All screenplays on the simplyscripts.com and simplyscripts.net domain are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. This screenplaymay not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.
I put away creative writing for the month and decided to start playing around with the avenues purportedly available to sell a script.
1, I paid for an Email blast services. Purportedly a service that has an extensive data base of Agent and Production company contact information. You prepare a query and a log line and pay them to blast it out. There are several of these services out there. Anyway - the results from my test were haphazard at best. One totally legit response from an agency that I could have gotten the contact information on my own. If you have the money - the concept isn't bad as long as you recognize that you are paying for clerical assistance - not assistance in selling your script. The problem with the clerical assistance side is I got far too many no longer works here type notifications, a couple of scammy companies, etc. In other words - I don't sense there is a robust edit process going on.
2. Virtual PitchFest - pay $50 to get your query to 6 legitimate agents of companies with a guaranteed response from each company. IMO - it was a waster - got identical responses (word for word) from each Agency. Looks like they're just clicking buttons.
3. IMDb Pro - I signed up and so far I'm relatively happy. I've started to build my own contact list based on the genres I write. Sure - you are not going to get to Sony Pictures - but there seems to be quite a few mid level companies some of which take submissions.
I have more success in terms of quality responses (not "yes" - but I could at least tell they might have read the query) from this process then from the paid services. And the nice thing is once you put your list together - you can shut off your membership.
I know that I wasted money on 1 and 2, but wanted to do my own testing.
As a note: in the past I have a also tried Blacklist (hated it) and InkTip - nice folks but it really is just a derivative of the email blast - the only difference is that they claim the folks wanting your stuff will come to you. - Not so much.
Have not tried Stage 32 yet.
Any hoo - looks like the only viable avenue is to roll up the sleeves and do the work on my own.
Thanks for sharing this information. It’s great to see other people’s experiences of these services. I myself have tried Blacklist and also think it was a total waste of time.
I’m currently trying out Inktip. My script has been up for a 2 (out of 4) months plus I paid for it to be included in their magazine email blast which went out a week ago. I’ve had quite a few companies look at my logline but only 2 have downloaded the script so far. I’ve had no contact from any of these companies. After 4 weeks I sent a letter to the first company which downloaded the script (as per Ink Tip’s instructions) and they emailed me back just to say they are not interested. I have to wait a few more weeks before I’m ‘allowed’ to contact the second.
Interestingly, I’ve not noticed any discernible increase in views since their magazine was published.
Stage32 I’m wary of. They promote so many webinars and sales pitches to ‘Executives’, all of which they charge for, it makes me feel this is more of a cash cow for the organisers than a legit site for promoting your work. But I may be wrong, anyone had good experiences with these guys? I’d love to hear if anyone has paid to pitch and if it has turned into an option or sale?
For more of my scripts, stories, produced movies and the ocassional blog, check out my new website. CLICK
I'm interested to know why you hated it. What was your experience? I think CJ spoke of it disparagingly too, or maybe that was Thorsten?
Hey Libby: My concern is pretty much with the set up. This info may be dated since I'm off the site, but you pay $25 per month to have your script listed along with the other multi thousands of scripts. If you want to get your script really noticed - you pay $50 per review and if you average a high score (8 out of 10 as I recall) your scripts will be highlighted to be read by industry professionals - or something like that. So the paradigm is to chase reviews at $50 a pop in the hopes of eventually getting scores in the 8 range.
You don't know who is doing the reviews other than that they are "industry professionals" and I think we all know what broad range of folks that might include.
I did pay for 3 reviews for the Beginning of The End and The End. They were relatively thin in substance (and I scored real lousy - so maybe that biased me). For the same amount of money I could have easily got a professional review from someone who's credentials I could verify. But that carrot (your script could be viewed by someone really important) is intoxicating.
I think they have around 10,000 members. If just 25% of those are paying for one review month, they're bring down more than $4 million per year. A lot of coin.
So - very long winded way of saying - I hate the paradigm - pay to get listed and pay a lot more for reviews if you really want to get noticed. I would be much more interested in the site if it were merely a listing service with free community reviews.
All that being said - most of these sites (except for this one) are in the business of making money - rather than being in the interest of "fostering the screenwriting community". Otherwise - they would be non-profit. So I hate this site more than others because of the tie ins between paying for reviews and getting your script viewed/read.
Thanks for sharing this information. It’s great to see other people’s experiences of these services. I myself have tried Blacklist and also think it was a total waste of time.
I’m currently trying out Inktip. My script has been up for a 2 (out of 4) months plus I paid for it to be included in their magazine email blast which went out a week ago. I’ve had quite a few companies look at my logline but only 2 have downloaded the script so far. I’ve had no contact from any of these companies. After 4 weeks I sent a letter to the first company which downloaded the script (as per Ink Tip’s instructions) and they emailed me back just to say they are not interested. I have to wait a few more weeks before I’m ‘allowed’ to contact the second.
