Zach Tann is an Internet Executive for Zide/Perry Entertainment (www.inzide.com), which is operated by Warren Zide and Craig Perry. Zide/Perry Entertainment served as producers on Universal's American Pie.
They have a first look deal with Nw Line Cinema.

Can you tell us a little about your background and how you came to be an Internet Executive with Zide/Perry Entertainment?

Basically, I came out to Los Angeles two summers ago and already had an internship arranged with Zide/Perry. I stayed with my uncle and just learned as much as I could and did a lot of gopher work, you know, typical intern stuff. But at the same time, it was more than just a typical internship. You could give your input and opinions to Warren Zide or Craig Perry and felt like the input/ideas, if they liked them, actually had an impact or at least that they could have an impact if they were in line with the producer's vision. I also saw how "American Pie" got started and saw most of the production process. It was really cool. You can even see me as an extra in the movie towards the end. I'm sitting in the classroom next to Tara Reid behind Thomas Ian Nicholas when Vicky tells Kevin that she wants to have sex with him.

After that summer, I went back to Kalamazoo College in Michigan to finish my senior year and throughout the year I kept in touch with Zide/Perry and Warren informing them of links about American Pie on the Internet and also spreading positive word about the movie throughout the Internet. After graduation I came back home to San Jose, California, where I grew up. Warren gave me a call to discuss a website he wanted to start. I had some ideas for it, including the "Submit Scripts" section. He basically offered me the job to come set up and manage this new website. I had a short-term vision of what I wanted the website to be and InZide today is pretty much that.

What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of your job? What have been your greatest challenges?

Good question. I would say one of my favorite aspects of the job is feeling like I have helped or am helping writers all across the world. Whether it be by giving them hope that they have a chance for a respectable management/production company to read their material, or by actually supplying useful content. Another really cool thing is that since we are a literary management company and also a production company, I get to see the whole process of making a movie from the logline written down on a piece of paper to the actual dailies coming in the door. That has been fascinating.

My least favorite aspect is probably dealing with writers who can't take rejection. I know it comes with the territory but it still isn't that much fun. I have to admit, InZide does send out a lot of rejection emails whether it be from the loglines that we see, or the actual scripts that we read, but you have to shake it off. I think most writers have no problem with rejection, but I've also had writers accuse us of having not read their script because we passed on it. How arrogant can someone be? I mean what good would it be for InZide if we passed on material that we didn't read? That defeats the purpose of accepting submissions. Those are the kinds of things about my job that I don't particularly like dealing with. But at the same time, it gets my blood pumping.

My greatest challenge has probably been to set up, organize, and maintain the "Submit Scripts" section. Dealing with the legal issues of accepting material online and how it was to be initially organized on the website to best suit our company was very difficult, but it definitely has been worth it. When I interned at Zide/Perry I saw how unorganized our unsolicited material was and it really bothered me that we never sent out "Pass" letters to people when we finished reading their scripts. I knew a lot of writers had to be frustrated with the way we operated and I wanted to change that. I knew that most companies are too busy to respond to material that they pass on so I wanted Zide/Perry Entertainment and InZide.com to be the exception. It has taken a long time but I would say that we have a very strong system on this end in regards to reading and organizing the scripts and getting back to writers. Everyone hears back from us whether we are interested or not. I make it my personal goal to make sure everyone hears back. We do not give coverage as that would be insane, but we will let you know if we aren't interested. We used to get buckets full of mail everyday and now you can carry our mail in one hand because now everyone submits online. Everyone in our company refers people to the site and we even respond to every snail mail query letter by letting them know that the way we review unsolicited material is through InZide. It has been very rewarding.

How many screenplay synopsis submissions do you see in a typical week? And what percentage of these result in requests for screenplays?

I would say we get anywhere from 100-250 loglines a week. The percentage that we request to see every week varies depending on the quality of the loglines, but if I had to give a number I would say 15%-20%.

