Show Business and Eating an Elephant

In a conversation with an aspiring screenwriter this week, I was reminded of the old parable that goes, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer: “…one bite at a time.”

She was complaining that her query letters to agents were not getting a response. Knowing that getting a response to these letters is a long shot at best, I was curious about her approach…so I asked her, “what’s the purpose of your letter?”

There was a long pause while she 1) considered the answer and 2) probably considered whether she was talking to someone who was completely ignorant about the business. She told me that the purpose was to get her movie made and to get her story “out there”. Much to her chagrin I said, “No, that’s not the purpose.” I imagined at this point she was thinking, how could this guy know what my purpose is? So I asked again, “What’s the purpose of your letter?” This time her answer was, “To get an agent.” Once again I said, “No, that’s not the purpose.”

Not wanting to challenge her further I offered, “The purpose of your query is to get the agent to request your script so they can read it.”

In a previous post I stated the value of being clear on your long term career goals. Like a road trip, between your starting point and your destination, there are roads to travel and turns to make and you must make each turn correctly and take all the right roads in order to get where you want to go.

In a career, the same principal applies. You’ll do a better job of achieving your long term goal if you are clear about each individual move and decision along the way. It’s likely that if the purpose of a query letter is to get a request for the script, then the content and shape of that letter should be adjusted accordingly to achieve that result.

This applies whether you are going to an audition, meeting an industry insider at a screening or function, having a pitch meeting, etc. The purpose each time is not to get to the end goal, but rather to get to the next step.

How do YOU eat an elephant?

To your success,

Marc Pariser

CEO/Founder ShowBizCentral.com

###

Marc Pariser is Founder and CEO of ShowBizCentral. He has been a packaging agent representing writers, directors, producers, comedians, production companies and executives at the world’s leading agencies, including the William Morris Agency and Creative Artists Agency.

If you’ve got a question about your career visit marcpariser.com.