all of my query letters have been returned by the distributors unread. I keep them very short and sweet referencing all of the magazine and book advice, but still they are returned. I send the dist. a letter advising that I have a low budget feature length comedy that I'd like to shop around. The letters aren't showing disinterest...but rather are treating like I sent the unsolicited material.
How is this supposed to work?
I'm no expert on it, but I'm pretty certain that writing query letters is probably the least effective method of selling a feature (aside from not trying at all). They're treating the letters themselves as unsolicited material, which is certainly their prerogative; the majors don't accept query letters from screenwriters, either, and probably don't expect people with a finished film to try the same route. You could call up their aquisition departments and see what sort of course of action they suggest, but I'd say your best bet (outside of getting into festivals, which isn't exactly a sure thing) would be to go to the AFM market in Los Angeles in November and try to set up a screening and/or pass out DVDs.
So I can't be a successful filmmaker in 10 easy steps? Damn you, Moviemaker! Damn you!
Did that magazine actually have a list called that?
It's sort of a culmanation of all the magazine pep talks.
eg: find out how so and so beat the one in a billion odds and distributed his indie on the web advancing more than 8 copies. (Ok, so if the chances are one in a billion...and that guys the one...then I might not even try.)
Remember that Eastwood movie, Any Which Way You Can? That should be the mantra for all aspiring filmmakers.
Query letters work, if you hit the right target. It might take 100 letters to get 1 positive result. People have been saying query letters don't work, but there is an exception to that rule -- sometimes query letters do work. If an agent or producer becomes aware of a project that they think will make them money, they will not be concerned about where it came from.
I would recommend a multi-pronged approach -- submit to festivals, submit copies of DVD's to film professors and critics, write query letters. Maybe set up a free screening and invite as many people as possible.