What are the goals of InZide.com? Is Zide/Perry developing any of the stories that have been submitted to them?

I think one of the main goals of InZide.com is to supply writers with a place to learn, interact with other writers, and also have the ability to get their material to Zide/Perry. Zide/Perry is working on around 5 different "stories" or screenplays that have been submitted via InZide. We have been finding a lot more material lately. It took us nine months to find anything that sparked our interest, but we are in full development with material that has come in through InZide.com right now.

InZide.com is an experiment that is still in its infancy. How successful would you say this experiment has been?

I would say that the experiment has very much been a success. You're right, we are still in our infancy. Personally, it would be truly gratifying if we could sell or setup a screenplay from InZide.com, and we have every intention of doing so. That day has yet to come but we are hoping that it isn't too far off. But I don't think selling a script needs to happen for InZide to be considered a success. When I have a writer tell me that just from having the ability to shop their script to us, it has given them new found hope and inspired them to sit back at their computer and write. That to me is a success in itself.

How would you like to see InZide.com developed over the next few years? Is there a specific direction you would like to see the site move in? Do you have any plans to expand the services and features you offer?

If InZide remained the same structurally and just continued to update content, review and develop material, I think it would still be a success. However, I would love for people to think of InZide.com as one of the places to go when submitting material. I think it is that way now. The thing about InZide is that there are no catches. We will look at your material for free and if we are interested and if we like it, we will do our best to service it and try and get it sold and set up. There are so many sites that charge fees that don't have the resources to make something positive happen. We have the resources and we don't charge a fee. To me, it's a no lose situation.

A dream come true, and I realize this is a long shot but still possible, would be to see a movie on the screen, where the script was found from InZide.com. Hell, even Internet Executives can dream can't they?

We would also like to add more columns that get updated more often. This is something we are working on. There are also plans for an expansion in the future, which I can't discuss right now. I am always looking forward and as long as the writer's interest remains a priority, I am open to ways to improve the site.

Do you believe the Internet will have a significant impact on the way talent is found and developed and how films get made?

I truly believe the Internet will completely change everything. It already has, but we haven't seen anything yet. When broadband is everywhere, that's when things will start heating up. Think how different television will be when you can click on the shirt that Jerry Seinfeld is wearing and be able to one click "purchase" it right then and there. Think about how much that will influence television and movies. You think advertisers are pushing hard now to get their stuff in television and movies, wait until that becomes a reality. The Internet is basically an unlimited number of channels so everyone is starving for content. Once a lot of these sites consolidate and broadband is as common as the telephone, movies will be made for the Internet all the time. Right now it's just kind of an experiment, but the television set and the Internet are going to be merging and when that happens the results will be scary. Talent already is being found from the Internet. With the digital shorts and the script submissions sites, who knows what can happen? It's a fun time to be alive, though. Eventually the Internet won't be thought of as the Internet. It will just be there and be everywhere. It will be on our phone, our palm pilot, our television, in stores, and in the movie theaters. Everything will be interactive and it will just be a way of life. I personally believe the Internet will be one of the main ways that people find talent in the future. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

Is Zide/Perry open to working with other independent filmmakers on projects which are partially funded or where talent is already in place?

That would totally depend on whether or not we liked the writing. A lot of times, talent attachments take away from the project. What we really want to know is "How is the writing?" If we don't like the material, then we won't get involved. But if we like it then you never know. We are also deligated to service our studio deal (New Line) and are not really in the Indie world, so our resources/strengths really lie in studio films.

Where do you see yourself five years from now? What would you most like to be doing?

That's a tough question. I can't really say where I see myself in a year. But what I would most like to be doing would probably be involved in the Internet and entertainment somehow, maybe with InZide. I can't say I would complain if a movie on the screen was an InZide.com production and I was one of the producers. That would be pretty cool.

Sam Quo Vadis is the founder and webmaster of The Screenplayers, a screenwriters marketing and support group. He is from Vancouver, Canada.