Dear Karel,

When a friend mentioned to Stephen J. De Jager that I have been having trouble placing a number of my screenplays with either an agent or a production company, Stephen said that I should contact you. Unable to find anywhere to do this on your website, I am affixing this to the Comment field to the ‘Is it worth it?’ letter. I have also sent a request to connect to you via Linkedin where, if necessary, I can repeat this letter.

Briefly, I am a published novelist who hopes to become a successful screenwriter. Presently, I have a six-part miniseries, a two-part miniseries and three feature-length scripts looking for a home.

The six-part miniseries, titled Savage Odyssey, is based on an extended version of my novel Savage Exile, which was published by Pan Macmillan in Australia and the UK. The following is the logline of the miniseries:

‘As a consequence of evil design, a young man is pressed into the navy and his fiancée is transported to New South Wales where, before interventions by an absolute friend and a magnificent savage, she is subjected to the worst indignities of nineteenth-century female incarceration.’

A feature-length screenplay that I adapted from the novel was picked up by the production company Instinct Entertainment. Shana Levine, who was then one of the producers and is now with Screen Australia, wrote that the script was one of the best she had read in a very long time. Unfortunately, Instinct Entertainment was unable to raise the required finance, which at that time far exceeded the amount that could normally be raised for local productions.

Despite receiving similar praise for Savage Odyssey from a prominent industry professional (“a wonderful read and a great epic story”), I have not been able to place it, or any of my other less expensive, contemporary scripts, in front of anyone who would be in a position to do anything with them, mainly because of the industry’s no-unsolicited-scripts policy. Savage Odyssey would, of course, be the most expensive production. But, if successful, could be extended to run for several seasons.

So, I would welcome any advice you can impart. I can also send you the synopsis and any, or all, of the episodes of Savage Odyssey; and, if required, the loglines, synopsis and scripts of my other works.

I await your response with interest.

Sincerely,
John Lewis