*** AGENT CALLOUT KLAXON *** June 2025
I am looking to bolster my reading list for the summer with a focus on finding new screenwriting clients to work with. Ahead of having a wider callout, I am looking to gather some material for a more focused summer reading period. This focus is on specific genre stories that will land in my wheelhouse. It's the first time I've tried this, in aiming for something closer to a lit agent "manuscript wishlist" and sharing some specific genres that appeal to me and that I feel I can move with my producer contacts!
So please read the genre rundowns below and if you have a project that sits in any one of these specific spaces, please click the Google Forms link to share a logline and your contact details so I can make a read request if it appeals!
If you are, or if you know of, a writer looking for a first or a new agent, please submit!!
The link to the form is below the six wishlist categories list below.
SUBMISSIONS OPEN UNTIL 27th JUNE 2025, 12.00 BST
*** WISHLIST ***
1. TIME TRAVEL
A lean time travel story that pokes at the ambiguity and conflict inherent in the idea of time travel; loopy logic and high personal stakes. Mechanical not fantasy/timeslip. Something that digs into the specifics of the people involved, and where they start/end their time travel journey.
Comparable; TIMECRIMES. TIME TRAP (except for the fantasy side!). BACK TO THE FUTURE (obvs!) 12 MONKEYS. THE TERMINATOR et al. PRIMER. DEJA VU. LIFE ON MARS or TIMEWASTERS for TV.
2. HORROR
A smart, demanding horror that's grounded in character and without too much in the way of the supernatural or the jump scares. Perhaps closer to a thriller in energy, but hung on thematically horrifying events?
Comparables; THE EXORCIST. SEVEN. SAINT MAUD. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. THE FLY. THE THING. THE WITCH.
3. INSTITUTION/PRECINCT STORY
A character story set against the backdrop of a known entity, to take advantage of his institution or precinct as a hook on which to hang the character story.
Comparables; SPIKE ISLAND. PAN AM. PEAKY BLINDERS. THE HOUR. SEPTEMBER 5.
4. BEHIND-ENEMY-LINES THRILLER
Another genre story story, but something that puts the lead character outside of their comfort zone, with an impetus to survive but limited means to do so and a ticking clock to fight against.
Comparables; '71, I.D., COLLATERAL, GREEN ROOM, DIE HARD (yeah!) (but smaller). THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. THE HURT LOCKER. FURY. THE COUNTERFEITERS. MONSTERS. COP CAR.
5. BAND-CENTRIC Y.A. DRAMA
As someone who came up in the 90s and remembers how empowering it is to pile in a van with your mates in a band, something that chronicles that big-bang moment in late teens and early 20s, through an analogue lens live shows, travelling, playing, raving, collaborating, becoming..!
Anything with sharp elbows and a punk spirit, that captures an energy/spirit/fizz.
Comparables (some docs too); MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM. A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO BEING A ROCK STAR. HEARTS BEAT LOUD. SLC PUNK. Any of the DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILISATION docs. WHAT DRIVES US. ALMOST FAMOUS. WE ARE LADYPARTS. THE FILTH AND THE FURY.
6. BIOPIC
More than anything, I love to be told a life story that I don't yet know and understand why I should care as much as you do about the subject matter. If you've any biopic story of any scale (slice of life to cradle-to-grave) about any figure, well known or less so, I'd love to hear who it is...
Comparables; WALK THE LINE, THE DARKEST HOUR, THE KING'S SPEECH, MILK, THE AVIATOR, SEX AND DRUGS AND ROCK'N'ROLL, STAN & OLLIE, GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY.
*** END OF WISHLIST ***
Link to submit;
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdNhxWgJa1SF9tZyW6z3eqas7pkDdAE486Yz7U9w0WpcHOwHg/viewform
Thanks in advance for submitting/sharing!
Steven.
FAQS;
Am I submitting for an agent read request to consider me & my work for potential representation?;
Yes.
Will you follow up by email if you want to make a read request of a completed draft?;
Yes. Please do not submit if you don't have a full draft ready to be read.
Should I submit more than one project?;
No thank you. Please submit the one you feel is the strongest, or the best match for the wishlist category.
Will you confirm if you're not making a read request?;
Yes, by email.
Should I send you a logline for material outside of the above categories?;
No, not currently please. I may have another callout later in the year that will go wider.
Are you looking for writers based outside the UK?;
I'll lean towards UK-based writers but keen for global submissions if the project is a good fit. UK-set stories are always a plus.
