Why agents send out terrible scripts
I am interning for a well-known producer and one of my duties is to read incoming spec scripts and write coverage on them. Everything we read is submitted through agents – yet I am still shocked with how bad almost every script is. What I have trouble understanding is how agents believe these scripts are worthy of being sent out to major production companies. Do agents submit anything their clients write, or do they ever tell clients that they need to work on something a little longer before they’ll send it out?
–Benjamin
Los Angeles
As you’re learning, just because a writer has an agent doesn’t mean she has talent.
To the 99% of readers out there who want an agent, this must come as salt on the wound, but it’s true: really bad writers have agents. They write terrible scripts that people like Benjamin have to read.
Agents aren’t always the best judge of quality, frankly. After all, they aren’t the ones who have to work with writers on endless drafts. They aren’t editors, or critics. Their job is to keep their clients employed. The only way to do that is to get people to hire them, which necessitates having people read their work.
Of course, if a script is terrible, you’re not doing the writer any favors by forcing it out upon the town. But since the agent is neither critic nor editor, he doesn’t have much of a choice. He can politely suggest that the script might need more work in some places, but if the writer wants the script to go out, it’s the agent’s job to send it.
If you’re getting anything out of your internship, Benjamin, I hope it’s an appreciation for just how rare and wonderful good writing is. As you’re seeing, the Hollywood system isn’t designed to shut people out. It’s just that there’s so much crap to wade through, you have to limit how much you let get through the front door.
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August 8th, 2004 at 10:50 am
I’ve recently had many of the same experiences as Benjamin is having and it’s completely depressing. While interning I’ve had producers give me a script and say how great they heard it is and how “so and so” is thinking of optioning it, etc. The scripts are invariable crap and I’m not the type of person who wants to tear someone’s work down out of jealousy. The stuff is really that bad!
I distinctly remember one such script with all the build-up from my boss. I was excited to read it. About halfway through, I had to literally stop and look around to make sure there was no hidden cameras and that I wasn’t part of some “Punk’d” type prank. It was that ridiculous. It was exusable if the writers primary language wasn’t english, but it turned out he was indeed a lifelong American. Scary.
Having gone through that sort of thing, I have mixed feelings. On one hand it’s nice to see what you’re up against. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but thinking all of the incredibly crappy screenplays floating around out there just wear readers down. I mean, between contests, classmates and internships I’ve read hundreds of scripts and maybe 2 were passable.
I don’t know what my point is here, but I’ve wanted to jump into the conversations here at this fine forum before so this was a good excuse. I guess it’s just nice to see a guy like Benjamin suffering through the same crap I suffered through.
Benjamin- just look at it as a “what not to do in your stories” kind of experience and know that you probably have more talent than 80% of the people who are getting trotted around town as the next hot thing.
August 8th, 2004 at 12:38 pm
In my year as a reader at TriStar, I only covered two good scripts. One was a romantic comedy about a terrible honeymoon. The other was a Billie Holiday bio-pic. In both cases, I was criticized for wasting exec’s valuable time. And mind you, this was two scripts out of 110.
However, and this is a big however, I think reading all those crappy scripts ended up being a big help. I got to recognize terrible writing at a distance. I also learned a lot about my taste; I never want to write a heist movie, a cop drama, or anything involving places where hair is cut, colored or styled.
Eventually, I had to quit as a reader, because it’s very hard to write coverage and screenplays at the same time. I got my first script written while working a completely mindless filing job at Universal. I wrote longhand at night and typed up pages on my PowerBook 170 in the cafeteria.
So again, Benjamin, don’t let the suckiness get you down. Just make sure you’re focusing on the great stuff you see.
August 11th, 2004 at 10:13 pm
John, Thanks for answering my question. I’m sorry it took so long for me to come back to your site, but I appreciate your answering my question.
I guess I just have one sort of follow up: If agents send out anything, including a lot of complete crap – does that begin to wear down their reputation amungst development directors? If agent X is known for sending out tons of horrible scripts, do they begin to ignore his client’s scripts?
