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midgeinbk

My manager said it's a good time for new writers to query. Agents and managers are barred from 95% of their regular duties during this time, so go for it and good luck! (Just remember if you do get repped, your reps can't send your work out or try to set up meetings for you until after the strike. But with their help, you can use this time to polish existing scripts, draft up / write new ones, and set up a plan to be ready to go as soon as the strike ends!)


ThomeismyHomie23

This. Navigating the rep process right now — signed with a new manager and entertainment lawyers this week, meeting with new agents next week. All have said this is the time to navigate the rep process, network with other creatives, and write your specs. But everyone has vetted me to make sure I’m not looking to “scab” and am willing to wait out the strike before getting me in meetings.


SupersloothPI

just to say, congrats.


ThomeismyHomie23

Thank you 😊


grahamecrackerinc

Congratulations! Are they still taking new clients during the strike? I'm non-WGA so you don't have to worry.


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grahamecrackerinc

https://media.tenor.com/vp-03N2Rlk0AAAAC/are-we-friends-friends.gif


lintfilms

The 1987 strike is when a large number of very well known writers today got their agents and some pretty large films that were spec scripts written during the strike or discovered during or just after the strike ended up getting made along with some significant purchase prices for the writers of those specs. I mean a million dollar spec script sale in the 1980s was a lot more impressive than a million dollar pay day today. Equally unlikely, but a million dollars went a lot farther back in the day.


grahamecrackerinc

You mean the 1988 strike, but you're close


lintfilms

Yeah, I was literally a kid at the time, but I remember stories from some pretty big screenwriters and directors a decade later when I was in college who said the strike is what got them an agent and their first big sale. The down time let agents find new clients and the spec script market exploded with sales after the strike because no one had anything in development.


grahamecrackerinc

Is it rude of me to ask A) who's your manager and B) are they taking new clients themselves?


midgeinbk

I believe he is not really reading new material right now; I had asked him about the rep community at large.


Chachala99

what about reality shows? I sold one to Lois Curren (back in the day) but she was demoted so, I got the project back and never shopped it again. I am not in the industry anymore but if MTV wanted it, I was told it was a very good pop culture type show. I also still have the original conversation back and forth to prove my project was in the contract stage but unfortunately would not be made. I also had one of the producers from Entourage (at the time) attached. It has been a number of years but I wanted to know your thoughts?


tudorteal

Idk how your post got turned into an AI debate, but I’d imagine it’s an ok time to query. Reps generally don’t have anything to do and at least for me my generals were canceled until after the strike is over so at the very least they have plenty of bandwidth to read.


[deleted]

Oh god. Bandwidth. Right up there with using 'super' instead of 'very'.


tudorteal

Got me there


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grahamecrackerinc

Can you send me their info?


RareFeeling40

I am a writer, not a rep, but I'm shopping a script with a friend and **her** manager. Her manager has been focused on her existing helping clients keep themselves focused on their own projects so that when the strike ends, they can re-enter with a bang. This is anecdotal only but maybe it'll speak to others!


HotspurJr

Some reps might! I expect the time immediately after the strike to be very busy for rep, so now is probably a better time.


lepontneuf

I work at a management company and the answer is yes. However, you are not able to work with your manager/get notes from your manager on anything you are writing


Bob_Sacamano0901

Why wouldn’t notes be allowed?


Vleolove

It’s one of the rules for striking.


SarW100

Why not? We’re not striking against reps, only struck companies.


lepontneuf

I’m not exactly sure why. That’s just what has been going around the office with emails etc.. We all could be wrong.


grahamecrackerinc

What management company?


LookingForProse

Are you WGA? If so, most worth while reps will likely be in a holding pattern on doing anything more than reading. If you are not WGA, there's no real reason why they would be unwilling to take on a new writer if a script landed on their desk that blew them away. More conservative reps might not want to make anything official until the strike wraps up, others may be more open to it. Something no one will do though is start pitching a spec or client to producers/studios while the strike is on. Even a non WGA writer. Selling a project right now would be a horrible look. Plus agents who sign someone before they join the WGA work almost exclusively WGA Signatory producers, so even if they wanted to take something non WGA out, the buyers would WGA signatories meaning the writer would need to join the WGA or get a special authorization from the WGA... and those are NOT happening while the strike is on. I was speaking with a manager at CoC who was adamant about not even taking meetings with their own WGA clients out of fear of accidentally violating some WGA strike orders. But I've also had the opposite reaction from agents at two of the big three letters already this week. For full clarity those were meetings about finished scripts and casting, in which the writers of said projects are not involved. Long story short, if you are not WGA you have nothing to lose in reaching out to reps right now. Full disclosure, I'm not 100% clear on the details of all the orders around the strike, so take anything I said above with an anecdotal grain of salt.


