inkTip success?

If I have this memory correct, many years ago at the Austin Film Festival, a rep from Zero Gravity was a panelist and promised that anyone who submitted material would have it reviewed and woud receive a response. I forget if she provided her direct email or an exclusive link, but it was only for people in attendance at A.F.F. (again, if memory is serving me correctly). So, I put all the materials and info together, signed whatever forms they wanted, and off my submission went.

I'm still awaiting their response.

I can't imagine what the carnage must be like at their end. Generally speaking though, if something is being recommended on a forum because it's easy, it's best to go in a different direction. Every screenwriter and their dog will be doing the same. When you're breaking in, you want to find the people who are underserved. I know of someone who's just launched a new management company and she's already getting 500 queries a day via LinkedIn. 

     New Rockstar member here, and glad to be here.  I'm trying Script Revolution since it never hurts to be everywhere you can be with your material.  To some of the discussion I read here, I've recently gone through IMDB Pro, going down the rabbit hole of finding Indie/low budget producers and if their contact info is there I take note of it and add it to the list I have.  Through that search I've found quite a bit of decent contact info, either accepting queries, or at least providing what seems to be a legit email and not so much those info@ emails that are everywhere.  So I query who I can.  I'm trying to write things with a much lower budget these days, thinking that I can get someone interested with that approach and maybe get onboard with a more budget friendly script.

     As for InkTip, well, I won a 4 month Pro subscription on a contest on Coverfly for a TV Pilot I wrote, and immediately listed some scripts on there.  A horror script I have got over 60 views of the logline, but no company went further than that.  I even changed the logline every couple of weeks, and still no one viewed the pitch deck, the synopsis, script, etc.  And since you have to pay more $ to have a second "live script", I made the horror script "not live" recently, added my recent contained Thriller script, "Lie in Wait", which has 4 logline views thus far, so we'll see how that goes.  I mean, a lot of the companies that have viewed either script are not even in the same genre, but at least it does seem like some form of attention is happening, so again I'll see how it goes.  Glad to be here!

Sounds like you're doing the right things in the first paragraph, John. The problem with expensive listing services is that it generally takes a really long time for a script to align with an industry member. That can't really happen in a month.

Hi Joshua,

What I've been doing (and it can take some digging, time, and...patience) on IMDB Pro, is to use the dropdown tabs at the top...the "companies" and "people" tabs.  Under companies I choose 'production companies' and then from there it's a matter of using the filters on the left hand side of the page to try and zero-in a bit more on what you're looking for.  That can be by city (which I've done, searching local companies I didn't even know existed), or by their company meter ranking, which helps to not always look at the huge companies on the 'top of the mountain' so to speak.  I purposely try to eliminate all the big name companies and go after the others.  Sure, you can try whoever, but I just start a deep dive into a company's listing, then go down the rabbit hole of clicking on people's names I see listed as staff members, etc...trying to find someone whose contact info seems legit.  I often find that within one of those companies is a producer(s) who has their own smaller company, and through more clicking and opening of MANY windows, find there are some submission and/or contact info.  Seems like a lot, but honestly, it's the most information I've ever found.

The same type of approach can be done under the "people" drop down tab, which will give you the option to click 'producer' and/or 'managers'....after that same steps can be applied...use the filters on the left as much or as little as you prefer and try to find anyone you can.

Other than that, I try to hone in on exactly what or whom I'm looking for in regards to my project(s).  Do they fit my genre?  My tone?  When looking at their projects, is what they've made prior in line with what mine is?  Have they been attached to things that fit my project?  I know some of that is obvious, right, but it's good to know what they've done, because that too could not only help you in narrowing it down more, but also can come into play when querying/contacting them so that you have some knowledge of what they've done, can be to your advantage with possibly even mentioning that you're familiar with their work and how your project(s) align with their work.  You'll also find that a producer or production company or staff member worked on something else, and after a lot of digging and opening, can find something that fits as well, and possibly their contact info.

Sorry if that's a lot of info to read, but hope that helps!  Just toy with the filters, narrow down your search as best you can, and not sure where you're located but search local in your city or state as well as other locations and you'll soon discover there are a lot of companies and a lot of people.

Let me know if I can help any other kind of way.  Good luck man!

I can't applaud your approach enough, John. That's doing it properly, with a realistic and qualitative approach. I really hope it all pays off for you. 

