Rewriting an old movie
I have an old movie that I’d absolutely love to rewrite. I was wondering how you go about doing it. How do you find out who has the rights to the original screenplay, and is there anything else I would need to do?
–John
Start by looking for what company made the picture. On IMDb, look up the movie’s page, then click on "Company Credits." The top entity listed is usually the place to start.
If the studio still exists, such as Columbia Pictures, there’s a very good chance that they still own the remake rights to that movie. Call information in Los Angeles to get their main phone number, then call it and ask for the rights department. (It may have a different name, or be a subset of the legal department, but every studio has somebody who handles exactly these kind of rights.) Whoever you end up speaking with will probably have you fax over your information request, then promptly lose that fax until you call them back and pester them some more.
At this point, all you probably want to know is whether the company owns the remake rights for that picture. If they do, it’s up to you to figure out your next step, be that approaching the studio with your idea, or buying the studio’s remake rights (with your money or someone else’s).
If the studio doesn’t own the remake rights, hopefully they know who does. Repeat the process of calling/faxing/waiting until you find out exactly who controls these rights.
What if the company who produced the original movie no longer exists? If the movie is available on videotape or DVD, start with whatever company distributed it. Call their home video department (very likely based in Los Angeles) and ask to speak with somebody in their rights department. In order to distribute the movie, they had to secure rights from somebody. Find out who that was.
If you’re at a dead end, with no more numbers to call, start going through the names in the credit block. You can track down contact information for writers through the WGA, directors through the DGA, and producers (sometimes) through the Producers Guild of America. Of these three, producers are most likely to have information about who controls the rights for their movies.
Keep in mind that just because someone says they own the remake rights, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily true. You’ll need to have an experienced entertainment lawyer review the chain of title to make sure all the i’s are dotted and all the t’s crossed.
Determining credit
It has always bothered me that Christopher Fry did not get more credit for the work and writing he did on BEN HUR. [The studio] brought Fry in (after Gore Vidal) to work on making the language more appropriate to the times. As you know, the Writers Guild gave Karl Tunborg the full screenplay credit for BEN HUR. What attention do you think other writers who work on a film should get?
–Gail
BEN HUR came out in 1959. It would be comforting to think that in the 40+ years since then, the process of determining who should get credit for writing a screenplay would have been perfected. Unfortunately, it’s just as controversial as ever.
Screen credits are a huge, sticky mess that pits writers against writers. In fact, there is currently a major debate within the WGA about a proposed redraft of the Screen Credits Manual, the guidebook used by every arbitration panel. If you’re curious, you can read more about the issue in "A Credit Forum" at the WGA website.
In particular, one of these changes would have probably benefited a rewriter like Christopher Fry, since it addresses how much "story" credit a screenwriter gets when incorporating elements from a novel (like BEN HUR).
I’ve been through several arbitrations, one of which got ugly. I’ve also rewritten scripts for which I haven’t sought credit. In both cases, I truly believe there needs to be some sort of "Additional Writing" credit to acknowledge writers who have contributed to the script. It’s frustrating that a screenwriter can spend six months working on a film without having his name in the final credit scroll, while the caterer’s assistant is there for the world to see.
Script, story, screenplay
What is the difference between a script, story and screenplay? How "developed" (stage wise) are they in comparison to each other?
–Hemant
"Scripts" and "screenplays" are interchangeable when it comes to feature films, but television scripts are always called scripts. (Except when they’re called teleplays, which is only in certain on-screen credits.)
"Story" is more or less what it sounds like: the plot, the characters, the settings and tone. It differs from a script or screenplay only in that the dialog often isn’t written out, and the overall action may be somewhat compressed. A writer might be credited with the "story" for a movie, but not the "screenplay," if he wrote a treatment but not the final script. Usually, if one writer handles both "story" and "screenplay," he/she receives a more general "written by" credit.
Portraying "endurance"
I am working on a screenplay where I am trying to portray extreme endurance on the part of the main character. The problem is I am afraid that my method of illustrating this leads to a sort of monotony in my script. What creative approaches could I use to portray redundancy while maintaining the momentum of the story?
–Jonathan
If "endurance" is shown by having the character run for pages and pages, then yes, I think you’re right to worry that your script will be monotonous. But one of the amazing things about both movies and screenplays is that they can compress space and time to great effect.
For example, let’s say you had your character run from New York City to Miami without stopping. That’s pretty extreme endurance. If this action were supposed to take five days, you’d probably want to show the passage of time in some form: sunrises, sunsets, and shadows sweeping past in time-lapse. Maybe there would be rain storms that come and go. If your runner were a man, maybe you’d notice his beard growing.
Next, you’d need to show how far he’s running. You could cheese out and show a map of the Eastern seaboard, with an animated line charting his progress. Or, perhaps more cinematically, you could show his journey in relation to major geographic icons: running across the Brooklyn Bridge, through the Washington Mall, down the Georgia coast and into the heart of Miami’s hotel district.
Regardless of exactly how you show the journey, I suspect you could do it all in less than a minute of screen time, which means less than a page of script. That’s a pretty economical way to establish this information.
Writing for actors/actresses
I completed a screenplay and I wrote with specific actors and actresses in mind. I now would like to have them read my work, but I don’t know how to handle this. Can I write their agent and trust him to have them read my work? Is there another solution?
–Laurent
If you wrote your script to star Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts, then sorry, you’re out of luck. Their agents will return your script unopened. On the other hand, if the specific actors you have in mind are much smaller profile, or have unique situations that make it hard for them to work as much as they’d like, you might be able to get their agents to read it. Actors I would put in this category include Marlee Matlin, Ossie Davis, and Camryn Manheim. They’re all very talented, but not that many people are writing material specifically for them.
Of course, the chances of any agent reading your screenplay are greatly increased if you can present yourself as (a) competent and (b) sane. This is the time to write the most professional, most concise and best proof-read letter of your life, explaining exactly who you are, what your movie is about, and why their client is right for the role.
Registering ideas
I think I have a great idea for good action movie (like SPIDERMAN) but I live in Brazil, far away from L.A’s big movie industry. Who could I trust to share this excellent idea with without being cheated? Can I register an idea of a screenplay before I tell anyone?
–Klaus
You can register written material that isn’t in screenplay form, both with the WGA and through normal means of copyright (which may work differently in Brazil). If you’re worried about someone stealing your idea, you could write up a fairly detailed version of it in prose form and register it though one or both of these means. That’s plenty of protection.
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