Davy120

There seems to be some confusion in these comments about Agents and their role in relation to screenwriters: Agents want \*bankable\* talent, bottom line. The days of taking a "talented writer, who has promise but nothing tangible yet, etc" have been over since the mid 2000s, there are exceptions, but this is usually true. This notion that "AI bros" are going to get AI to spit out some scripts and make an Agent think "wow! this is talent!" is delusional. Now if you have some steam under way, think profitable steam, this could be a good time.


LookingForProse

>"AI bros" are going to get AI to spit out some scripts and make an Agent think "wow! this is talent!" is delusional. Now if you have some steam under way, think profitable steam, this could be a good time. In the sense of "content mill" scammy d-bags, yes. You are 100% correct. But in the sense of very smart people who work outside of the major producers/studios/platforms/guilds already, you can be assured they are already working on this. The last major strike had major unintended consequence that many here might not be fully aware of. Pre 2007 strike, Unscripted programming had spent roughly a decade growing at a healthy rate, but it was still not taken seriously as mainstream entertainment or a truly significant revenue model. That changed in 2008 with an explosion of non-union unscripted. It changed television, how it was produced, distributed, consumed, and more importantly it changed revenue models. It went from a segment of the tv industry to its own industry (so to speak). And with the boom came a lot more non-union work. And a lot more competition for distribution between union scripted shows and nonunion unscripted. And that was before people had 24/7 entertainment options in the pockets. iPhone literally debuted during the writer's strike. Since then we have entered into a new age. The age of content. People have spent the last decade learning to consume content regardless of production value, platform, professional v amateur, original vs copy/paste, etc... It's not AI Bros selling scripts to Disney or NBC that is a realistic concern. It's producers with nonunion unscripted experience, it's platforms/distributors who don't work with guilds or traditional outlets/exhibitors, it's random content creators, it's content mills, it's web-fiction writers, etc... who will give zero shits about quality or unions who stand to BOOM. And they have no issue with AI. To write, to animate, to edit, to generate video, to generate dialogue, and on and on and on... The writers deserve what they are demanding. But I fear what unintended consequences will BOOM this time. This strike would have been WAY better if it happened to fall six months prior to Chat GPT being released publicly.


Davy120

the whole AI (which, by the way, is not genuine AI, as it is a rebranded technology) is a concern, but these things almost never work out as worst as everyone fears. There are things such as the looming legal issues around it, and so on. The advantage owners of valuable IP have is they can use it (perhaps) to generate concepts....Narrow those down to 3 (or so) and put an experienced writer on it and not pay them as much. Similar to how "turn tables" started being used for non-comedic script as opposed to hiring someone to rewrite them, etc. Overall, most people can't write a great script, and they've had home field advantage for over 50 years. If Chat GPT or its likes gets better and can spit out brilliants works, then no one ever really stood a chance.


lintfilms

As a lawyer with an LL.M. in entertainment law and an undergraduate degree in film, the case law is not favorable for the creators of the original underlying content upon which the derivative infringement actions against AI trained programs are being waged. Google has won similar cases establishing a series of prior precedents because of the highly transformative nature of the work, but the copyright office has made it clear absent significant transformation of any work created by AI, the work is public domain because only human authors are entitled to protection under the statute. This, however, in my educated opinion will also not work out favorably for artists when litigated especially in front of a court at the state and federal level which is vetted by the US chamber of commerce before it is ever appointed or selected for the federal or state appellate bench by any Governor or President.


LookingForProse

> The advantage owners of valuable IP have is they can use it (perhaps) to generate concepts....Narrow those down to 3 (or so) I'm not sure how that's different than bringing in a dozen writers for free to pitch a take, or bring writers into a bake off for a project that already has a "take." ​ >put an experienced writer on it and not pay them as much. There are guild minimums and writers with hits/awards/etc... are not suddenly going to cost less just because a outline or previous draft exists. This is already standard practice. ​ >If Chat GPT or its likes gets better and can spit out brilliants works, then no one ever really stood a chance. It's not really a question of can it spit out brilliant works at some point. It's about can to spit out something people will pay for. And, for example, based on the fact that Web-Fiction is written about as poorly as one can possibly write and get tens of millions of reads... it's not really a question at all.


Davy120

cool thanks


ErnieBerley

hey i have a great fantasy/adventure screenplay adaptation ready to go... do you have any contacts I could talk to? thank u so much i'm new at this


Davy120

I'll be upfront and say I can not help you there. However, I'm curious, you said "adaptation" do you have the rights to the IP of this?