John Waring, your use of filters and understanding the concept of drilling-down, in IMDBpro, means that you'll grasp pretty quickly the same idea on LinkedIn.  Put together, the two have helped me reach out to people, via email, that I'd really have no other way to do from a small town in Canada.

I'll throw together a similar filter/drill-down lesson to yours, but using LinkedIn.

IMDBpro (the "pro" version is best, and their pricing is top-notch right now, at $99) offers a lot of detail on filmmakers, but since people move around so much in this biz it contains a lot of old info.  Meanwhile, everybody seems to keep their "resume" (profile) on LinkedIn pretty up-to-date, and if you sign up for a free profile there you can do enough such that their $35/month pro subscription just isn't necessary.

But like most social media outlets, LinkedIn isn't without problems either, as I shall describe.

Later today!?

Okay, here's what a couple of hours gets ya'

Let’s have some fun exploiting the power that social media such as LinkedIn can provide.  This demo includes stop-offs at IMDBpro, Google (or whatever search engine you use) etc.  Put all of the tools together and you can find almost anything (including some great surprises you didn't know were even there):

https://www.integerentertainment.com/linkedin

Thanks Steve,

That's a good visual for what I was describing in my message.  And you're correct, I have recently started applying my same IMDBPro approach to LinkedIn.  Thank you for putting that together, it may serve as a nice tool and example of how and what to do for anyone looking to try.  Someone can dive really-really-really deep into IMDBPro, to the point you are nowhere near where you first started, but honestly that's the secret, I have located lots of valuable contact information, but also have uncovered a ton of companies, producers, writers, filmmakers, etc...

Thanks again.

Brilliant guide, Steve. Thanks so much for sharing it. I may post it as a blog sometime, if that's okay?

Has inktip had technical issues. I have been getting their weekly list for years. Sent a pitch a few weeks back, no confirmation email. Sent them an email, never heard from them.

It's the holiday season, so an ideal time for development work. Could be that. Could be their email getting blacklisted temporarily. Happens a lot now with big sites that send out a lot of transactional emails.

How did you get rejected from InkTip? I thought it was just a listing site and you simply paid to be on the listings? Were they running some sort of pitch/competition?

Yeah I don't know how you received a rejection email, Rossi.  Inktip themselves won't send you anything unless when you first list a script and something isn't correct about your listing.  Personally I like Inktip.  I originally won 4 free months in a screenwriting contest and immediately put a script on their site.  After lots of views of my logline and no synopsis viewings, I reworked my logline.  I added a second script, and that one too got a lot of logline views, then a couple of weeks ago I had a company download the synopsis.  So, fingers crossed.

But also, what I like is that you get their preferred newsletter of pitching opportunities sent to you weekly where you can pitch any of them that you have a match for.  I've done that as well.  And, couldn't believe that some of the companies actually took the time to send me an email, saying thank you for pitching but they passed, or they already found what they were looking for.  My point is, they didn't have to do that.  I can handle rejections, hell, that's part of it.  In fact, if you don't have a drawer (or email these days) of rejection letters, then you're not obviously not putting your stuff out there.

Inktip has been transparent in their approach, their listings, and make it really easy for you to pitch, not only companies looking for material, but also agents and managers if you so desire.  So again, not sure how you would get a rejection letter immediatley after listing a script, that's not exactly how Inktip operates.

I've been on Inktip for three weeks now, testing the site with one screenplay. It's been getting a steady stream of logline and summary requests, and even a few screenplay requests. If you're not seeing much response, a couple of things you can do are to improve your pitch and follow up on leads. As mentioned, your logline and summary need to stand out, not just be good. Think outside the box and focus on selling your screenplay, not just pitching it. A technique that’s worked well for me is using Robert Cialdini’s six principles of persuasion—reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. Incorporating these into your pitch copy can make a significant difference. Also, after submitting to a project, check the emails you receive for details on who your submission went to. Wait about two weeks, then follow up with those leads. Hope this helps, and best of luck with your pursuits!

InkTip likes to change your logline and resume and not tell you. So I thought I'd live here instead. :)

Can you tell us more about that, Kai? Sounds pretty serious.

They sent an email saying they do that sometimes.

I've been on Inktip for many years - never had that happen. 

Hello all,

Lots of great info here. Thanks! looks like i'll test how many windows i can open at once and see what I can dig up :)

doug esper