This will not only help people in the bay area but if you have friends or family that are writers or filmmakers then pass this along to them. A strong but polite letter will do wonders in a film career.
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Dear "name of person"(*note, do address it to someone specifically, if you don't know anyone call up the office and make a general inquiry to whom does the agency work. This info is usually on the company website also so do your homework)
I am a young writer, twenty-eight years old, I have written numerous shorts and two feature length scripts since getting serious about my craft. They are:
For Love or Money, a feature length screenplay I doctored and polished in only 7 weeks for a fiction novel writer right here in California.
Blackened, A short screenplay I wrote and directed was selected to be filmed and screened at a film festival, 2009.
Blood in the Water, a feature length screenplay I wrote about two brothers that fall in love with the same girl and their feud for her leads to deadly results.
I would be happy to send any of these screenplays (or any of the half dozen I'm currently flogging around) for you to look at, if you'd like. I'm particularly proud of Blood in the Water.
The reason I'm applying is that I'm at work on my third feature length screenplay. Tentatively titled Mexicana, its a mystery story about a Mexican mafia family disgraced by an older brother who fathered his older brother's wife. The band of younger brothers must sneak into the US and find him, and sneak him back into Mexico for punishment by the head of the family. The pages are in pretty good shape, and I'd also be delighted to show you these.
Please be in touch and tell me if you'd like to see some of my material. In the meantime, thank you for taking the time to read my letter.
Sincerely yours,
Joe Screenwriter
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Now you can copy this, take out the info of mine and fill in your information for mine. If you don't have any previous work, now is the time to write and direct some short films that will add to your letter. Note that it is very hard to get work as a writer/filmmaker so be prepared to get hundreds of thousands of rejection letters back if you get anything back at all. This isn't an easy business to make a comfortable living in. Make sure you are doing this because you can't see yourself doing anything else.
Said that, this query letter is the easy part. The hard part is getting feedback. Some agents just don't have time to tell you your work needs a rewrite or that it isn't their type of material. Don't fret. There are many people who will not share their stories with anyone for fear of theft. It has happened and will continue to happen but the reality is that most agents or companies would profit more to hire you for your work than to find an established writer to tear into your work and make it slightly different enough to not give you credit. Show everyone your script and ask them to tear into it. Hold nothing back. When they are done tearing you a new one, THANK THEM. Now get back to rewriting and send it again. After about two decades of no one buying your material, then you might consider a new trade. GOOD LUCK!
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