Screenwriting Tips: Making Your Cold Query Letters Not Seem So Cold

I want to be perfectly frank about something from the beginning: most scripts are horrible and it’s very rare that there’s anything wrong with them. As well as being a working screenwriter, I also work as a coverage analyst, which means I read scripts and grade them professionally for clients.

Why am I telling you all this? It’s not to discourage you, or out of some kind of “tough love” – ​​it’s because I want you to know what you’re dealing with, in its entirety, and what the best strategy is for dealing with that sort of thing. What does all of this mean when you put it together in terms of screenwriting tips? Simple: It means you need to have a great query letter. Think of the query letter as a cover letter for a job. Consider describing your movie as “blank” and “blank” and instead of those blanks substitute two hit movies. Please note that your logline should not include such comparisons.

A professional query letter is a well-honed tool: short, to the point, and effective. Don’t give them too much information about the city you grew up in and how it inspired your script; they don’t care about that kind of thing. Don’t tell them you’ve written another 20 scripts. This may seem like a good idea at first, but if you’ve written 20 scripts, why haven’t I heard from you yet? You can mention another credit or two if it makes you feel more comfortable, but my advice for writing screenplays is to do your best to keep the focus on the script you’re trying to get them to read.

In summary, a good tip for writing scripts is to reach as many people as you can, famous or not, big or small, and plan your communications according to your audience. This is a business that relies heavily on images and appearances, and it might seem a bit silly that you have to change the way you talk to someone depending on your audience, but if you split your time between reaching out to writers with emails Thank you emails and sending query letters to agencies and managers who are directed at them and on point, you’ll find that you’ve greatly increased your chances of getting someone to read your script and get ahead of the fan. League of Writers out there.

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