The Screenwriter's Guide to Agents and Managers [Paperback]

John Scott Lewinski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 1581150792 | ISBN-13: 978-1581150797 | Edition: 1

No writer starting out or working within the entertainment industry today can afford to be without The Screenwriter's Guide to Agents and Managers.

The lessons to be learned from this helpful guide show aspiring screenwriters, television writers, and novelists how to catch an agent’s eye and develop a successful scriptwriting career. Step-by-step instructions reveal how to get around the “Catch 22” of the trade—that you can’t get an agent until you’ve sold a script. Interviews with prominent agents and managers disclose how the power brokers choose material, what kinds of writers command their attention, and what they expect from the writers they sign on. Tips on how to write a winning spec script, how to word an effective query letter, how to forge a sound relationship with reps, and other invaluable advice fill this insider’s guide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book ends with handy lists of agents, production companies, a glossary, and some online sources." -- WCFO Newsline

From the Publisher

Beginning screenwriters woo them, hoping to be represented. Struggling writers lambast them. Successful screenwriters sometimes grapple with them and retired screenwriters often warn neophytes away from them. Without glittering prizes or famous faces, screenwriting agents and managers play a major role in Hollywood. Yet in spite of this prominence, many writers are mystified about what agents and managers do. Award-winning screenwriter and journalist John Scott Lewinski strips away the mystery in the groundbreaking The Screenwriter's Guide to Agents and Managers.

The first book of its kind, The Screenwriter's Guide to Agents and Managers is essential to writers at all career stages. Lewinski goes straight to the source, offering engaging interviews with top agents and managers, and leading television and film writers. Readers will learn how the Hollywood power brokers choose material, what kinds of writers catch their attention, and what they expect from the writers they sign on. The pages also reveal how writers can evaluate their scripts to make them tighter, better, and more saleable in today's market. Throughout its course, The Screenwriter's Guide to Agents and Managers keeps clear focus on how writers can forge sound relationships with their professional representatives.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press; 1 edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581150792
• ISBN-13: 978-1581150797
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,355,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Just a bunch of interviews, January 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Screenwriter's Guide to Agents and Managers (Paperback)

There's not a lot of meat here, mostly just the transcripts of the author's interviews with a very limited number of people in the business. Most of the interviewees take extra care to promote themselves and berate the people off of whom they make their living, and very little of what they do in making a deal is revealed. 94 pages are contact lists, boilerplate, appendices and indexes with information that is mostly out of date or easily obtained elsewhere.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A readable how-to, April 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Screenwriter's Guide to Agents and Managers (Paperback)

I found John Lewinski's book to be very pertinent to the questions I had as a hopeful screenwriter. His very readable style makes me recommend it highly.

2 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Making $1,000,000, April 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Screenwriter's Guide to Agents and Managers (Paperback)

Mr. Lewinski has done his research. Discussing the "how to's" with industry professionals, the author has gone straight to the jugular . . the topic on every aspiring screenwriter's mind: HOW DO I GET AN AGENT? HOW DO I GET A MANAGER? AND WHAT IN THE HE[ck] IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO!?

You've punched out 120 pages of heartfelt goodness onto 8 1/2 by 11 white paper. Now's the time to get serious.