Today Is Tom Sawyer’s 5 Year Anniversary! I’m Finding This Very Hard to Believe …

But it’s true!

And in a nice twist of fate, the next couple months are bringing our company full circle in a lot of ways.

Our client Jason Ubaldi is going into production on the movie he wrote called THE LOWENFISH PARTY. The funny part is that we took this script as a spec in our second week of business. There was a lot of buzz and it went into all the studios — and, unfortunately, it did not sell.

But we believed in this script and didn’t let it die.  And five years later it’s going to be made!

And our first movie HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE comes out March 4th. It won the 2010 Sundance Audience Award and, while we had some hiccups in the distribution plans, we couldn’t be more excited that Anchor Bay is releasing it!

Don’t get me wrong.  It hasn’t all been sunshine and moonbeams.

There were a lot of lows too: the writer’s strike, the de-facto actor’s strike, the recession, the never-know-when-or-how-we-are-going-to-pay-our-bills, the three assistants in three weeks, etc.

But in looking back over the last five years, here is what I do know:

Every day I get to work with my best friend in the world and I get to work on projects and with clients that I absolutely love. I get to read books, watch movies and watch television for my job! (For the record, whoever says that is not the best job in the world is lying.)

And while it’s true that the industry is in transition and nobody knows what is going to happen and who knows what the next five years will bring …

All I have to say is I am excited to see what happens next!!

The Power of Passing on an Entertainment Industry Deal

Saying no is a scary thing. If you say no you could miss the next great thing!

In fact, this is why a lot of agents and executives will never actually call you back on a project because they don’t actually want to officially pass.

But there is also a power to passing because — as my business partner is fond of saying — you are defined by what you don’t do and not what you do. And recently we put this to the test.

One of our clients was sent a pilot for him to star in and asked to test for the part. We didn’t love the role so we politely passed.  We also said, if it were a straight offer, that would be one thing.  But our client shouldn’t test for something he didn’t love.

That simple pass sparked the president of the network to ask for a meeting with our client to talk about the role.
When our client went in for the meeting, the president of the network, the director and the show creator were there.   Our client expressed his concerns, and the president said that there might be a better role for him in the pilot and they were going to rework this new role specifically for our client.

And then the best news: The network was going to make a straight offer.
It was a win-win for everyone all starting from our saying no. Our client got a better role in the project and a straight offer, and the network  got an actor they really wanted.

 

Year-End Review and What 2011 Will Bring for Hollywood

December is here so it’s a good time to do a year-end review and discuss what next year might be like:

The biggest thing is that I don’t see the business ever going back to the way it was. With a continued recession I don’t think studios or networks are going to be shelling out the kind of big bucks they once were.

Sure the big actors and directors will get their quote.  But that crazy money that was around for emerging writers/actors or even the middle writers/directors is just not there anymore.

However, the good news is that I really see the DO-IT-YOURSELF culture reign supreme.  I have previously mentioned examples on this blog of people who took matters into their own hands (directed a short, shot a pilot, made a submission tape) and landed themselves a big job or sale. I see more and more of this happening.

Also, buyers are looking for people who can really add value. If you are a writer-director-actor, great! The more you can show that you can do more than one thing — the better for you.

Additionally, buyers want to see visual presentations. Doing a script or prepping a presentation is just not enough these days; people want to SEE what they are buying.  So I expect to see more and more visual presentations that will help get material sold.

The irony is — as with everything in this business — no one really knows anything. I’ve seen projects get sold or movies get made that for the life of me I can’t figure out why. Which just goes to show you that as many tips or predictions that one can give — it’s all a crap shoot.

The best advice I can give is work on projects you love, think visually, and try to add value (a presentation, a sizzle reel, etc.) to each and every one of your projects.

Here’s to a great 2011 for everyone!

What to Do With Your Spec Script in a Catch-22 Situation

There is some good news in the Hollywood world. Studios are buying specs again — not a lot — but still it is better than nothing.

However, if you read what is selling you know that almost everything has an attachment before a studio buys it — either a big producer, director or actor.

I was discussing this with an executive who at least admitted that, yes, pre-attaching an element that every studio approves is nearly impossible. Especially since there are maybe five people every studio will agree to.  So this is definitely a Catch-22 situation.

But the exec did have some good advice: If you can attach an element that’s sexy, sometimes that’s enough — the element doesn’t actually have to star or direct in the film — they can just be attached in some producorial capacity.

For example, if it is a producer/actor or a producer/director, if the person is a big-enough name, that is enough to get the studio interested.  Or, if you can say that a big-enough name has expressed interest, that also can work as well.

In other words, try to think of some creative ways around your catch 22 to get where you need to go.  After all, if you don’t find a way around your catch 22, your spec script may never be bought.

What’s a Creative Executive to Do in Hollywood These Days?

If you are a CE these days, you must have noticed that there are very few spec scripts going out (because, really, why should reps take these out if the specs aren’t selling?).  So what do you do every day at your office?

The worse thing to do would be to sit around and wait for scripts.  Waiting helps nobody.

The best thing to do is to go out and hustle.  Go out and meet managers and agents. Ask them if there are writers you should be tracking.

Go to comedy shows and ask your friends if they know any writers. Pay attention to mentions on Facebook and Twitter.  Do whatever you have to do to get out in front of people.

If you start meeting writers early on in their writing careers, you are much more likely to get a script slipped to you before it is shown around town.

The same advice applies to writers, managers, agents — you name it.  Waiting helps no one.

Go out and start meeting people! Create your own destiny; don’t let it pass you by.

