Confessions of an occasionally well-fed, occasionally starving comedy writer
By Hans Kracauer
Are you on a quest for the Comedy Pot Of Gold? So am I. My name is Hans Kracauer. I’m a WGA writer currently pursuing my jester’s trade (writer’s division) in Los Angeles.
I come out of advertising. Specifically – as a (somewhat) acclaimed copywriter in New York. Although I had always been a writer, I became determined to shift my focus to writing screenplays. Or, if need be, to writing directly for television. I announced my intention to various colleagues. The reaction? I was repeatedly told that (a) I absolutely needed an agent and (b) no self-respecting agent (or even one with zero self-respect) would touch me unless I had documented entertainment credits. Wait a minute, I protested. What about the fact that I had won numerous prestigious advertising awards? Both for my print ads and for my television commercials? Wake up and smell the stardust, I was told. Advertising awards? You might as well be an award-winning plumber.
Well, it’s no news bulletin that conventional wisdom can be dead wrong. But at first it didn’t seem that way. Who cared if I had already written a feature comedy. In show business, I was a nobody. Plunking the feature smack dab in front of a powerful agent was a sure way not to get it read. One had to do the deed in stages. One had to be stealthy. Therefore I sent out a rather wily pitch letter. It not only pointed to my creative accomplishments in advertising but – as an attachment – included a ten minute comic screenplay I had written for an ad publication. The screenplay (ultra-broad) centered on the way political correctness had pervaded every corner of the advertising industry. (Curious? I’m including it here as an attachment.)
Well, you can imagine the aftermath. My pitch was mostly ignored. But one major agent did respond. He read the short. He then asked to see the feature screenplay. Next thing I knew, I was being represented by one of the top talent agencies in Los Angeles.
Did my life suddenly change? Did everything now come up smelling roses.? Are you kidding? Of course not. The screenplay did not sell. However, I did wind up with a job writing on a celebrated TV sitcom. Naturally, the sitcom did not last. Neither did my agent. He disappeared under the radar after losing out in some political power scuffle at the agency.
Hey, it’s Hollywood! I am currently agent-less again. Still there have been compensations. I can skip down the street with a number of options under my belt. Plus my prospects are – as everyone intones like a mantra – excellent.
Want to be further enlightened? Visit my screenplay and television web site: WWW.MANICMOONBEAMS.COM.
Good hunting to everyone!