Last year, we posted about a great opportunity for screenwriters to donate to a great cause and get their screenplay read by a professional manager in return. If you missed your chance last year, screenwriter Joe Nienalt and Benderspink manager Daniel Vang are back to help Joe raise money for the 2013 Heart Walk. Last year, with Daniel's promise to read screenplays from Joe's Heart Walk donors, Joe raised almost $45,000 for the American Heart Association (up from over $8,000 the previous year). Over the past two years, two writers and a writing team got representation as a result of Daniel reading their scripts through the fund drive. Joe appreciated our No Film School post about his Heart Walk campaign so much last year, he linked to it from his own post to help people understand why they should donate. Joe reached out to us again this year to help him spread the word, and we're happy to do so. To find out how you can help a good cause and your own screenwriting career, check out the details below:
- If you donate $25, Daniel will read the first ten pages of your script.
- If you donate $50, Daniel will read the first 50 pages (if it's great, he won't want to put it down after 50 pages).
- If you donate $100, Daniel will read your entire script (good or bad).
- The deadline to make a donation is October 4, 2013.
If you missed last year's post, you may be wondering, "Who are Joe Nienalt and Daniel Vang?" Joe Nienalt is a screenwriter living in Tacoma, Washington, currently repped by UTA agents Jon Huddle and Jason Burns, and managed by Alan Gasmer. Joe got the attention of Jon Huddle through a fellowship he won back in 2005 on which Jon was an advisor. Joe later contacted Jon and asked if he could send his latest script for Jon to read. Jon agreed, loved Joe's new script, and sent it to senior agent Jason Burns. They both signed on to rep Joe, as well as bringing in Alan Gasmer, Jon's former mentor from William Morris, to manage Joe. After much networking, Joe closed a six-figure deal to write a script for a movie to be filmed in Russian (and, no, he doesn't speak the language), and he continues to live and work a day job in Tacoma.
Daniel Vang is a manager at Benderspink whose job is to find new writers for the company to break into the industry. Daniel works for one of the top managers, Chris Bender, and has a direct line to the head of production at Benderspink. Not familiar with Benderspink? Benderspink (Chris Bender, J.C. Spink, principals) manage several top writers and directors, and share producing or executive producing credits on several films including The Hangover, The Hangover Part II and The Hangover Part III, A History of Violence, and The Ring and The Ring Part Two, among many others.
Ready to give to a good cause and get your script read? Follow this link to read Joe Nienalt's post on how to donate and submit your screenplay.
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