However, while you learn from reading these horrible scripts what not to do, it also makes me a little self-conscious: Most, if not all of these writers, believe that they have written a good script. They also probably have friends and agents who told them that it is good enough to send out to producers – what’s to stop me from making the same mistake?
August 12th, 2004 at 9:24 am
Benjamin,
Yes, I think that if an agent is consistently sending out crappy scripts, it will hurt his/her reputation. The same thing applies to agencies as a whole. When I was staffing a tv show, I was faced with a giant stack of scripts to read. The first things I would pick off the pile were the ones from what I considered to be the “good” agencies. (No, I’m not going to give names.)
The same thing happens with producers and development execs. If Agent X is always sending out shiite, you simply stop reading.
As for whether you’ll end up writing one of the unknowingly crappy scripts, you could do what I once did: I slipped my script into a trusted colleague’s reading stack with a different writer’s name on the cover. I got his brutally honest opinion, which helped.
August 16th, 2004 at 8:21 am
John, Thanks again for answering my questions. And don’t worry, I would never have asked which of the agencies were “good.” I understand how important confidentiality and reputations are in the industry. I wouldn’t expect you to name names on a website for the same reason I didn’t want you to publish which producer I intern for.
I’ve been talking with one of my friends who interned at a major studio and we have very similar stories: reading completely awful scripts, some which seem like they should be comedies, but are written in all seriousness. Last night we were talking to some non-film students, complaining about the various scripts that we had read, and one asked “What percentage of the scripts that are written are made?” We both said that probably far less than 1% of scripts that are submitted to producers/studios are made – which shocked him.
Again, thanks for answering my question. I really appreciate your site, I think that its an excellent resource – and it is great that you take time out of your busy life to answer newbie’s questions about writing and the business.
October 18th, 2004 at 12:00 am
I hate development. My first gig was as a reader. I was fresh off the bus and ended up reading for a production company that was on the Sony lot. Some folks liked my coverage and one development vp said I should write a spec script and she would get it covered. they were’nt paying me much so I guess she was trying to make me feel better. what she didn’t know was that although I was fresh of the bus, I already had a spec script written. So I gave it to her. A long while later my own script ended up being given to me to cover… I felt kinda humiliated. I quit. I wish I knew then what I know now! (or that this site was around in 98!!) I probably wouldn’t have taken it so personally.
BTW, really cool of you to provide a resource like this. good luck with your tv project.
October 18th, 2004 at 11:55 am
It’s surprising what gets submitted to producers and tv shows. When staffing season rolls around scripts are sent out en masse (i can’t even begin to understand how crazy this time must be for couriers around LA). I’ve had a couple assistant friends read for their producers and pass along the ‘good’ ones (btw: one thing to keep in mind is that even for readers who say they’ve read 1000’s of scripts and only 3 were passable or whatnot, taste varies so much from one person to another that the 3 that are passable for one person out of that 1000 are going to be completely different for the next person). I’ve never been a reader but i’ve read a decent amount of specs myself and it is amazing how poor some of submissions can be.
And i’m not talking about amateur writers either. A lot of the time these are accomplished writers who make their living AS writers. this isn’t ma and pa kettle writing on an apple IIE who thinks they can write a better Bad Boys sequel. The amazing part about this is that these specs that i’m talking about (specs submitted to showrunners w/the goal of landing on a writing staff that is) are usually what’s most recent/relevant and (theoretically at least) supposed to showcase the writers strengths…yet so many of them are bad.
One particularly funny script a friend of mine had to cover from an accomplished tv writer (again no names) was a Law and Order spec, that revolved around (get this) a rape. Obviously the centerpiece of the show has always been murder investigation (since these are homocide detectives we’re following and all), so a rape case doesn’t exactly fit (and to my recollection the case never went to court…the cops just conferred with the attorneys about how to best solve the rape case…that they were investigating…as homicide cops. ha ha ha). Just amazing to me the lack of research the writer would do before he dove in. It’s incredible to me that his agent didn’t catch that either.
To me at least an example like this goes beyond ‘the script sucked’ to ‘we just want a job’. I’d probably be insulted if i worked in tv for years and a writer either didn’t do enough research to put together a well-researched spec or thought i’d reached the level of showrunner without knowing what a show like Law & Order’s format was.
