Coverfly Writer Russell Goldman signed with a team of agents at Verve after being featured on the 2021 Best Unrepped Writers List.

What was the biggest obstacle you faced in starting your screenwriting career? How did you overcome that obstacle? 

The first screenplay I wrote on that got any attention was because my boss Jamie Lee Curtis' name was also on it. I'll never pretend that wasn't the only reason I gained a sense of confidence in my writing early in my career. Yet every draft working on that project involved making the collective dreams Jamie and Blumhouse had for that project possible, while also writing a movie that I myself would really want to see. So with every draft I turned in, I wanted to show how I could congeal everyone's ideas while showing my own voice, which inevitably took a few years of trial and error. I won't know for a bit if I pulled it off, but I loved working with everyone involved and learned a master's course in screenwriting the process. 

How did you sign with your reps since being featured on Coverfly's Best Unrepped Writers list?

My short film RETURN TO SENDER is what got me in the door at Verve-- and though they liked my other shorts and scripts, it was the screenplay I'd written for a feature adaptation of SENDER that excited a team of agents there about starting a relationship with me. 

Coverfly gave me confidence in how to present my interests, priorities and the path I want for myself. A lot of potential reps told me that even as a writer/director I NEEDED to have a pilot to show I could pivot to TV writing if a job opened up. I appreciate the need to be flexible, but it felt more like they were telling me what could make them commission from a job rather than seeing where my own focuses were. Coverfly suggested that as long as I show an open mind about what I could work on, my feature writing and filmmaking work would speak for itself to the right team. Now I have reps at Verve who want the same career for me that I want. 

If you could give your younger self one bit of advice, what would it be?

There were so many moments over the years where I remember jumping through hoops and doing large, hasty amounts of work just because a potential job or opportunity suddenly presented myself. 99% of them I never would've gotten either way because I wasn't ready. I didn't have a plurality of written or filmed work that could break through yet. If I actually kept my head down and focused on building out my body of work, I might not have gotten here any sooner but I certainly would've psyched myself out a little bit less. 

Any last bit of inspiration for writers looking to follow in your footsteps?

You're probably smarter than I am and can definitely make this work.