purchasing intellectual property

[Ed Kishel]

I have an individual that fell in love with a short film I did, and wants to do a feature based on the story. I have no interest in the project, so he has asked to purchase the intellectual property rights to it.

This guy is not in the entertainment industry, hes just a reg joe with an interest in filmmaking and wants to take this on as his first attempt at writing a feature.

Its an 8 minute short film that had some good reviews, and played at a few festivals, but I have no idea how he will be able to pull 90min out of an 8 min idea.

At this point in my life filmmaking is still more of a hobby for me and not a business, so I have no idea where to start or what to ask for. Anyone have any this issue come up or have any suggestions?

Thanks- ED

 

[notwithstanding]

As long as your'e aware the story will probably be ruined in his hands (no offence to him, but the fact is, developing a feature length story is incredibly difficult, and few pros are up to the task, let alone a newbie), then there's really nothing stopping you selling the rights to him. I've seen such rights go for $1000 with a "step-up" or additional payment if the feature film gets distribution. Maybe you just want to go with a small up-front fee to let him knock himself out trying to make it, and then IF lightning strikes and he successfully turns it into a good film that gets attention/money you want to make sure you get some additional money. Don't sign it all over for a flat fee, because you just never know what can come of such things. Hey, maybe Spielberg will see his film and want to adapt it for himself...and if you've signed away all your rights for a dollar, then there's no way for you to also enjoy the winfall. These are unlikely eventualities, but the old adage is better safe than sorry. Get some standard option agreements and put as many of the clauses in as you can. You also want a credit "based on a story by" or "based on the film by"...and you might even want the right NOT to have a credit...if you don't like the results of his film. Just a couple thoughts.

 

[Demistate]

Just make sure that you write a clause into the contract when you sell off your rights that you may come back to collect residuals after the profits exceed $500 or a value you feel would be worth collecting on. Don't be sold short. Who knows you may just be selling away a goldmine.

You'll need to talk to a lawyer to figure out how to draft up the contract, but as my production crew always says "PROTECT YOUR S*&@" You never know when someone will turn your stuff around and make money off of it.

 

[MichaelP]

There are some basic agreements you can set. I have optioned several short stories for feature film development and the very basics are (and everything can be negotiated):

3$-5% of final shooting budget is to the writer
set a "no less than" and a "no more" price
% of producer's points
credit if same title used or if is "based on"

then a payment for 1 year with a second and third year added if needed. Something like $500 first year, $1,250 second year, and $2,500 third year or he loses option. All monies apply toward purchase.