Sample Sale Letter


The following letter resulted in a reading and an option sale. After one year, the producer could not finance the film and the option was dropped. Only about one in ten option sales move on to the next step.

       Dear (Producer):

       THE PARDON tells a story about the Vietnam War that has not been 
       told yet.  The screenplay is based on my produced stage play of 
       the same name.

       Frank White fled to Canada during the war and started a new life.
       Now it is 1977, President Carter has offered pardons to men like 
       Frank, and so he returns home as a widower with a young son.

       THE PARDON is a family drama proving once again that "you can't 
       go home again" as Frank struggles to make peace with his father, 
       a World War II hero.  

       But Frank does prove to the world that he is not a coward when his 
       son is taken hostage during a foiled robbery attempt, and Frank 
       risks his life to save the boy.

       THE PARDON tells the story of a military family achieving a 
       difficult peace long after the official treaties have been signed.

       May I send you the script?

       My screenplay RUBY'S TUNE is presently optioned.  The public 
       television version of my comedy CHRISTMAS AT THE JUNIPER TAVERN
       won an ACE award.

Again, brevity is always the key. Notice all the white space in the letter (short paragraphs). Almost everything sent to Los Angeles is skimmed rather than read - a natural result of receiving hundreds of letters a day. Make your letter easy to read!

This, of course, is not an easy script to sell, being character-driven and having a hero who was a draft dodger. However, the subject resonates passionately with certain people - and I was lucky enough to find a producer who was one of them.

Then he learned how difficult the sale was as well.

I still pitch THE PARDON. I believe it is an important story.


MODULE 11: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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