When we were cruising through various production company websites on the look out for new talent we came across this sage advice for new directors on Somesuch’s Guide to Getting Signed which we thought would be good to share with you:

Step one. The approach email…

Every day we get a lot of emails from new directors seeking representation.
We love and appreciate those emails and are very flattered to be considered.

Thank you.

We take them seriously. Please keep them coming.

Most emails we get are wonderful, some are funny, some are kooky and some are downright odd.

So here’s out guide to writing an email that we will take seriously…

1.
Check our website.
‘Contacts’ will give you the addresses of who to contact.
If in doubt make sure you cc Denna.
She’s the don.

Do not send group emails to more than one company…
We want to believe we’re the only production company you want to come to.

Silly. Egotistical. But true.

Do not therefore bcc.
We can tell. See above.

2.
Do not just attach the link to your work and no explanation. We might misunderstand it for junk and delete.

Tell us a bit about yourself, but not too much. Keep it brief.

Tell us why you think we’re right for you. But be humble. And make sure you’ve looked at our work first.

3.
Get your facts straight, especially if you are resending the same email to multiple companies…
For instance ‘I have been a fan of your company for many years…’
Have we been running for many years? Nope. Just 2.

Or ‘Dear James’… Is there a James at Somesuch & Co.? Nope. Wrong company my friend.

4.
Spell our company name correctly…
If confused have a quick check on our website.
Is there a space between some and such? Nope.
Is the ‘s’ of ‘such’ a capital? Nope.

5.
Give us time to answer…
We try very hard to respond to every single approach we get.
But it may take a few days or even a week.

If you think it’s been too long. We’re very sorry, you may have fallen between the three of us.
Send us a wee prompt.
But be careful not to be rude.
We understand how frustrating it is to get representation, but being rude won’t encourage us to take time out to look at your work.

It is as important for us to like a director as it is for a director to like us.
We are much more enthusiastic about people we love.