The Rep Files Interview: Literary Manager Zack Zucker YouTube video by Lee Jessup

Here's my screenwriting career coach interviewing my lit manager. Both straight shooters who have never steered me wrong. Listen to them!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3il...

‘Andor’ Writer Dan Gilroy On Disney Suspending Jimmy Kimmel & Hollywood Facing “Venomous Evil”: “This Isn’t A Skirmish. It’s A Siege” – Guest Column 'Andor' Writer Dan Gilroy On Trump's Jimmy Kimmel Pressure Campaign: "Artists Are Censored First Because They Fear Us Most" -- Guest Column

Mon Mothma: “The monster screaming the loudest, the monster we've helped create, the monster who will come for us all soon enough is... 'Emperor Palpatine'"
deadline.com/2025/09/ando...

Breaking: Cory Booker has officially delivered the longest Senate floor speech in US history, surpassing Strom Thurmond’s filibuster against the Civil Rights Act.

Another #hadouken pic for your enjoyment...

Paths to Screenwriting Success: Takeo Hori Takeo Hori tells his story of what led him to screenwriting competitions and how revisiting a script for a rewrite paid off. Takeo used the deadlines (usuall...

On this week that my rep is taking out my script, this interview just dropped about my journey to get to this point via screenwriting contests:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_0y...

(SPOILERS FOR THE 2014 FILM EX MACHINA)

I understand it’s not the point of the movie but I’ve always wondered if Caleb lives. Found this Reddit post and think I will probably incorporate it into my headcanon. It’s not the most thematically satisfying but definitely feels the most realistic

Michael Clayton Opening Monologue

Tom Wilkinson has passed away at the age of 75.

Wilkinson delivers the opening monologue of MICHAEL CLAYTON, one of the most intense and arresting openings ever in one of my favorite films of all time.

What a loss.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vi4...

Thanks, Rob! Yeah, I'm excited to get working with him!

Thank you! Trying to make the leap to these quieter pastures.

So excited to share I'm now repped by the super smart Zack Zucker of Bellevue Productions.
Now we're cooking with gas!
I owe this to the exceptional guidance & advocacy of Lee Jessup, Marios Rush, Andrew Hilton aka Screenplay Mechanic, @rbripley.bsky.social and the Page Awards!
bellevueprods.com

Importing from the bird app...

To Live and Die in L.A.
Apocalypse Now
Klute
Escape from New York
Out of the Past

The Bleak & Dark Film Festival...

The Good News Blog Post: Representation - LeeJessup.com While the WGA strike has disrupted productions and industry norms, it may have created a silver lining for writers seeking representation

If you placed as a Nicholl quarterfinalist I recommend, as someone who has gone thru that process, to query reps (not producers, esp. signatories) NOW when managers are reading new writers more than ever, w/ Nicholl Quarterfinalist in your subject line.
leejessup.com/the-good-new...
#scriptskychat

I think the Nicholl pedigree is still potent even after the other announcements. Tho it's probably good to get ahead of the competition by querying before the Academy distributes the Quarterfinalists list to industry.

More so now (w/ reps, NOT producers esp. signatories) I've heard from more than one rep that they now have more time reading scripts because they aren't busy selling scripts and clients.

I do. Once I have the deadlines for the top half dozen contests for the year, I map out a plan to complete a draft or rewrite by then. Because like you, without deadlines, I feel I can go on tinkering forever...

In my experience, querying is where a Nicholl quarterfinalist placement has the most value. I suggest to all Nichol QTs to query reps with "Nicholl Quarterfinalist screenplay..." in the subject line while you have "heat." This pedigree has real currency.
#scriptskychat

I use competitions for 1) deadlines that force me to finish drafts 2) wins/placements to better my query emails 3) direct promotion of my scripts to industry (by reputable contests only).
#scriptsky

Your students are lucky to have you as a teacher!

Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories Short lecture by Kurt Vonnegut on the 'simple shapes of stories.'

Still, the best explanation of story/structure in 4 minutes:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c...

At 5, I couldn't grasp the concept of a scapegoat; all I understood was that, because of Japan’s aggression that pulled the United States into the war, my family and I had to leave our home at gunpoint, taking with us only what we could carry. 1/

The people have spoken and America supports WGA/SAG/AFTRA strikes.
variety.com/2023/biz/news/poll-suppo...