Sold a show possibly, need HELP asap

my advice.... starts with "get" and ends with "an attorney"

and I might be wrong here (probably, usually I am wrong :beer: ) but I was under the impression that you always get your script copywritten (sp?)/copywrighted (sp?) after you finish it.... its your ideas man, your material..... I dunno... just my "gut"

good luck with all this

and get a lawyer fa sho
 
Absolutely, positively, no fooling, get an entertainment attorney. And an agent, too, to represent you. You must have someone knowledgeable whose only interest, is looking out for *your* interests.

Don't sign anything, grant anything, or agree to anything, without professional counsel examining it, and explaining the implications to you, first.

I'm sorry to say it, but it's true that the entertainment business has a very high proportion of creeps, flakes, big-talkers and downright sharks who will rip you off, screw you over, and sleep very well at night, afterwards.

There *are* certainly plenty of upstanding, ethical producers and business people out there, but it is not worth taking the change on getting
boned by one of the many bad apples. A competent agent and attorney will get you the best possible deal (because, as percentage-takers, that will be the best deal for them, too).

I wish you nothing but success.
 
Many people are approached all the time by producers, when someone has a creative product that's "getting buzz." No one is approached by a reputable producer when you haven't actually staged/broadcast/published/submitted that creative product. They're not alien beings who can x-ray your garage to find out what you're working on.

The document that this potential producer has sent you is a standard release form required for all unsolicted submissions, which suggests to me that you contacted the company and asked if they want to read your scripts. Before a company will read your scripts, they need the assurance of this signed release because many new, inexperienced writers/filmmakers are paranoid and unrealistic about their expectations.

It seems to me that you must have contacted somebody about your project--because I doubt the suitor-company just heard about your production from a neighbor and thought it would be good to contact you. Have you posted your "amature" productions online? You say you've shot some stuff. Did you send around a DVD to production companies? You also say you don't know how they found you. Did you ask the producers how they found you?

It is unlikely an agent would step in to help you with something like this--unless someone is being pursued by the likes of Disney or Dreamworks and the agent smells big money. The fact a company sent you a submission release form for you to sign would NOT entice an agent to get involved. Show me the money, so they say. But an attorney--who you would pay money to either hourly or with a flat fee--would help you with this. If you're based in or near California, get one in Los Angeles. But many companies will not amend their submission release form just for you. Why would they? It takes time away from their highly paid in-house lawyers, and when they're sending out a form like that, it getnerally means they don't want to read your stuff quite as much as you want them to read it.

As for copyright, your work is already protected by copyright as soon as you type it. Registration is not required in order to give you copyright in your creative work. This is true for all artists. You make it, you own the copyright. Period. But registering a work with the copyright office CAN give you a few additional rights and serve as additional proof of the date of creation. You can also register it with the Writers Guild of America, which is quick and easy and also serves as very good proof of date of creation.
 
Can any of the big names who you're working with refer you to a good agent? That might be a very good way to get an agency to sit up and take notice. And if your project is getting buzz (somehow) then more than one company might be very interested in taking a look. As someone mentioned earlier, having an agent on board will generally allow you to avoid signing submission releases.
 
Well, with a good attorney/agent you could possibly get any or all of those credits. It's all a matter of negotiation and influenced by how you would be involved going forward too. A legitimate production would ensure the scripts were covered by the WGA, and the credit for writing (including yours) would be according to the Guild's rules which are very good at protecting the original writer. It's really all stuff an attorney should be negotiating for you. S/he'd tell you what you could expect out of the deal in the way of cash and credits and future involvement.

Can any of the big names who you're working with refer you to a good agent?
 
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He's just gonna waltz in with a crew and do it for free. As long as you don't copyright anything.

Then leave you to your fame and fortune, and waltz out again to find the next good deed to do.

Uh huh.

A more likely and legitimate thing would be for someone to call up and offer a bag of money for the rights, then go off and develop it themselves.

Copyright the scripts. No need to put the copyright notice on them, though.

Then, when they steal it...wait until it's a hit show...sue them for a lot more than you would have made if they were honest about it.
 
For a television show, you want to be the Executive Producer. If you write the episodes, you should also receive Writer credit.
 
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