Have you checked out entertainment on the Internet lately? If you're a screenwriter and you haven't checked out Internet options, you may be short-circuiting a field of opportunity. Recently, we searched for a hot rep to tell us more about that market, and we hit pay dirt with a prolific manager and producer, Stan Spry.

A partner at In Season Management and president of Remember Dreaming Productions (with a first look deal at Creanspeak Productions), Spry's clients include award-winning writers, directors, producers, comedians, musicians, and actors for feature films, television, new media, and commercials. He has been involved in setting up, packaging, and selling movies and television shows to big names such as MTV, CBS Paramount, Universal, HBO, Cartoon Network, VH1, Twentieth Century Fox and Disney.

Spry is producing the feature film "Circle of Stones," which is being distributed by The Yari Film Group; and the feature "The Stupidest Angel," based on NY Times Bestselling author Christopher Moore's novel. Other feature film projects include "Date from Hell" starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, and "Too Much Texas" with Jon Bon Jovi and Peter Fonda.

Scripted television shows set up by Spry are in development with companies such as Mel Gibson's Icon Productions, Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions, Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video, Eric La Salle's Humble Journey Productions and Todd Garner's Broken Road Productions. He is executive producing a U.S. version of the long-running U.K. reality television show "A Place in the Sun," and is working to bring the U.K. ecofriendly docudrama "Club for Climate" to the U.S.

Spry has also worked as a Partner at Artist International, a Literary Agent for Dytman & Associates Talent and Literary Agency, a Literary Manager and Vice-President of Production and Development for Andrea Simon Entertainment, and a development executive for Optional Pictures--the Twentieth Century Fox production company responsible for the feature films, "Flight of the Phoenix," and "Behind Enemy Lines." He began his career as an assistant director and production assistant on films such as "Spiderman," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and "The Rundown."

In this interview, Spry reveals info about the Internet markets, spells out the nuts and bolts of breaking in, and defines what he looks for in a client.

Q: Where have you found good Internet markets for screenwriters?

A: I just sold a show to Disney. Their online company is Stage 9 Digital Media (www.stage9digital.com), run by two women [ABC Studios Executive Director, Current Programming], Nne Ebong and Joie Gharrity. They bought a show I'm producing called "The Three-Minute Show" with my client Barry Sobel, who's a world famous comedian. Tom Hanks has come aboard and he's producing it with us. It's really cool. It's a Playtone production, a three-minute show, and hopefully, we're going into production in the next couple of weeks. Out of all the people I've dealt with, they're the ones who put their money where their mouth is more than anyone else in the business.

There are a lot of other people out there that I like and that I've pitched to, like Studio 2.0. Studio 2.0 is Warner Bros.' online division, run by Rich Rosenthal. Rich is a great guy. They're trying to do things that integrate music and trying to capitalize on the Warner Bros. brand. They are great. Rich is very friendly with writers and other creative people. Everyone that I've gone and pitched with has enjoyed dealing with him. We haven't had much success setting anything up over there, but hopefully, in the future, we will.

There's Vuguru (www.vuguru.com) and The Tornante Company. [Vuguru is a new media studio for Michael Eisner's The Tornante Company.] They're the guys who did "Prom Queen," which was the first successful scripted show on the Internet. They shot it like a feature film, and then they cut it down into one minute episodes. So, they're trying to get into this medium. The guy that I've dealt with over there is Steve Cohen. He used to work in television, so he's really great to work with for writers. He's always had an open door. Anytime I call him, he'll hear the pitch and he'll take the meeting with the client.

There's a company called Super Deluxe (www.superdeluxe.com). I'm doing a show with Broadway Video, which is Lorne Michaels' company. He knows the guys over at Super Deluxe and apparently, they're putting money behind projects.

Yahoo is doing stuff. There's a gentleman over there named Drew Buckley [GM, Yahoo Studios]. They're looking to utilize a couple of different spaces. They want to do stuff that is music-oriented; stuff that has long-term appeal, like stuff they can also sell to mobile phones or they can put on a daily basis on the Internet.

AOL is definitely doing stuff.

Q: What are the typical formats?

A: Everything that I've encountered has been under five minutes; generally between one and five minutes. Most of the people that are watching shows on the Internet are watching them at work or during their day. They don't have thirty minutes out of the day to sit and watch an entire show.

MySpace is another company we've dealt with quite a bit. They're putting money behind productions. They optioned a show called "Quarterlife," which was originally a pilot that NBC shot and they turned "Quarterlife" into an Internet show. [That show then jumped from Web to NBC.] They're also doing a show, "Roommates," now.

From what I've seen, those two shows that they're doing for MySpace are a little dramatic. But, most other places are looking for something that has comedy to it. Most successful sites on the Internet have shows like "Funny or Die" (www.funnyordie.com). People want to be entertained, to find something funny; or something that has a music element to it. Typically, they don't want serialized stuff, meaning you have to tune in for each episode. It's more along the lines of an episodic show, where each show has a beginning, a middle and an end in three minutes.

