Cold querying can be an effective tool to get representation, and to get your scripts read and considered by industry insiders and decision-makers in Hollywood. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
When you’re not winning major screenwriting contests and fellowships, and when you don’t know anyone in the industry yet, the cold query is perhaps your best option to break through those Hollywood walls and get noticed.
With that in mind, here we discuss and share simple and effective best practices, directives, habits, and examples you can follow to create a cold querying process that works for you.
1. You Need Worthy Scripts First
If there’s a Step One in any cold query process for screenwriters, this would be it, and it is perhaps the most important step you’ll take.
It’s very easy for newcomers to get excited once they finish that first or second screenplay, and rightfully so. You’ve worked hard to write a cinematic script, and you want to do all you can to get it into the hands of those who can make it come to life on the screen.
Stop. Do your future-self a favor and force yourself to step on the breaks before you leap into the marketing of any script.
Here are some truths you need to realize:
- Your first couple of scripts will be your worst, meaning that you have just begun your screenwriting journey and you will only get better.
- Any query you send may generally be the one and only time you can pitch to that person.
- Hollywood bridges can be burned quickly if you send out requested scripts that aren’t ready.
It’s better to wait a couple of years to hone your writing skills and write some amazing and worthy scripts, as opposed to jumping into the marketing process with scripts that don’t represent your best possible work.
So, before you send a cold query for any script of yours, take the time to get your writing to a place where it’s ready to be considered.
- Finish that first script, put it away for a month, and then return to it and read it cover-to-cover to see the flaws and strengths, and how you can make it better.
- Then go write another script and do the same.
- Get to a point where you have 3-5 strong samples because after most industry insiders read your query (and possibly the script you’re pitching), they usually ask, “What else do you have?”
You need to market scripts that are ready for the industry. How do you know when they’re ready? That’s the million dollar question. But you can go through steps to ascertain what may be ready to pitch.
- Put your scripts through the best screenplay contests and fellowships (such Final Draft’s Big Break) and see where you place.
- Take advantage of script notes services through those contests and fellowships to make your scripts better.
- Get feedback from screenwriting and filmmakers peers.
- Consider paying for script consultant services to get industry-level notes. But don’t rely on them, don’t overuse them, and only use services with consultants who have worked in the industry at the highest possible levels.
Beyond that, trust your gut. In the end, it’s up to you.
2. What Is a Cold Query?
A Query is a request for a company or individual working within the Film/TV industry to read and consider your screenplay.
A Cold Query is you reaching out to someone within the industry that you don’t personally know.
- You haven’t been introduced to them.
- They don’t know who you are.
The only things you (hopefully) know about them are their credits, resume, and status within the industry. The only thing they know about you is the cold query that you’ve sent them.
3. Send Queries to the Right People
Do your research. You always want to make sure that you’re personalizing each query, and you always want to ensure that you’re sending your queries to the right people.
Use IMDbPro, industry trades (Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter), and company websites to find the exact development executive, producer, or manager who specializes in your genre, tone, or story type. When you do your research, you can see what types of movies they have made, are making, and, perhaps even more important, what types of movies they are currently developing.
Tailoring your queries to individuals tells them that you’re not blasting out blanket emails to any contact you can get a hold of. It tells them that you’re sending this pitch to them because it matches their tastes and preferences.
4. Start with Your Personal Network and Work Out From That
This is a cold query, so you don’t know the person you are querying. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a personal connection to them.
Most industry insiders are more willing to give a chance to someone they are connected with, in any way, shape, or form, over a total stranger with no connection.
Start from your personal network:
- Extended family
- Friends
- Coworkers
Does any one of them know someone within the industry?
Then expand outward:
- Geographical connections like a shared hometown, home state, etc.
- Educational connections like being fellow alumni to the same school.
Research who from your hometown, home state, or university is working in the Film/TV industry — that coincidence may be the perfect opener for your query that breaks the ice and possibly convinces them to give you a chance.
Only Query Real Industry Decision-Makers
You always want to be sure to only approach individuals that are true decision-makers. Sure, your friend who works security at a studio may know some insiders. Yes, someone who works in production could have their own contacts. However, those types of leads are usually dead-ends.
Focusing on actual Hollywood decision-makers is key. Who are the decision-makers?
- Development executives
- Producers
- Managers
- Agents*
Note: Agents usually don’t come into play until there’s a deal to be brokered. Querying them for representation isn’t advised. Instead, focus on managers. They are more open to cold queries. However, as a guideline to live by, only approach those who work for major management companies and/or those who have great client lists, people actually working on shows and movies. If they don’t have the credits or clients, it’s not worth the time.
5. The Query Email — And How to Write One
When done right, a query email can be your script’s best first impression, one that sparks interest, trust, and ultimately, a request for you to send your script to them.
Query Email, Not Letter
Query letters refer to a term used in a time before email was prevalent. These days, queries are always sent through email: that means no hard copy letters, no postage mail, no faxes (do those still exist?), and no hand-delivered letters.
Query emails are what you send out to industry insiders, briefly introducing yourself within the opening lines, and then briefly pitching the screenplay you would like them to consider.
Pro Tip: IMDbPro is the perfect tool you can use to get email addresses. A great process to start building an email list of insiders you should approach?
- Look up movies similar to your screenplay (tone, subject, genre especially).
- See who is producing, directing, and writing those movies.
- Find email addresses of those producers and their production companies.
- Find who represents the directors and writers.
- Cold query them via email.
How Long Should Query Emails Be?
The most effective queries are kept short, sweet, and to the point: something that can be read within 30-90 seconds. You don’t want them going more than what would be a page long on paper. They should be a fraction of that, actually. Why?
