Selling film and TV rights is not a single handshake but a managed sequence: a specialized agent (or co-agent) positions your book, pitches producers and other creative partners, negotiates an option agreement with typical financial structures, and then shepherds the project through post-option development while working to keep you, the author, formally involved. Understanding that sequence lets you evaluate what your agent should be doing at each stage and where your own decisions come in.
The Agent's Role in Film & TV Adaptation
Film and TV rights are typically handled by specialists rather than generalist publishing agents. Mary Pender, who works in the Literary Media Department at WME, describes the work as spanning "all intellectual property that can be source material for adaptation to film, TV, stage, podcasts or other mediums." Her team identifies material that could be adapted and, where authors are interested, supports them in taking on roles such as screenwriting or producing.
Agencies without in-house film expertise use co-agenting instead. As attorney and author advocate Maggie Marr explained in an interview with the Self-Publishing Advice Center, it used to be standard that "when authors had representation, their publishing agent would co-agent their film and TV rights" — meaning the publishing agent partners with a dedicated film/TV agent who handles the market and contacts.
Stage 1: Engaging Specialized Representation
Your first decision is who will actually run the film and TV side. If your literary agent has a dedicated film and TV department, that team can represent the rights directly. The Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency describes its in-house department as specializing in "television, film, theatre and radio rights" with "a global network of industry contacts," working to secure media deals for its authors.
If your agent lacks that infrastructure, the co-agenting route applies: your publishing agent retains the relationship with you while bringing in a film/TV specialist whose value lies in market knowledge and producer relationships. Either way, this stage is about matching your book to someone who knows which producers, studios, and production companies are actively looking for source material.
Stage 2: Finding Creative Partners and Pitching
Once represented, the agent's core job is matchmaking: identifying producers, and through them writers and directors, who might take a creative interest in your book. The Madeleine Milburn agency describes working "closely with producers to ensure they remain actively involved throughout the adaptation process" — on the author's side, that means ensuring authors hear producers' creative takes before anything moves forward.
This is a genuine decision point for you. Pender is explicit that "authors get to choose their partners," and that her department works "closely with our authors and their literary agents through the process to make sure authors remain involved and have a voice." The agent brings opportunities and frames them; whether to move forward with any given producer or deal remains, in her words, "the author's choice."
