The Film Connection - Service Review
New Review - The Film Connection
Who are they and what do they do?:
The Film Connection
(https://www.filmconnection.biz)
is an email query letter service that sends your query letter
to a targeted list of agents, management companies, producers and
production companies. They currently list a contact list of
approx. 1,900 producers and production companies and 1,100
agents. The Film Connection can also assist you with
paper-mailed query letters and even write your letter for you.
With offices in Santa Monica and Oakland, California,
The Film Connection is an e-query service, now over 5 years old, that helps clients
contact almost anyone in the film industry with a personalized e-mail
query that looks like it is being sent from your own e-mail directly
to the individual contacted. After you send out a query, you
receive a report of the companies contacted and the names of the
contacts.
While screenwriters normally use the service to contact producers, production companies, agents, and managers, the company also sends queries to film distributors, directors, casting agents, entertainment lawyers, film festival producers, and others in the film industry. Some clients have used the service to sell film rights to their book or life story or to find writers to develop a script. Should you want to find a publisher or agent for a book, a companion service they offer is Publishers and Agents (www.publishersandagents.net).
The Company helps clients write a good letter by providing guidelines on writing an effective query, reviewing the letter, and making suggestions or by writing the letter. Creative Director and Film Connection founder Gini Graham Scott is also the author of SELL YOUR BOOK, SCRIPT OR COLUMN, published by the ASJA Press.
The Film Connection has clients from all over the world, and has received testimonials from dozens of clients, including noted film director Lee Lik Chee, noted for Shaolin Soccer and over 20 films, for a query to help him find a co-producer and from the U.S. Commercial Service, which used the service to help set up co-production meetings with U.S. producers for senior executives from Hong Kong. Many writers have found producers and agents through the service for scripts or TV/reality show projects. A musician used the service to get composing gigs, and an actress to let casting directors know she was available. The Company even received a prestigious Export Achievement Certificate from the U.S. Department�s of Commerce.
The service is a spin-off of Publishers And Agents.net, which offers similar services to connect writers of books, articles, and columns with editors, publishers, agents, and syndicate services, and a division of Making Connections, which also provides services to connect with the news media (www.newsmediaconnection.com) the music industry (www.songwritingconnection.com), game and toy industry (www.gameandtoyconneciton.com), and investment community (www.venturecapitalconnection.com). The service has been written up in the Wall Street Journal, Contra Costa Times, and other publications.
StoryPros "Real World Analysis" of The Film Connection:
More and more writers are marketing their scripts via email queries for several reasons. The cost is typically less than creating a paper-mailed campaign, the hard work of tracking down entertainment industry contacts is done for you, and there is a more immediate response.
How easy would it be to just create a dynamic query letter, send it off, and sit back and wait for calls requesting your screenplay?
Compare that to the standard method: Compile a list of contacts (hopefully the contact information is current), create a mail merge in Microsoft Word, create a self-addressed return envelope or postcard, print out a 1,000 letters, Stuff them in envelopes, and then lick and place two thousand stamps! Then you wait, and wait, and wait to see how the campaign went.
The advantages of an emailed query letter quickly become obvious. Try sending a query through even their smallest distribution list and you will be convinced of the benefits of sending out your query letters through this medium.
The Film Connection is a bit more expensive than some of their competitors, but they have a much larger distribution list, and larger list of client submitted testimonials to back up the effectiveness of their services.
StoryPros Verdict: Recommended
While screenwriters normally use the service to contact producers, production companies, agents, and managers, the company also sends queries to film distributors, directors, casting agents, entertainment lawyers, film festival producers, and others in the film industry. Some clients have used the service to sell film rights to their book or life story or to find writers to develop a script. Should you want to find a publisher or agent for a book, a companion service they offer is Publishers and Agents (www.publishersandagents.net).
The Company helps clients write a good letter by providing guidelines on writing an effective query, reviewing the letter, and making suggestions or by writing the letter. Creative Director and Film Connection founder Gini Graham Scott is also the author of SELL YOUR BOOK, SCRIPT OR COLUMN, published by the ASJA Press.
The Film Connection has clients from all over the world, and has received testimonials from dozens of clients, including noted film director Lee Lik Chee, noted for Shaolin Soccer and over 20 films, for a query to help him find a co-producer and from the U.S. Commercial Service, which used the service to help set up co-production meetings with U.S. producers for senior executives from Hong Kong. Many writers have found producers and agents through the service for scripts or TV/reality show projects. A musician used the service to get composing gigs, and an actress to let casting directors know she was available. The Company even received a prestigious Export Achievement Certificate from the U.S. Department�s of Commerce.
The service is a spin-off of Publishers And Agents.net, which offers similar services to connect writers of books, articles, and columns with editors, publishers, agents, and syndicate services, and a division of Making Connections, which also provides services to connect with the news media (www.newsmediaconnection.com) the music industry (www.songwritingconnection.com), game and toy industry (www.gameandtoyconneciton.com), and investment community (www.venturecapitalconnection.com). The service has been written up in the Wall Street Journal, Contra Costa Times, and other publications.
StoryPros "Real World Analysis" of The Film Connection:
More and more writers are marketing their scripts via email queries for several reasons. The cost is typically less than creating a paper-mailed campaign, the hard work of tracking down entertainment industry contacts is done for you, and there is a more immediate response.
How easy would it be to just create a dynamic query letter, send it off, and sit back and wait for calls requesting your screenplay?
Compare that to the standard method: Compile a list of contacts (hopefully the contact information is current), create a mail merge in Microsoft Word, create a self-addressed return envelope or postcard, print out a 1,000 letters, Stuff them in envelopes, and then lick and place two thousand stamps! Then you wait, and wait, and wait to see how the campaign went.
The advantages of an emailed query letter quickly become obvious. Try sending a query through even their smallest distribution list and you will be convinced of the benefits of sending out your query letters through this medium.
The Film Connection is a bit more expensive than some of their competitors, but they have a much larger distribution list, and larger list of client submitted testimonials to back up the effectiveness of their services.
StoryPros Verdict: Recommended
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For more details, please visit the Film Connection�s Web site at www.filmconnection.biz. Their Santa Monica contact information is Film
Connection, 425 Broadway, #115, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Phone:
(310) 943-7541. Fax: (310) 451-1260. E-Mail: publishersagents@aol.com