Oh well. Even with the incredible weeding process junk still gets through (and unfortunately some good stuff is kept at an arms length because the writer didn’t know anyone or took some ill advised steps to attempt to get their stuff read).
BTW: getting stuff read is a victory in itself. If you get it read by a producer and he tells you that your stuff sucks and you’ll never work in this town (whether that’s true or not is up to you if you ask me), he just did you a favor. Criticism is some of the best feedback you can get (it’s also a great reason to get someone other than a friend who’ll just give you ‘i love it, you’re great’ as a review, to look at your stuff).
Sorry for the tangential rant. Not sure if any of that helped. Sure was nice to take a break from work though.
October 18th, 2004 at 12:08 pm
Derek,
As a former assistant who had to read through these slushpiles, I can relate. For the love of God, you should at least watch the show you’re writing a spec for. Know its rules. Even if you’re an amazing writer, no one will hire someone who doesn’t seem to give a shit about how a given show works.
October 20th, 2004 at 9:42 am
Sort of on the subject, sort of not… But, coverage in my experience is just another form of rejection or acceptance. It is just one man/woman’s opinion and won’t change the world terribly either which way. Case in point, a friend submitted my script to be covered at one of the large management companies. The friend then secured the coverage for me to read. It came back wonderful. The best coverage you could possibly hope to get. My head inflated a little that day, it was so good. It led to a meeting with an mgr who set up the meeting before actually reading the script. I went into the meeting armed with great confidence from the coverage, but by this time the manager had read the script and didn’t really care for it. We chatted for a little while and then he sent me on his way. So don’t take coverage for face value. It’s great if it is good, not so bad if it is bad. Just time to move on to the next prodco/mgmt/agency.
December 9th, 2004 at 7:43 pm
Dave – Coverage is a form of rejection/acceptance, but, at least in my experience – it isn’t a definate thing. For the producer I just finished interning for, the coverage written by interns was read by the director of development. Even if we hated it, he’d read our synopsis and decide if he should read it or not. Then, later on when I’d be filing papers, I’d see coverage that he had written on scripts that I had already covered. Even if he passed on the project, the coverage would still be submitted to the producer – who would then decide if he’d want to read it or not.
So, bad coverage written by an intern doesn’t mean that a project is dead, just like good coverage written by one means the film will make it. I once covered a script that I thought was pretty decent. A few weeks later when I was filing, I saw the Director of Development’s coverage on it, in which he trashed it.
December 10th, 2004 at 3:35 am
Wow, that’s a great way to go about things!
I happen to know that in the UK Film Council development fund they don’t read the coverage before the weekly meeting.
At the weekly meeting they sit down with the pile of coverage and look at the tickboxes at the end.
If a script has nearly all excellents they put it on the ‘keep for now’ pile.
If they recognise the name of the writer they look them up on IMDB – if they have a good track record and their films have made money they put it on the keep pile (regardless of where the ticks are).
Everything else gets filed away unread.
They then skim through the conclusions on the coverage and if they like the sound of that, and it fits into a genre they like then they will read the full coverage.
March 10th, 2006 at 6:38 pm
On the topic of coverage, I’m a writer without an agent, but had a friend at a powerhouse agency, such as a CAA or ICM that gets your script in for coverage…..does that agency keep a record of that submission? We got the coverage back, but do they record every script that comes through just for proof of anything that happens down the line?
March 17th, 2006 at 6:34 pm
I hadn’t checked up on my old question for a while and was searching through the site and saw that Leslie had just posted a question on the topic.
Anyway. while I haven’t worked at an agency, every production company I have been at has a database of every script that comes into the company, so I think its safe to assume an agency does the same thing.
On our end, every script that comes in is logged in a FileMaker Pro database – and we log the name of the script, who wrote it, who it was submitted by, and how many pages it was. If there’s other information, such as a logline – it is put into the database, and if coverage is written on that script, it is attached as well.
So – I’m assuming that all the major talent/literary agencies do the same or similar things.