Industry insiders are busy. Interns and assistants are tasked with acting as filtration systems, weeding out hundreds of queries, correspondence, and submission requests each day. Their bosses (development executives, producers, managers, and agents) only want to be “bothered” with the best of the best potential leads. And even then, they themselves are inundated with their own queries, correspondence, and submission requests from top tier levels of the industry.
So, you have limited time to capture anyone’s attention and consideration.
What Should Be in Your Query Email?
Follow these general directives to start:
- Your email subject heading should be Your Name and Your Script Title. You can also showcase your personal connection to them as an opener as well (Your Driver’s Friend John)
- Use names. No “To Whom It May Concern”.
- If you don’t know their name and are querying a company info address, consider “[Insert Company Name Here] Team”.
- Open briefly with a sentence or two about who you are without offering a personal biography. You can and should drop any connections you have with them in the opening. But you don’t want to go on and on about your love for movies, personal background, or anything else.
- If you have industry experience that may help them take you more seriously (former script reader, assistant to an industry insider, known screenwriter with feature or TV credits, etc.), include that in your opening.
- Get to the concept you’d like them to consider quickly.
- Include the logline of your script, and make that logline amazing.
- Offer a quick comp (comparison) ala “It’s The Martian meets The Wizard of Oz.”
- Be confident, not arrogant in tone.
- Thank them for their time and consideration.
That’s ten general guidelines to follow. It may seem like a lot, but the actual cold query model you need is fairly simple to write. It’s short, sweet, to the point, and only takes 30-90 seconds for them to read.
Cold Query Sample #1 — For Screenwriters with No Industry Experience
Hi Christopher,
Hope the week is going well. I’ve got a pulse-pounding science fiction thriller, and a new take on the heist genre, called Inception that I think would be great for Syncopy Inc.
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO, but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
It’s Ocean’s Eleven meets The Matrix.
Would love to have you take a look. Thanks so much for the time and let me know.
Best,
Johnny Screenwriter
That’s it. That’s all you need. Get in and get out. From that sample, you can build your own variations.
Here are some more variances you can work from:
Cold Query Sample #2 — Using Networking Contacts You May Have
Hi Christopher,
Hope the week is going well. Jane Screenwriter here. Your driver Mick and I are old high school friends. He recommended I contact you in regards to my spec script Inception.
It’s a pulse-pounding science fiction thriller, and a new take on the heist genre, called Inception that I think would be great for Syncopy Inc.
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO, but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
It’s Ocean’s Eleven meets The Matrix.
Would love to have you take a look. Thanks so much for the time and let me know.
Best,
Jane Screenwriter
Cold Query Sample #3 — Including Industry Experience to Add Clout
Hi Christopher,
Hope the week is going well. I’m a former studio script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures. I used to work for the late former studio head John Calley.
I’ve got a pulse-pounding science fiction thriller, and a new take on the heist genre, called Inception that I think would be great for Syncopy Inc.
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO, but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
It’s Ocean’s Eleven meets The Matrix.
Would love to have you take a look. Thanks so much for the time and let me know.
Best,
Johnny Screenwriter
Cold Query Sample #4 — Using Geographical or Educational Connections
Hi Christopher,
Hope the week is going well. We share the same hometown of La Crosse, WI, and we also attended the same college. Go Badgers!
I’ve got a pulse-pounding science fiction thriller, and a new take on the heist genre, called Inception that I think would be great for Syncopy Inc.
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO, but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
It’s Ocean’s Eleven meets The Matrix.
Would love to have you take a look. Thanks so much for the time and let me know.
Best,
Johnny Screenwriter
Note: We’re being tongue-in-cheek by using Christopher Nolan as the Hollywood insider we’re cold querying. Don’t try to cold query him, or anyone of his stature. They have their own projects in development spanning multiple years and wouldn’t look at any unsolicited queries.
6. Some Essential Don’ts Before You Send Any Cold Queries Out
As you plan and send out any cold queries, here are some essential practices to avoid:
- Don’t have an ego. Don’t assume that your script will help them. You’re making a request for them to help you.
- Don’t query an industry insider for the purpose of them giving you notes and advice. That’s not what queries are for. This is business. You’re pitching them a potential project for them to consider.
- Don’t attach, forward, or mail any documents (outlines, treatments, screenplays, novels, short stories, etc.) unless they ask you to submit them. If they see any attachments on any emails, the emails likely won’t even be read for legality purposes.
- Don’t include any conceptual images attached to or within the body of the email.
- Don’t try to cold query major A-List names like Gerwig, Spielberg, Nolan, Tarantino, Winslet, Theron, Portman, Johansson, Robbie, Cruise, Hanks, Hemsworth, Cooper, Pitt, Clooney, etc.
- You can try to go through their production companies (it doesn’t hurt to aim high) but chances are they have multiple projects in development for years to come.
7. Don’t Wait By the Inbox - Keep Writing
Once your query is sent, don’t wait by your email inbox, anxiously refreshing your screen. You have no control whether they respond or not. Train yourself to hope for the best (a response) but prepare for and expect the worst (silence or rejection in that response).
Beyond that, keep writing.
- Develop and write the next script.
- Refine your loglines.
- Send cold queries to other companies and individuals.
- Market your other scripts if they are ready.
- Learn from any silence or rejection and ask yourself what you could have done better. If you couldn’t have done anything better, move onto the next.
The most important thing is don’t grow cynical. Cold querying takes time. You could send out 100 emails and not hear back from any. But all it takes is one, and now, you know exactly how to do it.