Welcome to a revealing new series of interviews called INSIDERS, where I pick the brains of industry professionals across the film/TV and book publishing worlds.
Often, the two intertwine and because there are no writing boundaries at The TEN, I will be talking to literary managers, agents, publicists, executives, book editors, publishers, commissioners and more.
INSIDERS aims to arm you with all the information you need in order get your work produced or published, so I’m thrilled to be able to kickstart this series by talking to Hollywood-based literary manager and executive powerhouse turned media rights specialist, Eddie Gamarra.
Eddie helps provide book people with a 360 POV on navigating and profiting in Hollywood. He works with publishers around the world to develop media strategies across seasonal slates and individual titles. He also consults with literary agencies on a title-by-title/creator-by-creator basis with individualised plans for success in screen adaptations via packaging opportunities.
As a Literary Manager, Eddie repped screenwriters, directors, animators, authors and illustrators from around the world and helped them pitch and sell their projects to publishers and to production companies alike.
As an Executive Producer of both streaming and theatrical motion pictures released worldwide, he's worked with authors who've had their works adapted as well as developed original ideas that made it to the screen.
And as a Studio Executive at Paramount Global, he has scouted and acquired books, short stories, comics and other types of Intellectual Property for development and production across Nickelodeon and Awesomeness.
I first met Eddie back in 2008, while I was based in Los Angeles covering the entertainment industry for various publications.
At that time he was working for the Gotham Group and had just acquired the YA sci-fi book book, The Maze Runner, by author James Dashner. The movie trilogy, with Eddie credited as one of the executive producers, eventually went on to gross a billion dollars at the box office. (I even interviewed him for the Guardian about the nuts and bolts of it all, which was a lot of fun).
Not only is he an incredibly congenial fellow, he’s exceptionally knowledgable and also very much on the side of the writer. One of the things he told me was that ‘authors reign supreme’. What’s not to like about that?
Thank you for talking to The TEN, Eddie. Let’s get into it! What factors do managers, producers and executives consider when weighing up books for potential adaptation?
At the immediate moment, I would say there are fewer buyers for certain kinds of films and series. This is particularly true for Young Adult content and for children’s programming. Books and other types of IP (comics/manga/graphic novels, toys, video games, and even board games/card games) need to be worth the huge financial investment needed for an adaptation.
That need is measured in terms of pre-awareness. Marketing costs a fortune, so studios and networks are retrenching toward adapting ad infinitum their own library of heritage IP, as US and international audiences tend to be most familiar with those titles/brands.
But in the adult marketplace, a book can pop if it offers up a role or two, or three, that can attract big stars, or worlds that will attract big directors.
I think about three Cs:
Concept - For example, is the title the hook? Does the property have a killer idea within it?
Cast - Are there star-worthy roles?
Cost - How much will it take to adapt?
Think about Netflix’s adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone. The series is a big best-seller but the show is expensive. Right now the studios and networks are looking to cut costs. The publicly traded companies need to show Wall Street that they are yielding profit for shareholders. Also, Wall Street is hammering traditional media companies who are now cutting the number of shows made, cutting the overall deals with expensive talent, cutting their staffs. All of these costs are to appease Wall Street.
I remember running into you at the LA Times Festival of Books back in ’08, and you were excited because you’d just signed author James Dashner. Can you tell me what it was about James and The Maze Runner that caught your eye?
Well, my favourite TV show is The Twilight Zone. The first book of this series was originally a stand alone title, but if anyone actually bothered to read AND finish the book, one would see that potential for a franchise. It was a rich world, a compelling lead with a robust ensemble, and that dystopian wave in publishing and Hollywood was cresting at the time. The Maze Runner was an example of a property meeting the markets, both Hollywood and publishing, at the right time.
You went on to executive produce The Maze Runner series of films. Can you talk me through the process and how closely you worked with James to bring the project to fruition?
I was originally the media rights rep handling the title for film and TV, working closely with the author’s book agent Michael Bourret, and I was trying to sell it to a studio as a potential feature. We got pretty close, but ultimately no dice.
We then came aboard as producers, which we could since we were a literary management company, not an agency. James Dashner and Michael were gracious and saw our passion and tenacity. My former boss, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, who owns and runs The Gotham Group, is indomitable. She does not give up on behalf of her clients. That tenacity is trait I learned from her for sure. If you believe in the potential of someone/some project, never give up.
We set up the project at Fox. Back then, the studio’s appetite was to make the adaptation an expensive film, but that needed a star. The kinds of names bandied about didn’t really align with the spirit of the material. I tip my hat to Wes Ball, a young director then repped at Gotham, who used his VFX background to pitch how he could make the film for a fraction of the cost while making it big-screen worthy.
He definitely succeeded as the final film looks amazing and he got great performances from the cast. We kept James and his book agent in the loop throughout the process to the best of our ability, especially at the key early moments throughout development and pre-production.
Until recently, you were VP of Literary Affairs at Nickelodeon; what did that entail and what was the highlight of working at such a well-known brand?
I worked across a number of brands, including Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, and Awesomeness, the YA/Gen Z brand that did To All The Boys and PEN15 (both before I started working with them. I take no credit for those incredible projects!) I also helped out with our international Nick team and the Noggin app.
My day-to-day was working with the live action and animation teams scouting for books and other IP that could be adapted for film or TV. A consistent goal was to find the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles type franchise. Days consisted of meetings with authors, illustrators, book agents, publishers, as well as producers that had secured IP on their own.