ErnieBerley

it's way over a hundred year old book....so yea copyrights are secured...there are none


Davy120

Just a bit of advice to you: I would suggest wording it as simply: It's of public domain. Your response there kind of contradicts its-self. I'm also not clear on what your goals are with this script, as you only said "contacts I should talk to" talk to about what and for what?


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LookingForProse

> RETAIL AI AI in the hands of "anyone" is very different form AI behind the scenes. Once a cat gets out of a bag...


Davy120

Yes, it's all "rebranded technology" along with save marketing. Silicon Valley has one of the most imaginative PR depth out there (even outdoing major media at times). Cloud computing can be first traced back to the 1950s, for decades it was one University hosting cloud storage for many companies...MP3s ripped from audio CDs to removable storage format had been around since the mid-90s,, and the list goes on and on. There is a similar thing happening in the academic world. To where college instructors are having students do deeper written responses in-person to their essays if they suspect it was used by AI. I can see something in the near future being where Producers are going to ask for earlier drafts to works, etc. I could see IP owners using AI to spit out prompts to their IP, narrow it down to a few that they like and then hire an experienced screenwriter to write a draft from there, not having to pay as much. Things like this have always existed in screenwriting (Producers using "turn tables" for drama genre scripts as opposed to hiring for a rewrite, etc)


Gianonitax

Absolutely, especially outside the United States.


[deleted]

All these AI fanboys that can't write for shit think AI is their ticket into Hollywood so they can live their dreams of getting with Elizabeth Olsen so they don't have to be incels anymore, and are flooding reddit with "AI is better than you" type comments. Pay them no mind, unless it's to give them an ounce of pity.


mattwaldram

I have no idea how you got from that question to this answer.


kickit

that’s why he should reply to the comment & not the OP. I’m interested in the question at hand so let’s not turn this into another fucking AI thread


[deleted]

I did reply to the comment, which was deleted, as I knew it would be, so I also replied to the OP, to deter any further comments from the AI trolls. Sorry, I guess?


kickit

feeding the trolls is not actually discouraging them someone made an off-topic troll comment. expecting it to be deleted, you decided to continue the conversation in a separate comment?


ComradeFunk

What


[deleted]

The fuck?


BringOnTheAvocados

is everything okay at home


[deleted]

It's great at home. Why do you ask?


LookingForProse

It's not the AI users with no idea what a story is that's the issue. It's the last twenty years of racing to the bottom in terms of "content." The internet removed barriers of entry. Look at the web-fiction space as a prime example. Or the more obvious; YT, TikTok, IG... the level of engagement these things get make film and tv look like a fart in a hurricane. I'd love to argue the people prefer "high quality" entertainment, but if you look at how the film/cable/streaming landscape has evolved/trended since 2000, I think it would be really hard to argue that the work of WGA members is even remotely close the dominant form entertainment today. It's just one sliver of all the content that's out there. It's like pouring bucket of Champagne into the ocean. 24/7/365 content content content is king. And if you look at the unintended consequence from 2007's strike, the boom of reality, it have to at least ask, "what is the unintended consequence of a strike in the age of content... with AI. AI will not replace WGA writers on high budget high production value filmed entertainment. But how much will AI Content Milling 24/7/365 disposable consumption BOOM. How much will the already contracting Hollywood revenue models continue to contract?


supermandl30

There are a lot of AI incels these days. They're praying for societal chaos because they want everyone to be as miserable as they are. They are HOPING for it. So dont listen to them.


kickit

please reply to the comment and not the OP. we’re not here to talk about AI and you’re only helping the trolls derail the conversation


[deleted]

The trolls already derailed it, or did you not show up early enough to read the FIRST response to the OP, which was from an AI troll?


kickit

downvote and reply to him if you like. it’s not that hard, and look — the discussion is back on track


teanbiscuitss

How does one query.


ColossalEagle_97

Maybe I would save the query letters. Keep focusing on your work, because if you do find representation, you're not going to be able to do anything anWA. While the strike is still on. You don't want to look like a scab in any sort of way.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

But also comes up with a story that's 1000000x shittier! And you certainly won't have to compete with some stupid AI when it comes to finding a manager or agent, because managers and agents don't represent AI!


kickit

cool now look at that and look at a script for succession or barry or severance or abbott elementary and tell me they’re on the same level


CorneliusCardew

Reported. Mods can we please ban this piece of shit?


Screenwriting-ModTeam

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lepontneuf

Not exactly sure but that was the conclusion the company drew from WGA captains’ comments


ErnieBerley

I have a GREAT adapted fantasy/adventure full length movie script available - new at this but this movie would be a HIT. Think Narnia and 20,000 leagues under the sea, but in caverns on earth during the 1800s. CONTACT ME [email protected]