The Best Way to Win Over Hollywood Gatekeepers is to Empathize with Them
One of the greatest tools a writer has in their arsenal is empathy. And it doesn’t just apply to your writing, it applies to your career as well.
It’s easy as writers to think that we are A-the center of the world and B-helpless creatures waiting to be rescued (by agents & managers, producers & talent, and festivals & contests). This dichotomy can make for some really unhealthy views of ourselves and others around us.
What if we shifted our mindset on both of these things? What if we put ourselves into the shoes of some of these gatekeepers that we give power over us in order to have a better view of how the industry work?
Put yourself in the shoes of agents & managers: If you’re an agent or manager your first priority is to get work for your current clients. You might have 20–30 clients that you’re trying to help them navigate their careers. An unknown writer with no credits blind emailing them is not going to be a top priority.
Sure, they want new clients, but if you were in their shoes where would you look for those new clients? You’d probably ask your trusted friends (who will mostly likely be other people inside the industry) and you’d probably only pay attention to the potential clients who are REALLY blowing people out of the water and already actively working. After a personal reference and body of work is looked at, quality of writing is 3rd priority.
The lesson? You need to be spending your time making connections and racking up a body of work, not cold emailing.
Put yourself in the shoes of producers & talent: If you’re a producer, you’re gonna be always on the lookout for great scripts. But, if you’re working on the indie film side, a film might take up 2–3 years of your life. You’re probably going to start with content you have a direct connection with (potentially a story that connects with you): either that originates with you or with a writer close to you.
If you’re an indie producer, you’re going to be only looking at scripts that can be made on the cheap. If you’re a Hollywood producer, you might have more options to option ideas or hire writers to write for you. But, just like the managers, you’re going to look at the scripts closest to you — that means either writers you’ve developed relationships with or suggestions from other business people you’ve developed relationships with.
It takes a lot of effort to look outside of your circle, and as a Hollywood producer, you believe your circle already contains vetted, talented writers. What about if you’re an actor or director? This one’s easy. You’re going to go after projects that are most likely to be made. That means projects with money or other talent attached.
The lesson? Once again, it’s back to relationships. Build your circle. Meet as many people as possible — and don’t meet them to make an ask of them, meet them so that when they need someone you’re there. Also keep in mind that writing scripts that can be cheaply produced opens up your chances that it will be produced.
Put yourself in the shoes of those that run festivals & contests: To win a contest or get into a festival, a writer may only need to impress about 3–6 people. 2–3 to get through the initial round, then maybe a 3 person jury. If you are a contest reader, you have your own set of opinions about what makes a great screenplay. You might connect to one theme or experience over another. It is subjective.
Not only that, but as a festival or contest runner, you want to make sure that your selections are representing diversity and a wide range of genres and themes. This might mean you have three great sci-fi scripts so only one gets through and one okay rom-com script that also gets through. If you run one of these organizations you have to make some tough decisions and let down a lot of writers.
The lesson? Contests and festivals are fun, but they are not the end-all be-all. Be careful how much time, money, and attention you give to them. I still believe that growing your body of work (writing multiple scripts and making your own films) and building strong relationships on a weekly basis are better ways to break in than some of these “lottery” options.
I wrote all of the above as an experiment. Maybe I’m totally off in my assessment of these gatekeepers. Maybe my takeaways are completely wrong. But, I think the experiment is healthy to help us look at our careers in a different light.
I’d love for you to try this experiment for yourself. It’s especially helpful when going into a meeting or pitch. To look at things from the other side helps alleviate some of the pressure.
What if you could write multiple screenplays every year and have a clear path to getting those screenplays sold?
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