Every writer wants an agent. Otherwise, why would this be the single most frequently asked question I get? Time and again: How do I get an agent? Am I ready for an agent? Will I be better off if I have an agent? My answer is always this: You want a screenwriting agent, but why? [...]
Every writer I’ve ever met has told me: I need to, I want to, I have to get repped! Heck, I knew one writer who had written on assignment and made a pretty good living that way who considered getting repped by CAA his single greatest career accomplishment. It doesn’t matter that once the buzz [...]
One July 4th weekend I was invited to join a small collection of William Morris lit agents who were planning to get independent down Texas way. Advertised was a big family lake house near Waxaramalamahachie where I was promised a front-row seat to an authentic, Lone Star blowout. I fully expected a sweaty, four-day mix [...]
Way back when The Shawshank Redemption was barely hanging on in theaters, squeaking out some pretty meager box office, and still years before it was regarded as one of the greatest American movies of the last thirty years, Academy and Guild members were not yet able to rely on screeners as a way to keep up with [...]
I was on my way from lunch to meeting at Paramount when my agent at the time called to inquire if I’d be interested in meeting a particular movie star to discuss a picture he had in mind. My agent said it was a passion project for the actor, but with solid commercial prospects in [...]
In January 2012, the movie Red Tails opened nationwide to some pretty decent business. It was a long time in the making. And I’d noticed that a lot of press surrounding the movie had to do with the difficulty George Lucas had getting it produced and into theaters. Some time ago I did read a [...]
I’m a big Michael Douglas fan. Have been since I was a boy and he was playing Karl Malden’s sidekick in The Streets of San Francisco. So I thought it was pretty cool when my agent asked if I’d be interested in writing a movie for his company. At the time, Michael Douglas was producing [...]
When I work with writers giving feedback and guidance on their material and career paths, I often end up giving advice about how to gain access to agents, managers, and producers – which seems to most writers to be the biggest challenge of this business. The common conception is that “who you know” is ultimately [...]
Brandy Rivers is currently a literary manager/producer at Gersh Agency and working in both film and television. She is responsible for representing authors, screenwriters, and directors as well as developing underlying material including novels, articles, blogs, video games and life rights for production. Click image to play video; more details are below. In this interview [...]
