Screenwriting : What are red flag signs you're being contacted by a scam "producer"? by Jen Winters

I'm fairly new to all of this, but one thing I've learned is not to let excitement override due diligence. Verify who you're talking to, take your time, and don't feel pressured to send materials or make decisions immediately. Genuine opportunities should still be there after you've had a chance to do your homework.

How do you verify who they are? And what does that look like in an email. example: "Thank you for your interest in my script. There won't be any further communication until you prove your credentials. "

That's a great question. I wouldn't ask them to prove their credentials outright. I'd do some research first—IMDb, LinkedIn, a company website, past interviews, festival appearances, or mutual connections. If they're legitimate, there will usually be some professional footprint. In the conversation itself, I'd ask questions about their development process, what attracted them to the project, and what their typical next steps are. Their answers can tell you a lot, and if they eventually ask for money before doing any meaningful work, I'd walk away.

Hi Jen: Joshua is spot with looking them up on IMDB, LinkedIn, Google them up, and see what the results are. Not everyone has an IMDB or LinkedIn so it may not be a deal breaker. When contacted, you can reply, "Thank you for contacting me about ____. Would you please let me know a little bit about your background, where you've worked, films you've worked on?" (You can wordsmith it!). Anyone who has been in this business will not be offended by you asking these type of questions. When I reach out to writers, I do mention where I've worked, and invite them to check out my S32 profile or LinkedIn. Earlier this year I had someone say they didn't believe I worked at the studios. So we Googled my name and I found an article where I'm mentioned. The person apologized. And I said, "No need to apologize. You have a right to ask that question."

The email address is a frequent sign. Their text is very copy and paste, about being open to anything, but not connecting it to their registered prod co.

Jen Winters, this is such an important question, and I’m really glad you asked it because it can help protect others in the community too.

First and foremost, please always reach out to us at Support@Stage32.com and/or Community@Stage32.com anytime you have a strange interaction or something doesn’t feel right. Send us screenshots of the conversation along with a link to the member’s profile, and we’ll investigate it right away. If we find any reason for concern, we’ll act quickly to remove bad actors from the community.

The tricky part is that the warning signs are a constantly moving target. As soon as people become aware of one scammer tactic, they adapt their approach. That said, here are a few things I always encourage members to watch for:

- Even if an account appears legitimate, it could be impersonating someone. If you’re unsure whether someone claiming to be a working professional is actually vetted as an Executive on Stage 32, email Success@Stage32.com and they’ll gladly verify whether they’re part of our executive community or not.

- If someone only contacts you through direct messages and has never interacted publicly in the Lounges, that’s a reason to be a little cautious. Genuine community members usually have some history of participating in conversations and have attempted to get to know you in the public spaces before reaching out.

- Visit their profile. If they have little or no public posting or commenting history in the Stage 32 Lounges, they may be intentionally trying to stay under the radar.

- Be wary if they immediately encourage you to move the conversation off Stage 32 to email, WhatsApp, Telegram, or another messaging platform. That’s often a red flag because it makes it much harder for us to investigate if something goes wrong.

- If you suggest a Zoom meeting and they refuse to turn on their camera, will only talk by phone, or avoid face-to-face interaction altogether, that’s unusual and unprofessional.

- If they start encouraging you to pay upfront for producing services or ask you to hire them through a third-party service like Fiverr, proceed with extreme caution!

And finally, trust your instincts. If something feels off, it probably deserves a closer look. We’d much rather investigate ten legitimate interactions than have one member get taken advantage of.

Thank you for bringing this up, Jen. Questions like this help keep our entire community safer!

The Stage 32 platform is large and spammers/phishers create fake profiles from time to time. The team is typically quick to catch them and delete their profiles, and we also appreciate heads up from our community to help moderate bad actors when they see them. If something's fishy, feel free to email me at success@stage32.com and I will promptly look into when I see your email.

The reality is Producers don't do cold outreach so that should be the first main tell for any writer. The amount of time most Producers I know have is extremely limited, and when they want to scout writers, they will go through vetted channels, like Stage 32 Script Services, to do so - in the interest of creating an even, moderated exchange for both parties. A cold DM from a Producer is just a very unlikely natural occurrence and if a DM seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Additionally, the Stage 32 tech team is working on new tech measures to curb the creation of spam accounts and combat VPN use tactics. As always, feel free to give us a heads up, and we'll delete the account / block the IP address.

