| Author | Post |
|---|
spiny norman
Member
| Joined: | Fri Jul 21st, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 53 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Mana: |  |
|
Posted: Wed Feb 13th, 2008 05:00 am |
|
so i send the synopsis to the theatre & they ask to read the whole script! hooray! so i get my hopes up a little & spend the $$ to send the script asap & also a sase for its return...
...and today it returns with a letter saying that their next season is going to be devoted to comedies so my play won't work. well, that's fine but it was fairly obvious from my synopsis that my script wasn't a comedy at all so what was the point of asking for it? are you asking me to believe that you had absolutely no idea what next season's theme was going to be so you decided to ask for all kinds of scripts just to give yourself lots of choices?
thanks.
|
in media res
Member
|
Posted: Wed Feb 13th, 2008 01:52 pm |
|
Spiny,
This is common. At least they got back to you. Too bad you had to snail mail the script and not pay to send it! We all feel your pain. Frustrations like this are not uncommon.
When I get something like this, I appreciate the response, get pissed off at the responder, and then chalk it up. It is a good thing, and I have done this often, and kato on this site says it is a good idea and she is absolutely wise and correct to write back snail mail as you sent it snail mail, and thank whoever wrote the letter (if it was a form letter or there is no specific person, write the Literary manager or Artistic director) for reading your script and will be happy to query with another as opportunities come up. This keeps your name in front of them again and it also shows your are a sane person who can accept rejection letters and understands “the process” - even though we may hate it!!! Listen, they do too. (As an actor, I have seen big name directors in final call backs be more nervous than the actors!) Do that very soon – like today!
I always think how difficult it is to get ME to pay attention to something or someone I know nothing about who is contacting me. What makes something stick out more than anything? Along with the information being sent: Courtesy. How the message is sent, not just the message that is being sent. It can be a tone of voice on the voice mail or it can be a nice stationery with a well-written letter or business letter. It really helps.
Any good business conversation/letter is courteous, quick, to the point and over and out.
On to the next one!
best,
in media res
|
Edd
Moderator
| Joined: | Sat Jun 10th, 2006 |
| Location: | Denver, Colorado USA |
| Posts: | 906 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Mana: |   |
|
Posted: Wed Feb 13th, 2008 02:59 pm |
|
in media res,
I wish I was a nice person. My attitude is f-you and then I move on. The day I send a response back the world will probably come to an end. I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Mean, ugly and hard to get along with,
Edd
|
in media res
Member
|
Posted: Wed Feb 13th, 2008 04:44 pm |
|
edd,
And, don't ever, ever, ever change!
best,
in media res
P. S. I can be that way, when I am around b*llsh*t. Then I am right in someone's face calling them on it, with various degrees of - shall we say -"nuance." I don't even care if they change, just so they are very clear on where I stand. And vice-versa. Then we move on and get going again.Last edited on Wed Feb 13th, 2008 04:50 pm by in media res
|
Edd
Moderator
| Joined: | Sat Jun 10th, 2006 |
| Location: | Denver, Colorado USA |
| Posts: | 906 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Wed Feb 13th, 2008 04:46 pm |
|
| :>)
|
Sam Stone
Member
|
Posted: Thu Feb 14th, 2008 11:56 am |
|
Edd, I disagree. There must have been something in Spiny's synopsis that compelled the person at the theatre to request to read the script. I envy those who can write a compelling synopsis.
Spiny, I'd take their invitation as an encouragement and continue with my submissions. Maybe, after the season of comedies, they'll ask to produce your play. Keep smiling and keep submitting.
Remember, Bill Gates said that if your successes are tied to your failures, then increase your failures... I'm working to increase my number of rejections.
Best to all,
Sam
|
Paddy
Moderator
|
Posted: Thu Feb 14th, 2008 12:24 pm |
|
I'm inclined to go with Sam. Oranization and the arts are not always compatable. Maybe they sat down with the perspective plays and decided then to do comedies. I can't see them wasting their own time.
Spiny. You got a response! WooHoo! Take the good things when they come. Just this year alone, I've had four theatres so excited and avidly interested in the same full length play that I've had produced twice (at least I got over the premeir hump). Did any of those four theatres reply? Nope. One woman had to hunt me down for the play, having heard about it from the director of the premier. Nothing. Nada. Sadly usual.
I also, having been shifted to the receiving end of submissions, agree with IMR. How someone words an email, if they say too much, too little about themselves...etc. Here's the truth of it. When you read blind, and you collect submissions for a while, by the time you are reading the plays, you can't remember who wrote what, not what your friend sent in, or someone from over the pond...and perhaps that's the way it should be. We just set a show for March...women's readings...and was so happy to see when the smoke had cleared, that two lovely women whom I know from ICWP were both in the line up.
You'd think, in this computer age, and a quick email wouldn't be so difficult.
Paddy
|
katoagogo
Member
|
Posted: Thu Feb 14th, 2008 08:32 pm |
|
You know -- maybe between the time the guy in the literary office liked your query and wanted to read your play, and the time it was received, the artistic director or some other governing body at this theater decided on the all comedy season? The guy who requested your play was kind enough to return it to you instead of recycling it, perhaps because of the change in plans at the theater.
Things change at theaters all the time, just like in any business. A new director comes in, a new AD, a new board president.
I'm encouraged that you got a genuine response. It speaks well of the business sense about the person on the other end.
Chances are that person will be at another theater in another couple of years, or will still be at this theater and they may be back doing plays beyond comedy. In either event, how would you like your work to be regarded?
That's the question. What does your business sense tell you?
--KatoLast edited on Thu Feb 14th, 2008 08:34 pm by katoagogo
|
katoagogo
Member
|
Posted: Sun Feb 17th, 2008 09:09 pm |
|
Another thought on this experience -- either the theater has decided to devout one season to producing comedies (in which case the decision may have been made after your play was requested by the literary office), or the theater has been doing a lot of comedies for the past bunch of years.
If the latter is true, did you investigate the production history of the theater before submitting your query to them? I'm curious about this because it points to the importance of a playwright doing as much research about a theater as possible before sending out a query. Just reading a notice or call for work is not enough.
What was the production history indicating about the kind of work they are inclined to produce?
--KatoLast edited on Sun Feb 17th, 2008 09:09 pm by katoagogo
|
Current time is 02:11 pm | |
|
|
|