Interestingly, I’ve not noticed any discernible increase in views since their magazine was published.
Stage32 I’m wary of. They promote so many webinars and sales pitches to ‘Executives’, all of which they charge for, it makes me feel this is more of a cash cow for the organisers than a legit site for promoting your work. But I may be wrong, anyone had good experiences with these guys? I’d love to hear if anyone has paid to pitch and if it has turned into an option or sale?
I was on InkTip and now I am off. Just no success. I am going to give Stage 32 a whirl - no money upfront for joining so what the heck.
Figured it might be Ashley's blast you were referencing, not used it (yet) but I like Ashley he does a lot of good stuff for screenwriters, a lot of it free, and he seems to be a good guy. Was on one of his free webinars earlier in the week on this very subject.
My thoughts...
Blacklist - not used BUT, it does have a number of successes under it's belt and it does really get behind the screenwriters it likes (table reads, podcast interviews etc). However it is divisive because of the reviews element, but I'm not sure that's much different to a lot of the competitions out there.
Inktip - not as divisive because it just carries your listing, no reviews or anything to piss us writers off, BUT lots of producers check out your logline (often repeatedly) but read nothing further, and as per Mark, I just paid for a magazine listing and have seen no uplift in traffic. The other thing I currently pay for with Inktip is the Preferred Newsletter, a weekly email with 5-10 leads for specific producers looking for scripts... this is the one I think I will persevere with.
Email/Fax blasts - you are at the mercy of the person who's built up the database of contacts and it's quite expensive (think Ashley's is over $100)... and you can of course create your own databse with UMDB Pro.
Stage 32/Happy writers - great site and a great place to connect with people with similar aspirations, yes there is a lot of marketing but you don't have to pay for anything. The pitching service (Happy Writers) is very popular and you know exactly who you are pitching to, There have been Options, Agent connections etc from here.
I think there's two key things to remember with these services... the first is that they are ALL businesses, they have been established to make money, from people like us... and there is no single way to 'make it' as a screenwriter, there's no harm in trying all the above services and work out which wors best for you, depending on the depth of your pockets!
I think if we share our experiences on here then it'll be good for all of us, I'll be pitching via Happy Writers in the new year, so I'll let you all know how it goes!
Figured it might be Ashley's blast you were referencing, not used it (yet) but I like Ashley he does a lot of good stuff for screenwriters, a lot of it free, and he seems to be a good guy. Was on one of his free webinars earlier in the week on this very subject.
My thoughts...
Blacklist - not used BUT, it does have a number of successes under it's belt and it does really get behind the screenwriters it likes (table reads, podcast interviews etc). However it is divisive because of the reviews element, but I'm not sure that's much different to a lot of the competitions out there.
Inktip - not as divisive because it just carries your listing, no reviews or anything to piss us writers off, BUT lots of producers check out your logline (often repeatedly) but read nothing further, and as per Mark, I just paid for a magazine listing and have seen no uplift in traffic. The other thing I currently pay for with Inktip is the Preferred Newsletter, a weekly email with 5-10 leads for specific producers looking for scripts... this is the one I think I will persevere with.
Email/Fax blasts - you are at the mercy of the person who's built up the database of contacts and it's quite expensive (think Ashley's is over $100)... and you can of course create your own databse with UMDB Pro.
Stage 32/Happy writers - great site and a great place to connect with people with similar aspirations, yes there is a lot of marketing but you don't have to pay for anything. The pitching service (Happy Writers) is very popular and you know exactly who you are pitching to, There have been Options, Agent connections etc from here.
I think there's two key things to remember with these services... the first is that they are ALL businesses, they have been established to make money, from people like us... and there is no single way to 'make it' as a screenwriter, there's no harm in trying all the above services and work out which wors best for you, depending on the depth of your pockets!
I think if we share our experiences on here then it'll be good for all of us, I'll be pitching via Happy Writers in the new year, so I'll let you all know how it goes!
Anthony
Cool - just sent you an invite.
On Ashley - yes, I quite liked him. I do think he tries hard at this and is not at all the pushy type. I just don't think he has the magic bullet.
I read the interview - nicely done on your part - very informative.
Thanks Dave, and CJ for your enlightening comments re Blacklist - I didn't know any of that info (probably cause I hadn't looked into it) I thought it was an elite club of sorts, which I suppose it is in a way - dependent on how much money you're willing to invest, and I suspect the usual 'who you know'. I only really took notice when The Blacklist came out at the end of the year. This year's is coming out next week, I believe.
Thanks Anthony too, for the info on Stage 32 and Happy Writers - never heard of it.
Good stuff all round posting these personal experiences up on the boards. Thanks again.