cold query responses

i’ve been emailing cold queries to some agents and managers, and so far, i’ve gotten 3 responses.

one manager said my script sounded interesting, but he couldn’t take on any new clients. still, it was nice to get some sort of response back.

then 2 agents replied and requested my script. i pitched my office spec that i wrote for the nickelodeon fellowship, and also mentioned that i had also written a short script “brobot” that placed 4th in slamdance several years ago. both agents requested i send the “brobot” script along with the office spec. i’ve heard that agents want to read original material these days, so i’m glad that script is coming in handy for something.

i’m not sure if anything will happen from the script requests, but it’s good to know that it’s possible for an unknown writer with no connections to get read.

after i sent off all my queries pitching my office script, i wondered if i should instead be pitching my spec of how i met your mother. i’ll have to ask some people which script is stronger.

querying agents and managers

after finishing as a finalist in the nickelodeon writing fellowship, i feel like my skill level is at a point where i can now focus on the business end of things, and that starts with trying to find an agent and/or a manager. unfortunately, i have almost no contacts, which is the main downside of not having a job in the industry.

since i don’t have contacts, i have to resort to emailing cold queries to agents and managers. you can find the emails of people with resources like hcdonline.com. i’m trying to just target agents and managers who focus on tv writing. i know the chances of getting someone to actually request a script off a cold query are pretty slim, but until i have a better option, that’s what i’m doing. i’ll post if anything comes from it.

30 rock outline finished

i finally finished the outline for my 30 rock spec. the logline is based on a  tracy storyline so that was set, but i was having trouble getting the liz storyline nailed down. i felt like there were just a bunch of events happening to move the plot forward, but that it wasn’t resonating emotionally.

the show is pretty zany but i still wanted at least her storyline to have some emotion, like the season 2 finale where liz thinks she’s pregnant, then is disappointed she’s not and decides to adopt.

i also didn’t want to start writing pages until i had the ending really nailed down. with the last 2 specs i wrote (the office, himym), i started writing with only a vague notion of the ending and it ended up costing me a lot of time later on, especially with the how i met your mother script.

so my outline is done and ready to go. i’m going to try to get a first draft done within a month, and then polish it up by the deadline for next year’s batch of fellowships, the first of which is nickelodeon in jan/feb.

i started an improv class

when i was going through my nickelodeon fellowship interviews, the director told us she was going to have the fellows take an improv class as part of the fellowship. i thought that was a great idea, so even though i didn’t get in, i decided to sign up for one on my own.

the main reason is i think it’ll help in interviewing and presentation, and since that’s what cost me the fellowship, i need to fix that weakness. i think it’ll also help with my understanding of comedy in general. it’ll also help in terms of knowing what it’s like to perform for when i direct, and maybe i’ll meet some people i can work with on my short films and stuff.

these were the schools i was looking into:

• Second City
• IO West
• Upright Citizens Brigade
• Groundlings

based on my research, i heard that Second City, IO West, and UCB are all somewhat similar in principal, and Groundlings is very different. i decided to sign up at IO West because they also had a lot of writing classes available.

i had my first class last night, and it was fun. i’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the class goes.

prep work for my 30 rock spec

i’ve been reading some 30 rock scripts and breaking them down to figure out their structure. the scripts are all from season 1, but i don’t think that’ll be a big issue. i did the same thing i did for the office spec and the himym spec, which is to make a spreadsheet and write down each scene and how long it was, and what characters are in each scene. it’s time consuming but it’s worth it.

i have a basic logline for the episode and i have rough stories figured out for jack, jenna, and tracy, but i need a better liz story.

my plan is to have a rough draft for my writers group meeting next month.

dealing with failure – fall down, get back up

september has been a crazy month. i started off the month thinking i didn’t even get into the semifinals of the nickelodeon writing fellowship, only to have them call me a few days later saying i did make it in, and that they were just running behind. then i had a phone interview and an in person interview, and found out i made it to the last round as a finalist. then after 3 crazy days of speed interviews, i found out yesterday that i didn’t make it in.

today, i feel pretty good. of course i’m sad that i was sooooo close and yet didn’t make it in, but i’m not as depressed as i thought i’d be. it’s not the inverse of how happy i would have been if i had made it in. so even though i was upset yesterday, i immediately went into planning mode to figure out what i needed to do to get in next year.

nickelodeon writing fellowship: not this year :(

i got the call from nickelodeon, and unfortunately, i didn’t make it in this year. i did ok in the 1 on 1 interviews, but not as well in the group interviews, and there are obviously more people in the groups so those scores cost me the fellowship.

the good thing is that my writing was good enough to get that far, and those are the first 2 tv scripts i’ve ever written.

even though i didn’t get in, getting all the way to the last round was a very helpful experience. i’m going to need to be able to deal with interviews and sell myself if i want to make it in the industry. competence and skill aren’t enough.

i’m definitely going to apply again next year, but i’m not going to just sit around and wait, because like homer said, the waiting game sucks. maybe i’ll get the disney fellowship first. or maybe i can try to become a staff writer on a nick show and bypass the fellowship. or maybe i can try to get meetings at cartoon network.

good luck to those finalists that became fellows!

nickelodeon writing fellowship: the waiting game

the finalists are supposed to hear back today whether we get accepted into the fellowship or not.  all this waiting made me think of this line from the simpsons:

homer: and now we play the waiting game. (beat) aw, the waiting game sucks. let’s play hungry hungry hippos!

nickelodeon writing fellowship: speed interviews

i got a call from nickelodeon last tues telling me the speed interviews were scheduled for wed – fri, and they needed me there for 3 full days. there were to be 10 or 11 interviews; one on one interviews with writers and creators, and also group interviews with executives in charge (eic’s), line producers, writers, and other people.  each interview was to last 10 minutes. the interviewers will be given a sheet of paper where they’ll score us 1 – 5 in different categories. this is the final step! after these interviews, you either become a fellow, or you’re right back where you started from.

my office spec script joke

i wrote a spec of The Office back in feb. it was written and set early in season 5 before michael quit and started his own paper company with pam and ryan, and before erin the new receptionist started. it also was before the season finale where we found out pam was pregnant.

in my script, i had a joke where kevin says he thinks pam is pregnant because he noticed her boobs were getting bigger. if you saw the season premiere for season 6 last thursday, they had the same joke!

the bad thing is now when people read my script, they might not know i wrote it before the episode aired. the good thing, i guess, is maybe that means my sensibilities are close to the writers of the show.

luckily it’s just that one joke that’s the same. i am worried whenever i see a new episode, though, that they might do a story similar to my spec. if they did, i’m assuming it would make my spec useless, but i’ll have to double check that.