Can I message through the contact form with any questions?;
Hell yes!
I am looking to bolster my reading list for the summer with a focus on finding new screenwriting clients to work with. Ahead of having a wider callout, I am looking to gather some material for a more focused summer reading period. This focus is on specific genre stories that will land in my wheelhouse. It's the first time I've tried this, in aiming for something closer to a lit agent "manuscript wishlist" and sharing some specific genres that appeal to me and that I feel I can move with my producer contacts!
So please read the genre rundowns below and if you have a project that sits in any one of these specific spaces, please click the Google Forms link to share a logline and your contact details so I can make a read request if it appeals!
If you are, or if you know of, a writer looking for a first or a new agent, please submit!!
The link to the form is below the six wishlist categories list below.
SUBMISSIONS OPEN UNTIL 27th JUNE 2025, 12.00 BST
*** WISHLIST ***
1. TIME TRAVEL
A lean time travel story that pokes at the ambiguity and conflict inherent in the idea of time travel; loopy logic and high personal stakes. Mechanical not fantasy/timeslip. Something that digs into the specifics of the people involved, and where they start/end their time travel journey.
Comparable; TIMECRIMES. TIME TRAP (except for the fantasy side!). BACK TO THE FUTURE (obvs!) 12 MONKEYS. THE TERMINATOR et al. PRIMER. DEJA VU. LIFE ON MARS or TIMEWASTERS for TV.
2. HORROR
A smart, demanding horror that's grounded in character and without too much in the way of the supernatural or the jump scares. Perhaps closer to a thriller in energy, but hung on thematically horrifying events?
Comparables; THE EXORCIST. SEVEN. SAINT MAUD. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. THE FLY. THE THING. THE WITCH.
3. INSTITUTION/PRECINCT STORY
A character story set against the backdrop of a known entity, to take advantage of his institution or precinct as a hook on which to hang the character story.
Comparables; SPIKE ISLAND. PAN AM. PEAKY BLINDERS. THE HOUR. SEPTEMBER 5.
4. BEHIND-ENEMY-LINES THRILLER
Another genre story story, but something that puts the lead character outside of their comfort zone, with an impetus to survive but limited means to do so and a ticking clock to fight against.
Comparables; '71, I.D., COLLATERAL, GREEN ROOM, DIE HARD (yeah!) (but smaller). THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. THE HURT LOCKER. FURY. THE COUNTERFEITERS. MONSTERS. COP CAR.
5. BAND-CENTRIC Y.A. DRAMA
As someone who came up in the 90s and remembers how empowering it is to pile in a van with your mates in a band, something that chronicles that big-bang moment in late teens and early 20s, through an analogue lens live shows, travelling, playing, raving, collaborating, becoming..!
Anything with sharp elbows and a punk spirit, that captures an energy/spirit/fizz.
Comparables (some docs too); MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM. A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO BEING A ROCK STAR. HEARTS BEAT LOUD. SLC PUNK. Any of the DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILISATION docs. WHAT DRIVES US. ALMOST FAMOUS. WE ARE LADYPARTS. THE FILTH AND THE FURY.
6. BIOPIC
More than anything, I love to be told a life story that I don't yet know and understand why I should care as much as you do about the subject matter. If you've any biopic story of any scale (slice of life to cradle-to-grave) about any figure, well known or less so, I'd love to hear who it is...
Comparables; WALK THE LINE, THE DARKEST HOUR, THE KING'S SPEECH, MILK, THE AVIATOR, SEX AND DRUGS AND ROCK'N'ROLL, STAN & OLLIE, GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY.
*** END OF WISHLIST ***
Link to submit;
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdNhxWgJa1SF9tZyW6z3eqas7pkDdAE486Yz7U9w0WpcHOwHg/viewform
Thanks in advance for submitting/sharing!
Steven.
FAQS;
Am I submitting for an agent read request to consider me & my work for potential representation?;
Yes.
Will you follow up by email if you want to make a read request of a completed draft?;
Yes. Please do not submit if you don't have a full draft ready to be read.
Should I submit more than one project?;
No thank you. Please submit the one you feel is the strongest, or the best match for the wishlist category.
Will you confirm if you're not making a read request?;
Yes, by email.
Should I send you a logline for material outside of the above categories?;
No, not currently please. I may have another callout later in the year that will go wider.
Are you looking for writers based outside the UK?;
I'll lean towards UK-based writers but keen for global submissions if the project is a good fit. UK-set stories are always a plus.
Can I message through the contact form with any questions?;
Hell yes!
