Agent addenda: Over the years, before I pretty much stopped altogether, reading friends' scripts and friends of friends' scripts, I also had the caveat, "I'm critiquing your script. Don't think to use me as a conduit to my agents. I won't asked them to read it. I broke this rule only once and did so on my own initiative, not at the request of the scriptwriter who knew nothing about until after the fact. I put my rep and credibility on the line because it was the only script I ever read that I thought an agent should actually see...It was very good...So I called my agent and asked if he would read it. He was a top agent at a top agency. He said, "Well, if a writer of your caliber thinks that highly of it, I should read it." I didn't have to worry about my credibility. The agent never read the damned thing. Never heard about it again. It was his loss. It's still a great script. But I should have known...they're not looking for new talent, they're only looking for HOT new talent that's an easy sell.
