keylight
Veteran
Happens a lot with first time authors. Of course if you're J.K. Rowling, you're able to cut a deal that keeps you involved and gives you some power to control what happens.....
Is it "standard procedure" for a Producer to buy screenplay rights?
- Thread starter Futchibon
- Start date
Happens a lot with first time authors. Of course if you're J.K. Rowling, you're able to cut a deal that keeps you involved and gives you some power to control what happens.....
keylight
Veteran
You could be right about what he meant. But I thought it important to clarify that "the copyright owner of the original work" DOES NOT own "the rights to all derivative works". I've edited my post to better state that.
The song "The Buddy System" from City of Angels (the musical, not the Nic Cage flick) describes the relationship between writer and producer pretty darn well. A key line -- "Authors unprepared to take a stab at this collaborative art must suppress their egos and part with the notion that in motion pictures words are carved in marble." As well as "the book may be yours, baby trust me -- the movie is mine."
Yes, I agree.
While I can point to no examples off the top of my head, there are quite a few. But rarely, if ever, on a writer's first script.
djbobbyrhodes
Well-known member
BOONDOCK SAINTS originally had one of the sweetest deals ever given to a first time writer/director. But that went sour pretty quickly, probably because the guy was an ass, but my only source is that doc about him that was pretty biased.
Jawa Ex Machina
Veteran
In order to keep control over the shooting of "Marianne", I eventually decided to produce it myself and just find a co-producer who could work as a production manager / line producer.
The reasons for this was:
1) I wanted to have single writing credit on the screenplay
2) I wanted to direct the film myself
3) I wanted it to be shot in my hometown where I grew up
I met with a lot of producers who wanted to bring in friends of theirs to re-write the screenplay, direct it, and shoot it in a different city so I think I made the right decision. If I'd gone with them, I still wouldn't have made my writer / director debut, which was kind of the point of this.
On the other hand, I had to work much harder because it meant more work. I also had to finance the thing myself and that was a MAJOR financial risk I might end up paying for the rest of my life if the film doesn't sell.
That was the cost of keeping control, and to me it was worth it because I've now written, directed and produced a feature film and that was the goal. The whole experience has also made me a much better writer than I was before too, because I now have a much deeper understanding about filmmaking and what goes into a scene.
Had it been a less personal story, or a film that didn't take place in a particular town or if I'd just wanted to break into writing, it wouldn't have mattered. But this one was special.
It all boils down to your friend's ambitions. If he wants to be a working writer, he'll have to accept that when he sells a screenplay it WILL be changed. You CAN'T NOT change a screenplay during shooting. My own screenplay was changed as we shot it, the only difference was I was part of the decision making process. Actors need to change dialogue, circumstance forces change on locations. Sometimes the weather interfere with the sound department so a new location has to be chosen, sometimes the sound technician can't get the quality he wants from a location but another sound technician would be fine with it.
Sometimes, the writing in one scene just plain sucks.
If he wants to be a professional screenwriter, at one point or another he'll have to accept these facts. It's something all screenwriters has to deal with at some point. If this particular screenplay is a special case (like "Marianne" was), then maybe he should produce it himself and hire a co-producer like I did?
Jawa Ex Machina
Veteran
Tell him to contact me for advice if he decides to go through with that. Also, tell him if he's self financing the film he needs to be prepared to give up A LOT of stuff. It's a major investment of time, money and energy. Equivalent to having a baby, probably.