Every Aspiring Screenwriter Should Befriend a Future Agent
As I prep my son for his first year at film school, I’m reflecting on my own screenwriting career path. It’s a story of surprise connections, enduring friendships, and relentless scribbling.
The College Connection
Begin flashback, I’m a sophomore at Sarah Lawrence College. I meet another student who just sold his first screenplay over Christmas break. We click, and in a burst of creativity, we brainstorm a script idea. We pound it out over one weekend. It’s awful, but we have a blast and stay pals.
He graduates and rockets to Hollywood success. I witness his meteoric rise and insane work ethic from the sidelines. After I graduate and move to Los Angeles, we meet up at coffee shops, haul out our giant laptops, beg for outlet access, and kick off the annoying trend of using computers in public.
Despite our friendship and mutual love for scribbling, we wouldn’t team up professionally for a decade. My path to that first Hollywood paycheck began elsewhere at NYU’s TISCH summer filmmaking program.
Summer School Serendipity
On the first day we’re told to form small groups to make our little movies. As everyone introduces themselves, I listen out for any LA natives. There’s two in the back row. When it’s time to group up, I beeline right up to them, “Hey, I’m Jesse. We’re working together all summer!”
They’re thrown off but roll with it. None of us had a clue this critical connection would jump start our careers. We make our class movies, catch Tim Burton’s Batman in Times Square, and puzzle over how in the hell we’re going to crack the industry. It seemed odd at the time, but one of the back-row crew wasn’t chasing a director’s chair. The guy wants to be an agent.
The Hollywood Hustle
Post-college, I’m cooped up in my apartment, churning out spec scripts. My wanna-be agent buddy has a gig as an assistant at a lit agency. I pass him spec script after spec script, but none stick the landing. As my bank account dwindles, I scour the trades for market trends. It’s the peak Mighty Ducks era. Studios are hungry for sports flicks with kid casts. I hit Blockbuster and binge every movie in the genre.
Finding My Niche
The only sport I know is car racing. My dad wrote about motorsports, so I grew up at the track. I write about kids in go-kart racing. I nail all the story beats from my research, sprinkling in authentic details gleaned from my childhood experiences. I hand it to my buddy, and he sells it. While still an assistant.
This deal puts me on the map as a paid screenwriter and launches my pal into the agent big leagues. He’d go on to run one of Hollywood’s biggest talent agencies. While I’d get to work with amazing people on incredible projects.
Lessons Learned
To my son and his aspiring creative cohort: Find the people who want what you want. Introduce yourself and collaborate. Your classmates aren’t your competitors. They’re your allies. Launching a career isn’t just about schmoozing with the top dogs.
It’s about finding your fellow up-and-comers, having each other’s backs as you hone your craft, and staying in the game ’til one of you gets a foot in the door and holds it open for the rest of the back row.
