Hey Scott,

Great post, but I have a follow up time. What constitutes as "timely fashion" in terms of an agent/manager's response time?

I'd say two weeks. Then call up the agency or management company. Speak to the rep's assistant, introduce yourself, note how you emailed (or sent a letter), has the agent / manager had a chance to respond. Try to connect with the assistant - be SUPER nice.

You should do some research. Find out who they represent. "That's an impressive roster of clients etc." Shows you know your stuff.

it's also helpful if you can honestly say you've written several screenplays, got several treatments, etc. You're not just a 1-script guy/gal.

Then you call back the assistant a week later. If they shut you down or you don't hear anything in 4 weeks time since your initial contact, move on.

Of course, you're contacting other management companies and agencies, so you've got multiple approaches going on.

I fought/B.S.'d my way to a pilot submission w/ a network. The pilot wasn't picked up, but I got a positive review in the letter from the VP of dev.

I used that as my calling card w/ an agent in NYC...he happened to be in the office doing nothing during a snowstorm and decided to take a chance on me.

Note - The network accepted work that the agent found spelling errors in. I decided to have a feature action/adventure script vetted by a L.A. por reader and sent that...

He is passed to someone across the table at a lunch meeting this week.

So...thats how it worked out for me.

Also...the way I got the submission into the network was a pretty creative idea...someday...I'll let y'all know...

IN my defense...its late here on the right coast...and my spelling/grammar are for the birds after 10 pm...sorry for the mess...but y'all got the point...

do something to get noticed...bring something to the table as a calling card.