Watch clips or entire Hallmark and Lifetime movies. Dissect the formula. Replicate it. Consider this unconventional approach from a best-selling author... he rewrote several bestsellers word-for-word before he ever published his own. It's a powerful way to imprint the words in your brain. Emulate to learn!
Successful artists study the techniques of others until it becomes part of their own identity. Hunter S. Thompson once re-wrote all of the Great Gatsby so he could feel what it was like to write a great novel. Robert Louis Stevenson used to copy paragraphs by his favorite writers from memory so he could internalize their wisdom.
TIP: If you are Amazon Prime member, here's the link to hundreds you can also stream for free. You can also search YouTube, but be forewarned YouTube can quickly become a blackhole.
Then rewrite it. Repeat until it knocks your socks off and the socks of anyone you give it to. The preferred structure is 9 Acts in 100-105 pages.
When you think your script is ready, develop a short, catchy logline. Can you describe your entire movie in two sentences? You better be able to! Read as many successful log lines as you can. I created an optimized search page where you can limit your results by videos.
The movies that got made are the hooks you want to model.
Join IMDB Pro. Having made your list Hallmark/Lifetime movies in your genre, look them up in IMDB Pro. Once you find the movie, identify the writer and click on the writer’s name. You will be taken to the writer’s page. From there, look for the AGENT for that writer. Look for patterns, does the same agent’s name keep popping up? That's the agent you want!
Reach out to see if they are interested in representing you. Keep in mind it's far more realistic for an unknown author to start with smaller agencies before going after the big guns at CAA, ICM, and Endeavor.
They will be much more approachable if you are referred by someone they already work with, so start building relationships with successful screenwriters.
Alternatively, using IMDB Pro, you can identify the movies in your genre and look up the PRODUCERS of those movies. Many have their phone numbers/addresses are listed. You can contact them directly and query about your script. These are the companies that pitch to all the networks (Hallmark, Lifetime, TV One, Netflix, etc...).
Need one-on-one assistance with your script? I recommend you reach out to Bill Froehlich. He's a writer/producer/director with over 30 years experience. He can be booked for a consultation here.
(please let me know if the comments if any of these links are broken)