“How I Got My Work Read At NBC & SyFy… Without An Agent”

Hank Pena has been a GITS reader for a long time. So when he alerted me about a recent blog post — “How I Got My Work Read At NBC & SyFy… Without An Agent” — I knew his instincts were spot-on: This would be something we’d all like to read.

Let me begin by stating that everything in this posting is 100% true and works the way I understand it. I could be wrong. I may have just been really lucky…but I like to think my inner Ferris Bueller helped me out…

If you claim to be a creative person…you’d better prove it out of the gate. That’s why I have a literal message in a bottle on my entertainment center. It was returned to me by the legal department at Dreamworks…with a polite letter about “No unsolicited submissions.” Still, it made it to Stacey Snider’s office…so I was kinda proud.

No unsolicited submissions. Three words that have frustrated every screenwriter who has had the foolish notion to send anyone anything…ever.

Don’t get me wrong. I get it. Who needs to get sued every ten minutes? It’s easier to just deal with the folks already past the velvet rope.

The industry, including reps, want you to send in letters asking to have your work reviewed. It’s pretty much their version of giving you a fake phone number in a bar. Basically, you’re on the island of misfit toys with no Rudolph in sight. So…what to do?

Get creative! Let the dreamer in you roll out a plan so complex that your dastardly machinations can only be described years later with an Uncle Scar-worthy “Mu-hahahaha!”

And so we come to the point of this posting. My plan.

To read how Hank did it, go here.

Hank has the right attitude: At the point you have a script you truly believe to be ready to show buyers, you need to suck up your courage, and do what needs to be done. If this requires you getting outside your comfort zone, so be it. Hollywood is not for the meek.

As Hank puts it, “It’s sacrificing 500 men to take a hill that doesn’t have a name…”