I heard pitches for IP-based projects, offered analyses of the IP for the teams about the success and market value of the IP, and I worked closely with our Business and Legal Affairs teams during the negotiations and even through the execution of long form contracts.
I also began working more closely with our Consumer Products team so we could more efficiently identify other types of IP, especially video games. I would also serve as an ambassador between the company and the stake-holders of the projects we did option.
One of the blessings and curses of working with the Nick brand specifically is that Nickelodeon is a comedy-forward kid brand and childrens’ publishing is woefully lacking in comedy. It was always difficult to find something that resonated with me, that would resonate with my colleagues, that also felt on brand, and that was also covering themes and subject matter that was missing from our slate.
What can you say to any writer who is hoping to write a book series that will catch the eye of an agent/manager. How can they lift themselves above the pack?
1. Have a great title! When I was a rep, I sold numerous books strictly based on the title alone. As a buyer, we optioned a few projects almost solely because of their titles.
2. Have an amazing lead role! We almost always need to cast meaningful actors to the projects. What roles are going to make people fight to portray those characters?
3. Show us a familiar world in a compelling new way or take me to a world I have never visited before. Film/TV are visual media. I want to see and hear vistas and environments that draw me in and keep me there. It could be Gravity making me feel the isolation of space, or it could be the New Jersey of The Sopranos where your neighbour is a mob boss.
Over the course of your career, what project are you most proud of and why?
Slow Horses on Apple TV. I knew immediately from the first casual conversation with the US publisher, Bronwyn Hruska, of Soho Press, that Mick Herron’s book series would make for an amazing TV show.
The US and UK producers did a fantastic job with the adaptation, which the author was involved in. It was my best example of personal taste combined with a property finding the market at the right time, plus a hard fought complicated negotiation yielding true benefits for the author and the publisher.
In terms of a writer looking for an agent, or wanting to pitch to a particular channel, what advice would you give them?
Do comparative market analysis and the deep research. Know what other projects have been made in recent years and which companies made them, and who repped the writers of those projects. Take the time to educate yourself as to who are the people who get stuff done and whose tastes align with the kind of projects you want to shop. Read the trades daily. Treat it like homework. Hell, make flashcards!
Remember that reps want to grow careers over the long-term and rarely want to just sell a single project. Don’t just have one script or manuscript. Have multiple samples that speak to the breadth and depth of your interests, but also demonstrate your skills as a story-teller.
We use the passive voice when it comes to representation. “I got signed by UTA,” for example. I hate that. You are not just a storyteller. You are the CEO of a company of one. Treat reps as your colleagues, as your board of directors. Reps are supposed to help you shape your business plan by giving you market intelligence (what are buyers looking for, what’s already in development or production).
Yes, they should also give you notes on your written work, of course. But, they should also help you practice your pitches and help tailor the pitch to the specific companies being pitched to. Apple does very different kinds of projects compared to Disney, for example.
Is having a healthy social media following something that agents/executives take into account before signing writers?
To some degree. This goes back to the point about the costliness of marketing. YouTubers have, in some cases, been cast in movies even when they really haven’t mastered the art and craft of acting. Why? Because they have millions of followers. In my experience, screenwriters don’t have to worry about this.
In book publishing, having a big following can certainly help an author get a deal. But fame on social media is fickle and fleeting. Books take a long time to be published. Movies can take a long to get made.
I used to tell my clients, “Don’t play slots, build the casino.” And also, “Write the stories you want to tell, but prioritise the ones that will sell”.
YA fiction - and also comic book adaptations - have exploded in popularity in recent years. Why do you think that is, and what is the future for this sector?
YA is actually waning at the moment but that said, the YA titles that make it through are the ones that women in their 30’s and 40’s are typically also reading. The grounded contemporary stories like To All The Boys are more cost effective to produce than the big sci-fi, fantasy, or period pieces.
As for comic books, it’s all about Gen X. We are the original super-fans and we have some money. Manga/Anime is the current rising wave of adaptations. The US, in particular, has jumped on the Japanese and Korean content in a massive way in recent years. As more and more young people read/watch that imported content, the more and more we’ll continue to find such adaptations in the coming years.
How has Hollywood changed over the last decade in terms of its output, and is this a better time for the writer, or worse. And if worse, what can writers do to ensure they have a career that can pay the bills?
In some ways better, if you’re not relying on the traditional Hollywood system, in that the cost of technology decreases while the accessibility of technology increases. From cameras to sound, from lighting to editing, people have and will continue to make great stuff on their off-the-shelf hardware and software.
Distribution is more democratised as well. And even remuneration is easier. How a storyteller can create, produce, and then disseminate their work is easier than ever before. They can get paid for it through crowd-funding platforms, subscription models, and even Google ads.
If you are [relying on Hollywood], then, for the immediate near future, it’s a bad time to be a writer. My advice is always be writing. Writers write, no matter what. Have a day job that allows you to not have to write in order to make rent. In the US, have health insurance; don’t rely on getting into the WGA for insurance.
When and if you do sell something, save a big chunk of that money or invest it wisely. You never know when you might get another pay day.
Eddie Gamarra offers a 360 degree perspective on the business of storytelling. He can help storytellers:
find the right agent/manager
develop their original projects
practice their pitches
review their scripts and manuscripts
provide strategic advice on how to navigate both the entertainment and publishing industries.
If you think you could benefit from a consultation, email eddiegamarra@gmail.com for more details.