John August

Archives for 2004

Getting permission

QandA, Rights and Copyright

An alarmingly high percentage of reader questions contain some variety of the phrase, “Do I need permission to…”

The short answer is generally, “Yes.” The long answer continues, “…but don’t worry about it so much.” People get unnecessarily freaked out about copyright and trademarks, out of fear that Nabisco is going to sue them for millions of dollars. That’s simply not going to happen.

But to help you sleep a little easier, I’d highly recommend a new book from [Nolo](http://www.nolo.com) called [Getting Permission: How to License & Clear Copyrighted Materials Online & Off](http://www.nolo.com/lawstore/products/product.cfm/ObjectID/4835B5AF-0C35-4540-A4FE20738596443E/catid/2EB060FE-5A4B-4D81-883B0E540CC4CB1E). That’s a lot of ampersands for one title, but it’s a very good reference for the super-diligent writer who wants to make sure his Bob Dylan musical is on the up-and-up. (Section 5, page 21)

The book has all the forms you’re likely to need for most purposes, although it’s not film-centric. There are no rights-option agreements, for example.

Nolo has books on a wide variety of legal topics, which is of course catnip to the do-it-yourself-er like me. [How to Buy a House in California](http://www.nolo.com/lawstore/products/product.cfm/ObjectID/2B3C9AA5-19FF-45F8-B0E47338DEECD3F3/catid/AAFB97A1-F23E-4D6F-98DBD8C64C478126) was by far the most useful thing I read before I bought my first place a few years ago — I’ve lent it out to many friends. Even if you live outside of California, it’s a very good primer. In my case, I had dramatically mis-estimated what I could afford to buy, and would have ended up in the wrong house without it.

How wide to take your spec script

Film Industry, QandA

questionmarkAssuming you have an agent, manager, lawyer and all the other must haves to sell a spec, do you think it’s wise for your reps to take the material wide (20-30 producers) or for them to slip it to individual producers three or four at a time in order to sell the piece?

— Alexander
NYC, NY

There’s no right answer. It depends on the script and the market, and even then you’ll get conflicting answers.

By targeting a few select producers, you hopefully put the script in the hands of the people who are most likely to (a) love it and (b) get it set up at a given studio. For a script that deals with challenging subject material, or which lacks obvious commercial appeal, this might be a smart move.

For instance, say you’ve written a sophisticated romantic comedy with leads in their 60’s, maybe a blue-collar version of [Something’s Gotta Give](http://imdb.com/title/tt0337741/). It might be smart to look at what producers (such as Scott Rudin), directors (such as James L. Brooks) or hyphenates (such as Clint Eastwood) would be natural fits for it. Target them first, so that they can take it to the studio with themselves attached.

On the other hand, if a script is just flat-out commercial, you can sometimes sell it for a lot of money by going to all (or most) of the studios at once. That was the case with [The Island](http://imdb.com/title/tt0399201/), a thriller that’s now in production.

The downside of going wide is that if your script doesn’t receive a great reception, it’s over pretty quickly. You don’t have a chance to change strategy mid-way through, such as targeting a specific director or piece of talent.

My best advice is to trust your instincts, but listen to your representatives.

What became of American McGee’s Alice?

Dead Projects, QandA, Treatments

questionmarkI’m just wondering what ever happened with the production of “Dark Wonderland,” with the American McGee characters of Alice In Wonderland. I haven’t heard anything about it in a while, and can’t seem to find much info on it.

— Dan
Ontario, Canada

To the best of my knowledge, nothing’s happening with it.

The brief history: Miramax/Dimension hired me to write a (long) film treatment based on [American McGee’s Alice](href=”http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=johnaugustcom-20&path=tg%2Fdetail%2F-%2FB00006G9SB%2Fqid%3D1099782249%2Fsr%3D8-1%2Fref%3Dpd_csp_1%3Fv%3Dglance%26s%3Dvideogames%26n%3D507846) videogame — a trippy retelling/continuation of Alice in Wonderland. Wes Craven was supposed to direct it, but he didn’t really care for my treatment, and things quickly fell apart.