Applicable Skills: What Hollywood Can Teach You

I used to think that I had no skills outside the entertainment industry and, if I wanted to switch careers, I would have nothing going for me since I’ve worked in Hollywood my whole life, including going to film school and getting a BFA.

However, I have recently realized that I do have skills that are unique, different and ones that not every Wharton or Harvard MBA has.

These skills are:

• Thinking outside of the box:  Being in Hollywood, you quickly learn that you have to think outside the box to get anything done in this town.
• Leaving no stone unturned:  Literally. Trying to set up a tv or movie or any project makes you reach out to every single person you know and those you don’t in an effort to get a project set up.
• Not taking no for an answer:  To me, a no is just the start of a negotiation.
• Being creative: If you are stumped on something, get creative and work around it.
• Not giving up:  It just takes one person to say yes.
• Practicing the art of delegating: This is very important, and many big and small companies fail because their CEOs micromanage too much.
• Bringing the experts in: It’s okay to ask for help because there is no way you can know everything. Part of succeeding in this town is not being afraid to say, hey, can I get some advice?
• Having an opinion: This can not be overstated. I don’t care what your opinion is, having one is a HUGE asset and most people are too scared to have one.
• Being decisive: The best leaders are the ones who are unafraid to make a decision.  I have seen companies fold because their leader couldn’t make a decision.

So if you think you don’t have any portable skills portable, think again, and be thankful for all the skills that Hollywood taught you!

Reflections on the Trend of Film/TV Agents Becoming Managers

If you read the trades, you will notice that a lot of agents are becoming managers these days.  While sometimes this works, an agent and manager are not interchangeable.  Often I have seen agents who became managers quickly going back to being an agent.

Why is this?

Managing is hard work. It’s a lot more hands-on than most agents are use to. It’s also a lot more creative than most agents are use to.

As a manager, I am constantly looking for new ideas for my clients. I am also always looking for the right people with whom to pair them up.   In fact, my job is to be as proactive as possible and not wait for someone to call me about my client, which is what most agents are use to.

Agents can sit and wait for the incoming calls while managers are always making outgoing calls.

Also, there is a lot of development that managers do that agents don’t. Often we will do notes on 8-10 drafts of a client’s project before it even goes to an agent.  Many agents haven’t developed their notes skills and don’t know how to do detailed notes.

It’s a very different job skill set for managers and most agents don’t realize this when they make the switch.  They simply think of it as a different job title for representing clients.  

Best of luck to all the agents out there becoming managers.  But a piece of advice — it’s not as easy as it looks.

Summer Time and the Living Is Easy or What to Do in the Entertainment Industry When the Phone Stops Ringing

The Fourth of July usually means barbeques, beer and fireworks.  For Hollywood it also usually means the slow down of the feature film business. Phones stop ringing, specs stop going out, and people start going on vacation.

Does that mean that you have to spend the next two months twiddling your thumbs? No! It means you have two solid months where you can spend your time and energy on things that you could never do while the phone rings every two seconds.

My two favorite activities that I like to do in these summer months are:

* Diversify

* Be creative

By diversify what I mean is I like to spend these summer months looking into arenas that I haven’t explored before and want to have better knowledge about.

For example, when my business partner and I started Tom Sawyer Entertainment, we spent the summer months learning everything about the TV business since we came from the feature world. Now we do almost 1/2 of our business in the TV world and several of our clients are staffed on TV shows.

A couple years ago we spent the summer learning all about the book world.  Now we have sold seven books so far and are working on two more book deals.

There is always some segment of the entertainment business of which you could grow your knowledge, and the summer is the perfect time to do that.

By being creative what I mean is having the time to go through all those articles, ideas and scraps of stories that I have kept in a folder while I wait for some peace and quiet to sort through these.

My business partner and I will take an afternoon and read through everything in this folder and see what we want to develop for the next year.

Or being creative means finally having the time to work on my website, blogs, etc.  For anything that takes creativity and the time to do it right — the summer is the perfect time for it!

As a Screenwriter Today You Must Diversify to Be Successful in This Economy

If you are reading the trades (Daily Variety, The Hollywood Reporter) I am sure you are reading about studios making less and less pictures and spending less and less money on those pictures.

So what can you do?

The only way to survive in this town is to diversify, diversify, diversify. Think of it like stocks — you want to be in as many businesses as possible because, in case something happens in one field, you have others to fall back on.

What this means as a writer is that you should be in as many different fields as possible (while still endeavoring to be great in all of them). Whether this is books, tv — half hour and hour, film, games, comic books, etc., the more fields you are in, the more stocks you have in different arenas that could pay off.

The other great thing about being in as many fields as possible is that  it will stretch your creative muscles.  You will be forced to be creative in ways that you might have not thought possible.

And that new creativity will flow through to all your other arenas.  It will make you a stronger writer in every other field you are in.

Being Nice to Everyone Is a Good Business Practice

I once read an article about a famous old producer who said that he spent over half his day doing favors for other people.  And I have to agree with him.

Much of my day is spent doing favors for other people: trying to help friends get jobs, making introductions, reading resumes, introducing actors to casting agents, etc.

It might seem like a waste of my time (and, trust me, there are days that I would agree).  But then something happens to remind me that it all comes back to you.

We have been friends over the years with a writer who we have tried to help out whenever we can without the expectation of anything in return.  We recently got an email from him saying he is now working at the Huffington Post and he would love to do an article on our very funny client Ben Schwartz.

Of course we said yes and, boy, are we happy about this article.  See the link below to read this fantastic article.

And remember, this goes to show you that it’s a good business practice to try to be nice to everyone — you never know how it is going to come back around.

Enjoy reading the article now.

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