What Matters to Screenplay Agents and Producers

Writing your first screenplay was a hard task, but you got it done. You may think you have gotten over the most difficult step. However, the real challenge has just begun- you must pitch your creation to agents and producers. To make a successful pitch a writer must consider the following.

AUDIENCE
Do you know who you wrote the story for? Who is going to watch the movie if it is going to be produced into a movie? Why would anyone purchase a ticket to go see the movie?

Agents and producers expect a writer to know who his or her viewing audience is. Is it for a general audience, children, young adults, baby boomers, etc. Some audiences are more profitable than others. For instance, movies geared towards the young audience, for children and teens, have high box office earnings, such as the Harry Potter movies and the numerous computer generated animated movies put out by Disney and Dreamworks. Do to this proven success more of such movies are being produced.

STYLE
Is your style distinctive or unique? Does your story have originality? In a genre there are so many of the same types of the same basic story plot. A writer should examine his or her script and compare it to other movies with a similar story plot and theme. During a pitch, show how your story is similar to other related successful movies, and at the same time point out its originality and its unique difference from other scripts.

LONGEVITY
Is your story something that will appeal to audiences for a long time or is it a fad? You can win the ears of agents and producers either way. If your story is a fad based topic it is best to query agents and producers as soon as possible. Scripts based on fads are produced when purchased instead of being shelved after being bought, and be sure to point out the uniqueness of the story in comparison to similar ones.

CONTROVERSY
Is there a part of the script that might be censored? Would it get negative reviews from part of society? Producers may run away from or embrace your story depending on how a writer handles social trends and controversial issues. In our present day and time, it is in general unacceptable to produce movies portraying a group or segment on society in a negative, degrading, stereotypical way. Do to technology the world is a lot smaller and America has became a lot more diverse. So a writer should take care to not write a socially degrading story. Such a story, produced or not can be damaging to a writer's reputation.

EDITING
The appearance of one's script is very important. If a script is cluttered with mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and if up-to-date Hollywood industry standard for script formatting is not followed, agents and producers will not consider accepting a script. These mistakes and noncompliance to standard formatting can be interruptive to the reader and make the script hard to understand. So when a script is requested by agents or producers, before sending it off, have a second party to review it. Choose someone skilled in editing for writing mistakes and editing for proper industry formatting.

PRODUCTION CONCERNS
Does the script require special production value or does the script require special production value or special funding to work? For instance, does it require special effects? Special work needed to produce a script increases production cost. Expensive scripts tend to be avoided unless the story is unique and captivating, say like AVATAR or the Harry Potter movies. Only if a producer believes in a script and only if there is a large demanding audience for the script will he or she accept the script and be willing to put out the extra money for it.

PROFIT
How much money can the agent and producer make off your script if it is made into a movie? Is it "merchandisable"? A producer will compare the script with similar movies already made and examine their earning. If other similar movies did well in the box office, the producer will show interest in your script.

So before soliciting agents and producers consider what they will think about when they read your script. Put yourself in their place. Doing this can help a writer make improvements to his or her script.