5 Things for Screenwriters to Include in Your Query Letter to Get a Literary Manager to Request Your Script

Including real examples from query emails I responded to.

As a manager, I send my clients’ scripts to hundreds of producers, executives, showrunners, and agents all across the industry.

I understand how frustrating the querying process can be because I do it every day. I know how hard it is to send emails asking people to read your scripts. It’s even harder when no one ever responds, so you don’t have any idea what you could be doing wrong. After eight years of sending these types of emails as part of my job and eight years of receiving these types of emails from hopeful potential clients, I have tons of data on what works and what doesn’t.

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If you want to get a response, include these 5 details in your query email, and nothing more:

#1 - Catchy Subject Line

This is the most important part of your email to get right.

If you don’t nail your subject line, your recipient won’t even open your email, so its contents won’t matter. Don’t use the word “query” in your subject line. Even something like “Representation” is too vague.

Use this headline as an opportunity to highlight what is exciting about you as a writer or your project specifically:

Try a subject line about your project (genre + hook).

Ex. “Shrek with a twist - award-winning animated feature”

Ex. “Psychological Fantasy TV Drama Pilot with Sarcastic Flair”

Try a subject line about yourself (your unique perspective as a writer + genre).

Ex. “Top Tier Diverse Writing Duo: [Names]”

Ex. “Roadmap Latinx LGBTQ Writer: [Name]”

Leverage Network Connections

Ex. “Per [my cousin’s name] — coffee/tea while I’m in LA?'- THANK YOU”

Ex. “Chapman Alum [Name of Writer] Script”

Reminder of Where you Met

Ex. “Lovely meeting @Stowe”

Ex. “Via Stage 32”

Try Humor

Ex. “Hey Audrey! (from an award-winning female comedy writer who hates subject lines)”

#2 - Short But Polite Opening

Be complimentary. Remind the manager where you met and who introduced you two.

If you’re reaching out cold, this is the opportunity to explain specifically why this manager is a good fit for you. Make them feel special! If you open your email by genuinely explaining what it is about that manager that makes you interested in working with them them, they will:

1. Feel complimented and start the email off liking you already.

2. Feel like this isn’t just a mass email you sent to a hundred different managers.

Don’t forget: Managers are people too! We like to feel special, and we are suckers for honest flattery.

#3 - Logline

Get right into which one specific project you’re asking them to read.

This script should showcase your ability and your voice. It should also match your target’s sensibilities and mandate. Do your research so you’re not wasting your time trying to send an indie drama feature to someone who is only interested in commercial, broadcast procedurals, etc.

Make sure your logline gives them enough information on what your script is actually about:

LACKLUSTER LOGLINE: A high school chemistry teacher by day becomes New Mexico’s biggest drug dealer.

COMPELLING LOGLINE: A dramatic TV series that follows Walter White, a milquetoast high school chemistry teacher who discovers he is dying from lung cancer. Desperate to secure his family’s financial future, Walt teams up with a former student, Jesse Pinkman, to turn a used RV into a mobile drug lab.

#4 - Short Bio

Lead with the most interesting, impressive, or relevant information first.

Then work backwards. Make sure you convey what experience you have in the industry, accolades you have won on your projects, and what life events have influenced your worldview. The goal is to:

1. Convey what a unqiue, interesting person you are.

2. Come across as someone who knows what you’re doing as you navigate the business side of screenwriting.

Keep it short and to the point.

Let your voice shine! If you’re a comedy writer, try to make your bio funny.

#5 - Courteous Call to Action

End your email by asking them if you can send over a copy of your script.

Make sure you don’t attach any PDF materials in your initial email unrequested. You want to make sure that the person you’re sending your script to has explicitly told you that they want to read it.

If you get a response, you know your query email is working! Now it’s up to the screenplay pages to do the job of getting them to take the relationship to its next level: Asking to meet you.