THIS IS TRUE, THEY ARE HERE, BUT WHAT FAILLS THEM ALWAYS, THEY ARE DIRECT, "AM READY TO FUND, TO COLLABORATE", THEY THEN SHARE THE EMAIL TO TAKE THE COMMUNICATION OFF THE PLATFORM, THEN THEY PUT YOU IN THE CONNER, WHEN YOU GIVE IT TIME BEFORE YOU REPLY THEIR MESSAGE, ON REPLYING, THEY WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER EMAIL, IF IT TAKES YOU A MONTH TO REPLY.

THANKS TO STAGE32, THEY WILL DELETE THE PERSON AS SOON AS YOU COMPLAIN, SOME TIME ACTUALLY AS YOU PLAN TO INFORM STAGE 32, YOU FIND THE PERSON HAS ALREADY BEEN DELETED.

THANKS TO THE SUPPPORT TEAM.

I had this yesterday. It was immediately apparent when a $4000 fee was mentioned. I reported it to Stage32 and it was promptly dealt with and the account deleted.

My advise, if unsure just ask Stage32 team.

What's so sad is that you spend so much of your heart and soul refining your craft and story (and in my case many invested years), and you become prey for some jerk.

Ashley Renée Smith, thank you for the information--going forward, I will reach out to the email to ask if it's legit or not.

Jen Winters yep, he did the same. Picked a producer that was credible and almost believable. Crafty for sure. However, as soon as money was mentioned, it was clearly a scam. I immediately stopped communicating.

Wow!! Must have hit a bunch of us... his name started with a "V".

Jen Winters correct

There's a really simple answer to this.

If you are being approached out of the blue and you are an unknown screenwriter, treat it as a scam until it clearly isn't.

A legit industry member should get to the point and want to talk face-to-face. If the relationship is new, they should want to get to know you before talking business.

It pays to be guarded, and being guarded does not mean being rude or dismissive. Just go with it. Don't commit to anything. Get on that Zoom call or get coffee. If they are legit, they will likely have more concerns about you than you do of them. I know a producer who was contacted by a production company that had already done a full FBI check on him before their first meeting.

Jen Winters this happened to me twice over the past couple of months. I almost fell for it, it made me feel special, made me think that my work was so amazing that a producer would message me. This is the first sign: a legit industry specialist will not message you. And the scammers know exactly what to say right. They first show only interest in what you're working on.....then a couple of messages later, after you sent your work etc, you have to pay for development fees or whatever fees. This is another sign: you never pay them directly for anything. The only thing you pay for on this site is for legit Stage 32 verified people to review your script or pitches etc.

Jen Winters to add to my comment, if you see a message where someone gives their gmail email address, report and run.

I had the same contact from "V", but the fee was $3,500. They dropped on and off the platform a couple times and didn't seem to care about what the project was. It made no sense, and I did tell the person that I wouldn't pay the fee and that there are ways to structure terms so there aren't any upfront costs to them if things didn't work out. I never heard back. They did claim that the fee was refundable. On another occasion, recently, someone with real producing credits made a gesture of wanting to collaborate on a project that they named. I asked how they wanted to proceed, but they were gone before answering. There was no ask for money. It left me a little disappointed, but it did make me wonder what the protocol is on a platform like this if someone actually wants to legitimately move toward some sort of an agreement. Are we supposed to let someone know?

Are we allowed to "name and shame" on this platform? I don't want to get blocked or something like that as like on facebook but the "producers"/fake profiles that contacted me was Mason Novick and Robert Teitel - both profiles were removed from the site thank goodness but yeah, both producers in real life with years and years of experience and movies made, credentials as long as my arm.

Good point. They used a real picture of the producer, but who knows if it was real. Maybe not. Similar in my case, the real 'producer' had produced A-list features.

Tracy Sim its a harsh reality, to just accept that a legit producer will never contact you out of the blue. It took me several days to accept that fact. I wasn't so much bothered by the actual scam, I'm from South Africa and we are used to scams but to accept that you're not as special as they made you feel. Yeah, that's something on a different level.

