The big question that every writer has. The age-old dream that the agent is a wondrous wizard who, upon choosing you, will grant your deepest wishes and get you all the jobs and all the monies. You go from a nobody to champagne at the BAFTAs and royally rolling in residuals dough. Oh Saints be praised!
Well, I can tell you right now, that's a crock.
I love my agent to be clear, he's a cool guy, but he's not a miracle worker. No agent is, and I think writers think about agents in a way which is harmful to both their development, as well as to the potential relationship they could have when they find one. Agents cannot guarantee you consistent work, and they cannot guarantee you will always make money between big gigs. Companies, broadcasters and even studios can only buy so much material, and the UK doesn't exactly have the same resources as Hollywood.
What they are is middle men, the guys who get you past the gatekeepers and put you in rooms with people who may have the money and work. They're a stamp of legitimacy that says 'this writer is not a crazy person who will stalk you for not reading their script'. They take care of contracts and other paperwork, enabling you to focus on writing the best material you can and not fret so much about networking.
Can you get work without one? Yes, I did a whole article about that. However, if you are getting to a point where you need one, I'll offer up two things for you: the standard wisdom on how to get one, and then how I did it.
HOW TO GET AN AGENT (CLASSIC STYLE):
- RESEARCH: Look up the writers you admire and want to be like. Look who represents them and where they are. Some of the classic names include Curtis Brown, The Agency, Valerie Hoskins, Knight Hall Agency and Independent Talent, but that's just the surface. A great tool here is The Writers and Artists Yearbook, full of names of places looking for submissions.
- REFINE: Get that script, if not several (actually, make it several) as good as you can. I would really advise you take your time and have two, or three, in sharp shape. One is not enough - you need to show range and that you're not a one trick pony.
- REFERRAL: Exactly what it sounds like - get someone in the business to read your script and, if they like it, ask them to act as a referral, an industry recommendation. I touch on a way to do this in another piece.
- QUERYING: The most daunting part - actually asking for a read. Usually, agency have a submissions guideline on the website, which you MUST follow. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT DUMP SCRIPTS ON PEOPLE. If you blind-send, or worse, spam send to everybody at once, you will crash before you've even started. It makes you look like a cynical huckster out for a fast buck, instead of someone building a professional relationship. As for the query itself, much like the networking article I wrote, there are some standards: a succinct introduction to your self; why you'd like this agent to rep you, and a quick pitch of the script you'd like to send. Be tight and to the point.
HOW I GOT AN AGENT
I did the above and got good responses from several places, but no firm yeses. Big or small, the size of the agency made little difference (but don't lose faith if you're waiting. It's a slow game.) However, I did, through my networking, send a script off to a development person at Dancing Ledge, who passed it onto Andrew Roach, an agent specializing in disabled talent, who passed it onto my current agent, Andy Townsend at the Galton Agency (who work with Roach's clients on screen projects). This was the power of a referral in action, and then some.
Andy read my stuff, liked it and we had a meeting. We got on well and he asked to read some more stuff, so I sent it over. In total, he read four scripts, counting the one from Dancing Ledge. Satisfied, he offered me the contract and I signed. Since then, we've done catch up meetings once a month, discussing projects and places to submit to. It's been a pretty easy-going thing, all told, and he has never pressured me to do something I wasn't happy with.
I hope this has been of use - the big thing is not to stress. Like writing itself, it's a long process and there will be mistakes and failures. So long as you understand this, you'll manage fine.
