On Finding a Manager & Meeting Producers (After the Strike)

Welcome to “Ask the Coach.” As a writing coach, I answer questions from writers about making the work of writing happen, tackling craft, business, and personal questions along the way. (Have a question you’d like answered? Check the details at the end of the article about how to submit one.)

Today I’m addressing two questions regarding finding representation and connecting with producers (and some notes about navigating these appropriately during the Writer’s Guild strike).

Here’s the first question about finding a manager:

“My biggest challenge is selling my screenplays and getting them produced. How can I find a manager?”

In 2022, I answered a question about how to find a showrunner for a show idea, with excellent input from Neil Landau, among others. As a key step, Landau recommended focusing on managers, fellowships, and contests to have your work “anointed” and sent up the food chain to industry execs. This is one of the significant advantages of working with a manager — because they’re vetting your work and vouching for you, higher-ups will be more willing to look at it.

But where do you find a manager? Start with research. Writers can search IMDBPro.com, LinkedIn.com, and even Twitter to find managers who are open to queries. And, here’s a shortcut for you: Screenwriter and Script Mag contributor Erik Bork recently put together a generous list of screenwriting managers, which you can download from his website, no opt-in required.

If I were in the market for a manager, I’d start with Bork’s list and look into each company to find out which seemed like the best fit for me and the scripts I write, and then query them (if they accept unsolicited queries). I’d search the other sites I mentioned as well.

I’d also build relationships with managers on social media — remember, they want to find great scripts just as much as you want to get your script into their hands. And, there’s an art to relationship building (aka “networking”). It’s not about instantly pitching people or hounding them to read your script. 

Focus on genuinely connecting with managers you think could be a good fit for you and your work. Follow them. Read what they post. Respond authentically when appropriate. Help out with something they’re looking for. Relationships evolve organically when nurtured over time. Keep an eye out for an opportunity to work together to arise, naturally. You might be the first one to see their tweet (or post or spout, etc. depending on the platform) looking for new work.

Here’s the question about producers:

“Where can I find a producer — or how can I be introduced to one?”

Just like with managers, producers are looking for you too. Maybe not the highest upper echelons of producers or production companies — but certainly newer or “lower” level producers who are hungry for great writing and eager to find an original story to bring to the higher-level producers.

How do you find them? Just like with managers, research is an excellent place to start.

Look at IMDB.com or IMDBPro.com (if you have an account) and look for the lower-level producers on shows or features that are comps for your work. Once you’ve identified some, start looking for ways to connect with them, either on social media (like LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. same as with managers) or through their production company contact information, though again, you’ll want to find out if they accept unsolicited queries before reaching out to pitch. Again, as with managers, look for authentic connections that evolve naturally.

You can also focus on building your own overall network of industry contacts, including managers, entertainment lawyers, other writers, and more — that may be the way you get an introduction at some point.

In my case, I landed my first paid writing assignment via Twitter. I connected with a producer-director who was looking for writers to develop some of his original story concepts. We exchanged a few DMs, hopped on the phone together, and quickly found we shared a similar storytelling vision. 

Interestingly, at the time we spoke, my younger child was about 6 months old and I wasn’t looking for a gig — we were talking because I thought I might connect him with some of my writing buddies and wanted to sort out who would be the best fit. But I fell in love with one of the concepts, he loved my writing sample, and we moved on to signing a contract and working on a fantastic post-climate coming-of-age story shortly thereafter.

About Approaching Managers (Yes) & Producers (No) During the Writer’s Guild Strike

During the Writer’s Guild strike, it’s apparently OK to seek representation with agents and managers (who aren’t also producers) as long as they know they can’t market your work to struck companies until the strike is over.

As for producers, given that so many hundreds of companies are on the list of struck companies, this seems like a great opportunity to research and compile a list of producers you might reach out to after the strike is resolved.

There are more details in an interview with screenwriter Christopher Kyle, the secretary-treasurer of the WGA-East, here, and an article with additional resources on Script, here.

The marketing part of writing can feel just as mysterious and confusing as writing a script does when you’re first starting out, but it’s just as much part of the job. The good news is that it’s a lot like finding a job — something many of us have plenty of experience with. 

Do the research to find the companies and individuals that are a good fit for what you do and start building genuine connections and relationships with the people you meet. Query when your script and query letter are amazing.

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Submit your question to be answered anonymously via my online form here or email directly to askthecoach@calledtowrite.com. Look for answers to selected questions in my monthly “Ask the Coach” column on the third Thursday of the month. And reach out to me on Twitter to share your thoughts: @JennaAvery.