Jen, I'm sorry to tell you that you're very wrong that the frauds aren't interested in your script. Everything is full of fake profiles, managed by bots, looking for material to plagiarize: The AI has brought this and will go more. You can check this easily, you just need to be a little observant; you have them here, on Linkedin and anywhere. It’s true that everyone doesn’t have Linkedin, but anyone who has been in or remains in the industry has a compelling IMDB profile. And I’m not talking about a couple of credits in short films in pre-production, but about things that can be verified; here there are quite a few profiles like this, that smell like bot from afar.

Regarding images on social networks, going to festivals, etc., it is very easy to falsify that, and they do. Go if they do!, even if they have not been invited. It is not difficult to approach the red carpet, like another fan, and immortalize the moment, even in the hall of a hotel, or hang the photographs of some fake credentials: Hey, I was there!... There I see you...

There are credits that are published, of course, but sometimes, applicants can send in a previous Producer's Agreement with references, on request.

Just a thought... maybe we shouldn't post detailed scam warning signs publicly. Scammers read these forums too, and every checklist they see helps them get a little better at looking legitimate.

I'd rather encourage people to verify who they're dealing with than give scammers a guide on how to avoid being caught.

That is very interesting. I am having the exact same problem. Jen, please connect with me and share your experience. I am new to this industry. As a senior citizen (84), I have a lot to lose if they turn out to be scammers.

That's a smart approach. I always do a bit of research before engaging checking their IMDb credits, LinkedIn, company website, and social media presence. Legitimate industry professionals usually have a verifiable track record and won't pressure you into paying upfront. If they start asking for fees to read, represent, or pitch your work, that's a major red flag. Trust your instincts, and don't hesitate to ask for references or details about their recent projects.

Spotting scammers as outlined in OP is simple. It's basically anyone demanding money.

There are shams that are far more insidious. Access platforms print money not by helping writers break through, but by selling the illusion of getting them closer. The branding varies, the pitch stays the same.

It's a marketplace where aspiration is a product peddled by organizations that appear legit. They are shameless and relentless in the pursuit of your money. Don't feed this corrupt machine.

already happened on stage32. starts with a harmless exchange about what i'm working on. they have what seems to be an impressive CV.

Check their profile and look at their wall. if they have their welcome posts from only like month ago, likely a scammer.

Producers, pitch-decks, agents, etc. have contacted me over the years. It's all about $$ not advancing your career. Recently dealt with a story editor who looked at some of my scripts. In 48 hours she said she got them to executives at her company and they were impressed. So...I said great and told her the executives could contact me directly and her response was they don't do things like that. Really? I thought. Got in touch with a retired writer who reviewed all her emails and told me it was a paid platform. I was one email from her asking me for a credit card #. This is one example of dozens situations like this.

Richard Kjeldgaard Say it isn't so Richard. BTW - if you need a loan, I could put you in touch with a Nigerian Prince. I think he's a good guy - maybe.

Jen, the first thing I do to see if I'm contacted by a scammer is Google the person's name. Once I'm on Google, then I click on "Images" to see if any photos match...or if anything else looks suspicious.

Joanna, I also like the idea of checking that Stage 32 profile and looking at the would-be producer's wall. (Thanks for posting that!)

Okay, Robert. Send me the info. Pen and paper at the ready!!!

How about...

Because of the terrible behaviour of the industry towards writers, I came up with the idea of "let's make a marketplace, people can list their IPs and producers can reach out to them". And, as we all know, most writers don't have stable income, so I'm planning to make it %100 free for individual writers.

If any of you guys want me to send you a message once we launch the store, you can send me a connection request and a little message, I can put your name on our waiting list.

I wish you a great rest of your days

If someone asks you for money upfront to produce your film, THAT IS A RED FLAG. IT THE PRODUCER IS GOING TO PRODUCE THE FILM HE OR SHE IS GOING TO GIVE YOU THE CREATOR MONEY NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS FAKE ATTEMPT TO STEAL YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY!

I receive emails periodically. They say they've read my work and want to work with me. But when the email address doesn't match the sender's name, is from a Gmail account, and if I can find a profile, it is created that day—red flag.