Covering letter template

Is this a good way to do a covering letter for a sitcom?
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Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is (NAME), (SOME INFORMATION ON ME). Enclosed you will find the script for (MY SITCOM).

(SITCOM SYNOPSIS).

(CHARACTER #1 BREAKDOWN)

(CHARACTER #2 BREAKDOWN)

(CHARACTER #3 BREAKDOWN)

(CHARACTER #4 BREAKDOWN)

Here are a few ideas I have for further plotlines.

(PLOT OUTLINE #1)

(PLOT OUTLINE #2)

(PLOT OUTLINE #3)

Thank you for taking the time to read my work, I hope you enjoy it.

Sincerely,

(NAME)
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Of course you could put however many character breakdown and plot outlines you need but should keep it to one page.

Is that a good way to do it? Or should the character breakdowns and plotlines be else where?

I managed to get a large and well known production company to ask me to send our full script to them by doing the following:-

Dear <name>

Regards
Yours Sincerely

(the episode synopsis were on a seperate sheet of A4)

About 10 days later we were contacted and were asked to send them our full script.

I'm not saying that the above is the definitive answer, and I'm sure there are better ways, but it worked for me and my writing partner so we must have done something right.

Def.

You didn't send the script? I didn't think that would work. It must have been a really interesting synopsis!

Quote: Bam! @ June 12 2008, 5:43 PM BST

You didn't send the script? I didn't think that would work. It must have been a really interesting synopsis!

View original

From the research I have done in getting my first script out of the door, it seems as though sending a full script to people is generally a bit of a no no unless you have an 'in' with someone who you know will read it. Infact we had better luck sending a ten page sample and a cover letter than we did sending anyone a full script.

For the example above, the general concensus for that particualr company was that they don't really like unsolicitied scripts. So I found a name of someone there and sent just a polite cover letter and enclosed a one page summary of the proposed first series. And it worked.

I am pretty new to this game so still learning the ropes. Hopefully a few others will give some advice to you (which I can use too!)

Def.

I've always just sent of scripts with letters. And 75% of the time they've been read.

Companies don't like unsolicited stuff, but they do read it sometimes. And they'll more inclined too, as Def says, if you don't put 'Dear sir/madam' and have taken time to get personal.

I have some names but I don't have names for every company I'm sending this out to(6).

I want to include all this information but I'm not sure if it should all be on the covering letter?

Quote: Bam! @ June 12 2008, 6:00 PM BST

I have some names but I don't have names for every company I'm sending this out to(6).

I want to include all this information but I'm not sure if it should all be on the covering letter?

View original

Don't bother with future plot ideas. I've been told never to bother, and I personally never have. It's done me no harm.

Also if your show got somewhere, it'll be a million miles away from the original script thus rendering your future plot ideas redundant.

Quote: Seefacts @ June 12 2008, 6:03 PM BST

Don't bother with future plot ideas. I've been told never to bother, and I personally never have. It's done me no harm.

View original

That's interesting. But yeah, I suppose if your basic idea has the potential to go somewhere, they'll be able to see it without you explaining it to them.

I never thought of it that way. And to be honest, it looks a lot nicer with them taken out. They seemed a bit out of place coming before the script.

Quote: zooo @ June 12 2008, 6:10 PM BST

That's interesting. But yeah, I suppose if your basic idea has the potential to go somewhere, they'll be able to see it without you explaining it to them.

View original

Not sure about that. I think it depends a lot on the type of show. For instance it would not be obvious simply from a pilot script about three old duffers wandering aimlessly round the Yorkshire moors that there was the potential for a series.

But if you do include them should they go on the cover letter? It seems they should come after the script?

Quote: Timbo @ June 12 2008, 6:26 PM BST

For instance it would not be obvious from a pilot about three old duffers wandering round the Yorkshire moors that there was the potential for a series.

View original

After God knows how many series of that show, I'm still unconvinced there's comedy potential in that particular idea.

In a cover letter, I'd avoid character descriptions utterly. Nothing more boring that reading about characters excised from the context they inhabit.

The least information the better, imo, for a cover note.

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Intro

One-sentence pitch or teaser.

One paragraph description - 3-4 sentences max. Use hot, exciting emotive words in the description.

Solicitation to see more, if they wish.

Exit.
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Def's is an excellent cover note, btw.

Future episodes should go into the end of a treatment or larger synopsis but I restrict myself to writing single line pitches. You want them to get to the script ASAP, not get arc-eye from all the supplementaries that accompany it.

So less is more? I'll have to revise my letter.

Def's is an excellent introductory letter although I'd skip episode outlines. I always treat the cover note as an advertisement for a product, similar to the blurb on the back of a book that tempts the reader to buy.

But yes, less is more in the first contact, for me, anyways.

Quote: SlagA @ June 12 2008, 7:05 PM BST

Def's is an excellent introductory letter

View original

Praise indeed, but I feel it's only fair to point out that it was SlagA who provided me with a basic template in the first place when I asked this question many months ago. So the praise is all his.

(SlagA...we can share the royalties...Shhh!..)

Def.