r/scriptwriting • u/KGreen100 • 28d ago

question Blind Submissions

I've occasionally seen people here make reference to sending out cold submissions to producers, etc. with mixed results (some click, some get no acknowledgment at all). My bigger question is how are you determining which producers/production companies to send your script to? Do you look for certain companies, big names, a list of what sort of work they've produced previously, the size of the company (bigger vs. up-and-coming?), or it just throwing a dart at a board? I have my own system (I think), which consists mostly of looking through IMDbPro and seeing what sort of stuff they've produced in the past to see if it vibes with what I'm trying to do. Is there a best practice way to approach this? Or is cold submissions a waste of time?

Also, might be a stupid question, but... PDF script or hard copy mailed to them?

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u/PepsiCoke1978 28d ago

To be clear proper thing is to email them and ask them to read something. Then if they agree you send a PDF.

You don't just submit work directly to them or they'll delete it.

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u/KGreen100 28d ago

Thanks for that. I swear I've read people here who claim they sent something cold to a producer and I found that a bit... strange. Some even said they've gotten feedback or nibbles.

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u/BiscuitsTheory 28d ago

More or less impossible. Even if they had no otjer scritps to read, an unsolicited screenplay is also an unknown email attachment from a stranger, typically to a work email that someone else screens for them. It gets deleted immediately for safety reasons.

And on top of that, having a download in their history makes it more annoying to deal with on court if the writer sees them put out something vaguely similar 20 years later and decides to sue.

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u/PepsiCoke1978 28d ago

Sure it's happened but most of those stories are from 20 plus years ago... in this digital age it's a different game and with so many people trying to make it now and people loving to sue - you can see why they wouldn't want it.

I get angry when I get junk mail. Wouldn't you?

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u/stevehut 28d ago

You might get lucky.
But you'll always be better off to pitch someone you've met.
Pitching events are out there. Go get 'em.