teaser that doesn't quite give away the ending; will she or won't she? Does the peach brandy win the prize? The executive or manager will have to read the script to find out.
If you are interested in a read, I would be happy to send a hard copy of NUNS or a pdf via email. Or a copy strapped to my rat, Wilmer, who incidentally, hasn't bitten anyone in a couple of years. I have enclosed an SASE for your convenience.
Warm Regards,
(four spaces)
Your printed name here, your signature in the space above
If you haven't got personalized stationery, put your contact information here, under your name. Be sure to include your phone number and email address.
********
In other words, Wavers, the first paragraph should be your bona fides. Any competition wins or placements should go here, as should any film program or impressive university you graduated from. If you have not got any filmic or screenwriting bona fides, try to find something you can say by way of introducing yourself. Obviously, having creds in the screenplay world is a great attention-getter and this is why I recommend leading off with it. Suddenly, you are taken a bit more seriously - you have something to brag about. Again, those who feel they have no creds, get creative - think of something, anything that gives you some credibility. If your script is set in a coal mining town and you grew up in one, mention it. If your script is about doctors and you're a doctor - mention it. Maybe you had an open heart surgery and now have a baboon heart - if that has direct bearing on your script - mention it. Paragraph one is about piquing interest.
If the recipient of your query has recently wrapped or even debuted a movie, mention it. It demonstrates that you're in the know and that you've taken the time to follow their career just a bit. Not in a stalky way - don't mention their new twins or that great house on Oak Lane. Your SASE may just contain a restraining order.
The second paragraph is your logline-teaser. Lead off with the title, and be sure to mention the genre and time period. Then lay your gorgeous logline on them.
Wrap it all up in the third paragraph, by graciously offering to send the script in any format should they be interested in a read. Make it easy for them, include an SASE.
Do:
Research the recipient; know their movie or client creds
Be brief
Be gracious
Get to the point
Make sure your logline rocks
Note your accomplishments or credentials
Include an SASE
Don't:
Babble
Beg
Be too self-deprecating
Make stuff up to look good
Name drop
Include pictures, cd's or supplemental materials (you think I'm kidding!)
Be annoyingly twee or clever; you're dealing with grownups
In summary, a query letter should be quick and dirty: get in and get out. Be gracious and authentic. Try to get some creds down in that first paragraph but be honest; don't exaggerate and for god's sake don't lie.
Yes, it's okay and customary to query several places at once and no, you don't need to mention that you're doing it. It's a given. Don't mention the other agencies you've queried; it's none of their business unless they want to meet with and possibly sign you. As above, do NOT name drop; Hollywood is a small town and if you're full of baloney, you're sunk. You also risk dropping a name that you were under the impression had some weight but actually that person is roundly hated, had some big failure or had a breakdown and moved to New Hampshire.
Summon all your writerly skills so that your letter is perfectly presented, graciously worded and mercifully short. Nothing will mark you as an amateur faster than blathering on - or conversely being serial-killer brief. Sound like a regular person. Write the letter YOU would like to receive.
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5 comments:
Great post as usual and really timely as soon the queries will proceed forth. I don't have an HCD sized list yet but I do have the Done Deal list.
I hope that I can solicit some feedback when I do. I have been finding that most companies accept emails now which makes ti a little more "immediate-gratification-like" though probably not timelier.
The big thing now is to finish a few scripts. I'm well on my way with my "baby" and a little family comedy that's in treatment stage.
I've been hearing that treatments are an even better way to approach the industry, so I've been honing my skills at that also.
Copied & saved for later reference.
Thanks! :-)
Back in the days when I had a less cynical attitude, I used to write query letters. They went something like this:
Dear Guy Who Is Going to Buy My Movie Script:
I ain't done shit and will probably never do shit unless you buy my fantastic movie script.
Here, lemme tell ya about it.
It's a simple movie really: There's a hero, a bad guy, and some bitchin babes. The bad guy wants to kill people, the hero has to stop him. The bitchin babes love the bad guy, but fall for the hero in the end.
I can have this 300 page script in your hot little hands in less than an hour. all you got to do is call me.
Your next big Hollywood thing,
Griswald G Armstrong
Hello folks.
I wrote this query letter two weeks ago.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. What works and what does not work?
QUERY LETTER --
I would like to introduce you to my screenplay, entitled, Marcus and Faith.
The script won first prize in the Thriller section of the 2007 Pacific Northwest Screenwriters Contest. Apart for the tremendous validation for my writing, the main prize is a year’s representation by 928 Talent Management. Competition judges included Daniel Yost, the screenwriter of Drugstore Cowboy.
In addition to placing in the quarter-finalist and semi-finalist in other contests, my screenplay was reviewed by Phil Gladwin -- a professional screenwriter and script editor for both the BBC and ITV. Here’s what he had to say --
“Recently I read his script Marcus and Faith, and found it a compelling investigation into evil. The story seldom falters, the dialogue is strong, potent, and vividly alive, and, despite the dark subject and the unflinching tone, the piece glows with hope and a yearning for the warmth of the human heart that manages to bring some kind of redemption into a very bleak world.”
Marcus and Faith is a gritty love story about an afflicted stand-up comedian and a mysterious dancer. Marcus Anderson is addicted to painkillers. When he’s reunited with his high school crush, Faith, now aspiring for Broadway, a torrid romance ensues. He believes she’s going to be his savior. Just one problem -- she’s unknowingly embroiled in her father’s high-society known as Kama-Sin -- dealing in prostitution, human trafficking and murder. Marcus' love for Faith lures him blindly into the bowel of Kama-Sin and ultimately into an abyss of pure evil where they make a daring and passionate attempt to save each other.
Romeo and Juliet, Bonnie and Clyde, Sid and Nancy are all great love stories, but for a story to flourish in our modern times and touch our hearts, it must be daringly different and dark.
Marcus and Faith is uncompromisingly seedy, seductive and full of action. But all this is done with a moral premise -- surviving life’s dangerous cocktail. Modern society mixes violence with sex, complacency with discomfort, beauty with repulsiveness and graphic violence with gentle family values. The trick is not to drown and not to escape life but to find life.
I wanted to write a screenplay that would live in the hearts of young adults and transfer from generations to generations.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Ray
Bio -- as a stand-up comedian, I caught the screenwriting fever and never looked back. Unlike my previous generation of screenwriters who learned their craft through film school, I'm self-taught and honed in my skills from my days on stage and while juggling three shifts and a family. Consequently, I developed an audacious fusion of controversial pop culture and exciting cinema. More details about my bio can be found in an interview I had at --
http://www.screenwritinggoldmine.com/blog/screenwriting-competition-success/2007/12/19/
Dear super long query person: because this query letter post is pretty old, I think you will have better luck posting it in the Script Department Discussion Group on Scribd. Go to www.scribd.com and join the group, post it there and see what you get :)
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