Time is the most valuable commodity.
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If you're really looking to stand out in Hollywood and really make a name for yourself, it's essential to understand how simple acts of gratitude can often open the most heavily secured doors and do wonders for advancing your career and your network.
Fortunately, for those of you who want to make a lasting, positive impression, all too often writers and filmmakers take for granted the time busy professionals like assistants, agents, managers, actors, producers, directors, other writers, etc. put into reading their loglines, synopses, outlines and scripts. What writers don't seem to understand is that these people are incredibly busy.
A script reader may have to plow through and cover multiple scripts every day (most of which aren't very good), attend daily or weekly meetings and track and catalog newly submitted scripts, answering phones and doing various administrative office tasks, etc. Also, most readers are typically working a second or even a third job to pay the bills, while trying to write or make films or go to school or all of the above.
Worse, readers are constantly bombarded by friends, family members, acquaintances, store clerks, restaurant staff, mail carriers, etc. begging them to read their script and give them feedback or pass it along to the producer, director, agent, manager for whom they work. When I was a reader, I used to cringe every time a writer approached me. It was always the same. The writer, sometimes someone I hardly knew, would say, So, will you read my script and tell me how I can sell it and then hook me up with an agent, producer, manager, etc.?"
For a while, I was a sucker and couldn't say no to helping other writers, so I read quite a few scripts, but the result was always the same. I'd stay up late, spending hours reading these extra scripts only to walk away with barely a thanks, leaving me to grumble about what a selfish (fill-in-the-blank) the writer was. In fact, Carly Simon's, "So Vain" always came to mind in these situations.
Ultimately, I decided it wasn't worth my time to try and help ungrateful writers, so now when someone asks me to read for free, I always say no. And my reader, producer, director, filmmaker, agent and manager friends do the same.
Moving forward...Producers and Directors are often working on putting together multiple films, taking meetings, networking all over town and going over filming logistics while managing multiple film departments and hundreds of cast and crew members.
Actors are always hustling, auditioning, working on sets, memorizing lines and blocking, rehearsing, taking calls, emails, going to meetings, etc. Writers are always writing and hustling and networking and taking meetings and they're usually juggling a million projects at once and often have tight deadlines.
Agents and managers are busy evaluating their clients' work, finding clients new work, getting deals done and networking. Producers', agents and managers' phones are always ringing off the hook, their email inboxes are always overloaded, and they work more hours in a day than there are hours in a day.
And everybody is always reading, searching for that one needle in a haystack that will become a successful film.
The bottom line is that professionals in Hollywood, and even outside of Hollywood, are very, very busy and most writers don't bother to acknowledge that in any way. They simply submit their material, wait to hear back, get mad when they don't hear back quickly and then get even madder when their script gets rejected. Without pause, they move onto the next submission and the cycle repeats itself all over again.
This creates a huge opportunity for the smart writer. The smart writer, the writer that gets ahead and makes a positive, long-lasting impression, is the one in a billion who takes a moment to write and mail a genuine thank you card, gratefully thanking said professional for taking the time to read their script and wishing them all the best on the next project (which the writer has researched).
The smart writer is the writer who finds an email address for the assistant who read their script and emails that assistant an e-gift card to a local coffee shop with a short email thanking them for their time.
It's so much fun to send assistants gift cards for coffee. They are flabbergasted and will message you back immediately, thanking you for thinking of them and acknowledging that they NEVER hear from writers. Sometimes they'll even invite you to submit more material or offer to give you feedback or send you the coverage they wrote for your script.
It's important to note that a Thank You should be just that, a Thank You and not a request for anything.
Even if you get nothing out of sending a thank you, know that you've made someone's day and kept your name and your project's name in the forefront of their mind, and you never know when that may help you down the road.
Assistants go on to become agents, managers, producers, directors. Producers, Actors, Writers and Directors always have an ear to the ground and know which projects are in the pipeline and they're always making new contacts. If you're the writer whose project they remember because you sent them a thank you card or a gift card for coffee... Like I said, a little gratitude in this business goes a long way.
When someone has read your script, simply take a moment to acknowledge the time they put into reading your work and how you really and truly appreciate it in a way that goes beyond sending a brief thank you text or email, which may or may not even get read.
Because we live in an instant gratification society, in some cases, when I know someone knows I know they've read my script, I'll send a quick thank you email to acknowledge the reader's time, but I'll also go the extra mile and send a more detailed, handwritten thank you card and/or other small token of appreciation.
The moral of the story is when you are grateful in an ungrateful world, you will shine, and doors will open.
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