It’s so interesting how (mis-) information spreads on the Internet. For instance, the title “Dark Wonderland.” Don’t ask me where that came from. It was never real, nor was any of the “casting” that was supposedly taking place.

I had lunch a few weeks ago with American, and asked him about it. He didn’t really know what was going on either, except that the project’s apparently at Fox now. He posted everything he knows about the movie at his own site, so people would hopefully stop asking. (Link is now dead.)

I’ll ask around, but as far as I know, there’s no script, no director, no actress, nothin’. But it’s still a kick-ass game. And for his part, American has become a screenwriter himself, so if anyone should take the reins, it’s him.

The Dead File

Dead Projects, Projects

While writing about the [non-existent Columbia thriller](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2004/whatever-happened-to) on my resume, I got to thinking about all the other scripts I’ve written that haven’t been produced. I thought it might be alarming comforting for aspiring screenwriters to see how much work never makes it to the screen.

This list is only projects for which I’ve written entire 120-page drafts. Pitches, treatments, rewrites and aborted attempts would be a much longer list.

HERE AND NOW
Unsold. My first script, a romantic tragedy set in Colorado. Under-plotted and over-written, but it got me an agent.

HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS
Universal/Imagine. My first paid screenwriting assignment, an adaptation of [Thomas Rockwell’s book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=johnaugustcom-20&path=tg%2Fdetail%2F-%2F0440445450%2Fqid%3D1099597776%2Fsr%3D8-1%2Fref%3Dpd_csp_1%3Fv%3Dglance%26s%3Dbooks%26n%3D507846).


A WRINKLE IN TIME
Miramax/Dimension. An adaptation of [Madeleine L’Engle’s book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=johnaugustcom-20&path=tg%2Fdetail%2F-%2F0440498058%2Fqid%3D1099597867%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fv%3Dglance%26s%3Dbooks). Technically, it was made, as an ABC TV movie. But the draft they used pre-dated mine.

DEVIL’S CANYON
Unsold. Zombie western set in a Colorado mining town, circa 1859.

FENWICK’S SUIT
Fox 2000. Adaptation of [David Small’s book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=johnaugustcom-20&path=tg%2Fdetail%2F-%2F0374322988%2Fqid%3D1099597947%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fv%3Dglance%26s%3Dbooks) about a man’s suit which comes to life.

DEMONOLOGY
Paramount. Two prep school girls have to save Manhattan from the Apocalypse.

FANTASY ISLAND
Columbia. Big-budget tentpole adaptation of the ABC TV show.

THIEF OF ALWAYS
Universal.
Adaptation of [Clive Barker’s novel](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=johnaugustcom-20&path=ASIN%2F0064409945%2Fqid%3D1099598005%2Fsr%3D2-1%2Fref%3Dpd_ka_b_2_1).

SCARED GUYS
Columbia. Page-one rewrite of comedy about phobic brothers.

BARBARELLA
Fox 2000/Warner Bros. Based on the comic book character, not the movie.

FURY
Unsold. Violent action thriller.

This, dear readers, is what sucks about being a screenwriter. Added up, this list represents five or more years of my writing career, but I don’t have a frame of celluloid to show for it.

Not one of these projects is “the best thing I’ve ever written,” I’m happy to report. Still, many of these scripts are near and dear to my heart. Demonology, for example, is the unholy spawn of my two favorite movies, Clueless and Aliens. Others, like Fantasy Island, I’m happy enough to forget. Even though I spent months on various drafts, it never connected for me or the studio.

When asked what kind of movies I prefer to write, I’ll sometimes glibly anwer: “Ones that get made.” I don’t think that’s cynical as much as it is pragmatic. I never think about writing a script. The goal is always to make a movie.