Q: So, they are looking for series that feature complete shows with the same characters, but each show wraps a story? Not serialized, like a soap opera, where the story is continued each episode?

A: Exactly. It can have a series arc, meaning episode one could have a plot that goes through episode twenty-three, but each one of those episodes generally has to be closed-ended. So, it won't have a cliff hangar.

I worked with a guy who sold a series of shows that were kind of like "Twilight Zone." There was an overall arc that had a payoff in the very last episode, but each episode was an episode unto itself.

Q: What kind of samples should a writer produce to try to get into these markets?

A: The most success we've had has been with something that someone has shot; and then we took that and pitched it. There are other companies out there like Veoh (www.veoh.com) that are just distribution platforms. If you shoot something, they can find distribution for it.

For writers, I would say, doing the pitches and writing out episodes of the show is probably the best way to go. If you can't go out and shoot something like a sizzle reel or a presentation, then write up a treatment that's as detailed as possible. Outline the characters, outline the episodes, try to outline at least 10-13 episodes so the executive will know what they're going to get. You don't want to go in there and just say, "Here's the idea." Go in as prepared as possible.

Q: Like a television series proposal, but scaled for shorter episodes?

A: Exactly. And all my writers that have been successful with this have gone in and pitched it just like they would pitch a television show. That's the way we see it. With one of the deals that we've done, we actually got a TV deal worked in with the Internet deal as well.

There are a bunch of distribution platforms out there. I've got clients that have put together show ideas and instead of going directly to these companies like Stage 9 or 60 Frames, they'll go out and actually raise the money and shoot it themselves, and try to get sponsorship. There's a really good market for the sponsors. You go to Bruce Mobile Phone, for example, and you pitch them a show; you say, "This is what we've got, do you want to sponsor it?" You've got the potential, if you get on MySpace, to reach 100 million people, which dwarfs anything on television and the sponsorship cost is much less. Somebody could sponsor you for $10,000 and their name could be all over your show and that would give you enough to shoot something.

Q: And 60 Frames does this?

A: There are a couple guys at 60 Frames (www.60frames.com) that I really like. Dave Koga, who used to be an executive at Comedy Central, and Brent Weinstein, who used to be an agent at UTA. Both are extremely smart guys, really, really well-versed in the new media divisions. Brent was one of the founders of UTA's new media division. So, those guys really get it. And what they're trying to do, to my knowledge, is to put together sponsorships. So, they'll take your content, try to get sponsors to pay for it, and then go out and find a distribution platform for it.

The potential is great. Some people try to do it on their own. It's tough. You need to find an agent or manager who has some connections already; and who can do some of the legwork for you. These guys--at 60 Frames and Stage 9 and others--they're executives. They're getting overwhelmed. During the strike, everyone was knocking on their doors because they could continue to do stuff while everyone else was shut down. They have so much going on that they don't want to take on unsolicited material.

Q: What do you look for in a writer?

A: It depends on what type of writer I'm looking at. I represent feature film writers. In television, I represent everyone from showrunners down to staff writers. I don't represent any Internet writers [that write exclusively for the Internet]. My writers are generally people who have experience. I have one writer that hasn't been staffed before and then I've got guys who have created shows that have run for years. It's tough to break someone in this business. But, someone who's done a lot of legwork [is a desirable client]. I'll use my client Pat Charles as an example. He did a lot of legwork on his own. He got a really great agent who helped him out. He created some fans. The most important things for me are: 1) talent; 2) a tenacity to go out there and do some legwork on your own because it is a team effort. Writers who rely on their agent or manager for everything are bad clients. We get ten percent for a reason. You guys keep ninety percent because you're out there doing ninety percent of the work. So, I like to see people who are proactive. Great in a room is big for me, to make sure that they're personable, that I enjoy talking to them. If they're good in a meeting, then they're going to be good in the writer's room. And marketability and taste. There are certain things I don't like to read and certain things I do. I'm not a huge period fan, so I don't read a lot of period pieces or big epics, so I don't get excited about selling that kind of thing. If someone has got credits, even if they haven't worked for three or four years, but they've got something on their resume, it helps. A college student that wants to break into the business should write for the paper; write for the television station as much as possible.

Write a couple short films. Try to get your short films produced. Apply to as many programs as possible. There are a lot of great programs. Warner Brothers has a phenomenal program. ABC has a great program. There are a lot of diversity programs for writers. NBC is great. All those companies are really pushing those initiatives. Those things help a lot because the executives get to know you and the executives come on your side and try to help you get the job.

Since this interview, a company press release announced that ABC Studios' Executive VP Barry Jossen will head up Stage 9 Digital.

To view a short clip of Steve Cohen on pitching your Internet show, refer to www.truveo.com/Guru-Pitching-Your-Show/id/2661050883.

Would you like to have your question answered by pros working in the industry? If there's a topic you'd like to see addressed in this column, please send me an e-mail (CindyRinaldi@visionization.com) with "WBW" in the subject line.