Part XLVI- The E-Blast Query

Last night, I received a “query” letter - of sorts - from a screenwriter - of sorts - inquiring about any initial interest in his new screenplay. I could tell right away that the email was a cut-and-paste "multiple submission" letter, due to its lack of any personalization to the recipient.

The letter opened with an obligatory “Hello”, and the writer proceeded to introduce himself. He explained the purpose of the letter, adding that this particular horror script was “unusual” as it contained NO dialogue.

Well, color me intrigued!

Although there were some misspellings in the letter, I responded and indicated that I would be interested in reviewing the first ten pages of his screenplay. ?

Then, this writer followed up with a more “personal” letter, asking if I was a producer or had a production company. Now, I don’t mind if someone doesn’t know me and doesn’t know my history. It’s not about that. A simple Bing or Google search should tell you all you really need to know. Not only that, but this person found me through LinkedIn, of which he is a member, and failed to even review my profile. He would have found the answer to these questions; yes, I am a producer; yes, I have a production company. Needless to say, I shut off communication at that point.

Now, let’s review where this writer went wrong:

1) Email blasts - Yes, it saves time, but it is just a waste of time in the end. You can cut and paste the same letter and send it to multiple people in a given time frame, but you need to address them individually.

2) Cut-and-Paste Waste - When you cut and paste, make sure the font style and size from the source you’re cutting FROM is the same font style and size you’re cutting TO. Otherwise, it will read messy, screwed up and unprofessional (for the record, I use Tahoma font, size 10, both in my Word documents and my email structure).

3) Mixed Opinions - I’ve used e-blast services (once), and there are mixed opinions about these services. I can only say that, from my personal experiences, I’ve made several important connections through e-blasts, which have led to several other opportunities, but the recipients to these blasts were paying prodcos who welcome the letters, and most are personalized to boot. There are e-blast services out there, marketing themselves to screenwriters, who DO NOT have paying prodcos as members, and DO NOT personalize their email. With these blasts, 99% of them end up in someone's junk file, never to be opened or read. Do your research on the service you choose to use.

4) No Spelchk - simplest thing to do. If you don’t know if it’s spelled right, look it up.

Note: I purposely spelled "spelchk" incorrectly, so please- no letters.

5) Research- If you are going to send off query letters to people, take the time to research them and find out what types of films they generally produce. Most production companies stay within a framework of certain genre or two. Rarely will you find a prodco that does documentaries and zombie flicks, with a rom/com thrown in for good measure. It happens, but not often. Once you discover WHAT they do, mention in the letter that you saw such and such and were impressed with the project and wanted to work with the best. It’s understood that it is your attempt to butter them up, but it shows you care enough to take the time to do it. It shows you care about the project, and your reputation. It shows you took the time to research and that you’re possibly someone others would enjoy working with. It may not help in any way whatsoever, but it’s certainly better than NOT doing it.

Lastly, what this particular writer did was looked a gift horse in the mouth, and blew any chance of getting any help. If someone actually RESPONDS in any way, shape or form to one of these email blasts - instead of sending it to the junk file with the dozens of others we receive on a monthly basis - consider yourself anointed with gold pixie dust, because it’s a rare feat indeed. Treat it as such. Be thankful, polite, and considerate. Answer whatever questions they ask, and shut your pie hole.

Now, chances are that this script wasn't anywhere close to being good, but it would have been interesting to see a script without one word of dialogue, and how that might have been pulled off (I can only imagine it read more like a novel, but we’ll never know). The point is someone outside of their inner circle was willing to look at it. At worst, they might have received six or seven pages of script notes, helping them write a bit better in the future. At best, I might have been blown away and have invested in the project myself, or, more likely, introduced them to a number of producer connections who trust my judgment on these things. Beyond that, it may have led to a management meeting, or perhaps, even an agent meeting.

One never knows.?

THIS WEEKS PROMO- Pamela Millican, author "Making Broken Beautiful".

This book, and screenplay adaptation, is about a young girl who suffered a childhood of severe mental, physical and sexual abuse by family members, overcame the odds and went on to become a pioneering sports woman, a world champion wave skier and hold three master's degrees and a law degree.

The screenplay of her life is currently in the hands of several producers, including Irish producer Sean Breathnach, and Australian producer Sean Dobra.

Ms. Millican, a Mind Mastery Coach, has her six-week personal development program "RESET YOUR LIFE" up and running. Please check it out at www.resetonlife.com. The Covid pandemic has certainly taught us how fragile mental health is, and that, sometimes, we all need some assistance to get through the day.

Ms. Millican will be interviewed on two upcoming podcasts; one, with Carolyn Tate, the director of Champagne Cartel Media, Friday 20th August 1pm-2pm, and one with Stephen Ivey, Saturday, August 21?9:30 – 9:50am. Please look for these and check out her story. You'll be glad you did.

WRITER'S BIO: Mr. Scala spent 22-plus years in the Hollywood community, and was the Executive Director for the?72nd Annual Academy Awards, as well as?The Soul Train Awards,?The Grammys,?The Blockbuster Video Awards Show?and?The Saturn Award Show.?

Most recently, Mr. Scala has been hired as the?Executive Script Consultant?on a major motion picture scheduled to begin filming Spring, 2022. He is currently working on his 41st adaptation; the fascinating autobiography?"Call Me Zena", by?Sally Barnard?who, after a brief illness, developed high-level artistic skills overnight!

He is also in development with the screenplay adaptations of rock pioneer?Jimmie F. Rodgers,?Motown star?Tammi Terrell?and iconic folk singer?Harry Chapin- all while continuing to mentor hundreds of new writers and self-published authors.

Geno has two screenplays produced and currently showing on Amazon Prime;?"Assassin 33 A.D."??and?"The Tombs".?

https://www.thescriptmentor.com