Musings

So, why wouldn’t you send your HEROES script to HEROES? The problem is that the executive producer and the staff of the show are living and breathing these characters. They know where the plot arcs are headed, they can recite a line of dialogue in a particular character’s voice in their sleep — _And you are never going to be able to do that_! So your script is going to annoy them. Maybe not consciously, but there will be this constant reaction that _this just isn’t right_.

But if you send your Heroes script to SUPERNATURAL, that executive producer isn’t going to be as critical. He/She’s just going to think that this sure is a good script, and how it sure seems like a Heroes script to them.

You also have to target where your agent sends the script. You wouldn’t use a HEROES script to try for an assignment on CSI, but you might have an NCSI script that you could use as a sample. You also want to have spec scripts of hot shows not something that’s barely staying on the air.

Of course I violated everyone of these rules, and still sold THE MEASURE OF A MAN, but that was a unique situation. Shows were coming off a six month long writers strike, and needed product. My agent elected to send the spec script to Star Trek, Maurie was a good guy who had a gift for recognizing talent and teaching young writers, etc. etc. But what happened to me is like getting hit by a meteor — it doesn’t happen very damn often.

Melinda

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 8:51 am and is filed under hollywood. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.