John August

Archives for 2009

On the WGA elections

WGA

I was traveling last week when the WGA ballots were mailed out. Now that I’m back, I’ve had a chance to look through the candidates’ statements and endorsements. I want to explain my priorities for this election.

The future is important. The present is essential.
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The guild has focused so much of its energy on new frontiers — organizing reality television, political action committees, new media residuals — that we’re doing a lackluster job of providing basic services to our members: the boring but essential stuff like collecting residuals and enforcing contracts.

We’re running a deficit. We’re laying off staff members. We rail against “management,” but the fact is that our guild does not feel particularly well-managed. I want a president, secretary/treasurer and board of directors who will focus first on getting our own house in order. When I call the guild with a question, I want an answer. I want follow-up.

This may mean hiring more people, and firing some under-performers. This is a business. The guild needs to operate like one.

Groupthink is nothink
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I want a diversity of opinion and experience throughout the board. I’m leery of slates. I’ve endorsed several candidates who disagree with each other.

Rebuilding burnt bridges
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During a strike, it’s natural to demonize any person or organization that seems to be standing in the way of our goals. But the strike is over. DGA, SAG, AFTRA and IATSE aren’t stumbling blocks; they’re peers. We have reasons to be frustrated with these groups and their leaders, but the fact is that most of our goals overlap. We need to be meeting with them regularly and cordially.

The same can be said for the studios themselves. Their objectives are transparent — get as much as they can for as little as possible. But, like us, they also want to keep working. They want to figure out how to make money as technologies change and prices fall towards zero. They want to shoot movies and TV shows locally for a fair price.

Just as in international diplomacy, we’re often both partners and adversaries. I want officers and board members who understand this and don’t let heated rhetoric ruin any chance of cooperation.

My choices
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In all my conversations with **Howard Michael Gould**, I’ve been impressed with his ability to see multiple sides of an issue. His candidate statement for Vice President outlines exactly the points I think are most important.

I don’t know **Chris Keyser**, but his candidate statement for Secretary/Treasurer emphasizes enforcement and better fiscal discipline. These are my priorities. **Steven Schwartz** makes other important points about getting writers the money they’re owed.

**John Wells** is controversial because he’s perceived as being more of a producer than a writer. That’s naive, of course: in television, successful writers become producers, and mega-successful producers become John Wells. His experience and connections are an asset. His intercession during the strike wouldn’t have been necessary if guild leadership had engaged the DGA earlier.

**Howard Rodman** is a good friend, and an important advocate for indie writers, who are often overlooked. As a guild, we need to make sure we’re representing all screenwriters before trying to broaden our reach.

I got to know **Ian Deitchman** through United Hollywood and Strike.TV. Reading his candidate statement, I like that he’s pragmatic about the realities of new media, and the importance of enforcing the current contract.

Writer/directors like **Billy Ray** can help bridge the gap with the DGA. **Jeff Lowell** makes that a priority as well.

These are my opinions on the candidates and the issues. I’ll be keeping comments closed, because I don’t really want this to become another forum for accusations and potshots. It’s already become a frustratingly ugly election. My hope is that we can move beyond personalities to the crucial issues.

If you’re a WGA member, please vote. The deadline for ballots is September 17th — but mail them in early to be safe.

Is it fair use to perform one scene?

Film Industry, QandA, Rights and Copyright

questionmarkLast year a much beloved directing professor passed away and some of us are working on creating a DVD of her teaching for educational purposes. Her class was filmed one semester before she passed away and we are using this material as the basis for the DVD which will eventually be for sale to teachers and film students.

In her class students used scenes from previously produced screenplays, and directed actors using those screenplays. No clips from the actual films were used.

So the question is this, in order to put a section on the educational DVD of her discussing the breakdown of a script, or actors performing a scene from the script, who do we need to get permission from? Is permission from the author of the screenplay enough? Do we need permission from the studio who owns the screenplay for the film? Is this considered fair use?

— Diane
Los Angeles

Often the most interesting questions are the ones I can’t really answer. I’m hoping some readers with experience on the vagaries of copyright and entertainment law will weigh in with opinions and guidance. Craig? Ted?

In the meantime, I can offer some framework for what we’re discussing.

Studios own copyright on the underlying screenplays behind their movies. The scripts are considered works-for-hire — even if they were originally written as specs. But the credited screenwriter(s) retain the ability to publish the script, which is why I can offer my scripts in the [Library](http://johnaugust.com/library) without getting a call from Sony legal. ((I’ve avoided publishing scripts that are in limbo — abandoned but still owned by somebody — since they could theoretically be made at some point. Just this week I heard rumblings about Tarzan, a movie I thought long dead.))

I recently licensed a scene from my script for Big Fish to be published in a literature textbook. The fact that the publisher went through a lot of hassle to license one fairly short scene suggests that their legal folks believe that use of even a single scene falls outside of fair use. You may disagree, and the truth is I’ve given permission a lot of times when I didn’t think it was even necessary. But my hunch is that if you went to a copyright attorney, she’d say you had to get permission.

But from whom? Here’s where I suspect there’s an important distinction between printing and performing.

If you were simply projecting a page from a script on screen while you discussed it, that feels very close to printing. In fact, studios pay screenwriters a flat fee for the option of including the screenplay on the DVD.

But since your product includes actors performing the scene, you may cross into different territory. In my experience, studios seem to have all rights to film, stage, or otherwise mount a performance of material they own. For example, if Warners wanted to make a Charlie and Chocolate Factory musical, they could use any part of my screenplay without paying or even acknowledging me. That not hypothetical; Karen Lutz and Kirsten Smith wrote the screenplay for Legally Blonde, yet their names are nowhere on the Broadway show. The author of the screenplay material is considered to be MGM.

I think fair use *should* cover you, but I suspect it doesn’t. I look forward to hearing other opinions.

Subtitled success stories

Film Industry, International, Words on the page

Somewhat remarkably, the top two movies in America have subtitles. Lots and lots of subtitles.

I’d estimate that Inglourious Basterds is less than 50 percent English, with the rest being a mix of German, French and hilariously inadequate Italian, almost all of it subtitled. District 9 uses subtitles for the Prawn, along with Afrikaans, native languages and some difficult-to-understand English.

Two movies is not a trend. But I’m noting these two success stories for the next time I’m told audiences won’t tolerate subtitles.

One other observation about District 9: It’s the first movie I can recall in which two groups could largely understand the each other’s language without being able to speak it. That is, Wikus speaks English to Christopher, who answers back in Prawn. The movie suggests that humans are physically incapable of speaking Prawn, and vice-versa. It’s an interesting choice, and helps keep the Prawn more alien.

Are studios open on Saturdays?

Film Industry, QandA

questionmarkWhen trying to sell a screenplay, does it have to be accompanied by a logline and/or a synopsis? Or will just handing someone a script suffice?

And I would also like to know the general work hours of movie studios. I want to maybe personally hand my work to someone at a studio since I am uncertain of whether or not they read unsolicited work; however, I have a very unflexible work schedule, and I usually get off late. Are studios open on Saturdays?

— Evelyn
New York City

These are the kinds of questions that reflect almost no understanding of the film industry — which is fine. You’re brand new to all of this, obviously. I would ask similarly uninformed questions about lawn bowling, textile manufacture or warp drives: using the lingo without really understanding what it meant.

So I want to answer your questions while simultaneously explaining why they’re awkwardly wrong questions to ask.

Written loglines and synopses aren’t included with a script, unless you’re submitting it for some competition that requires it. A screenwriter needs to be able to distill the premise and story of her script mostly so she can pitch it: “It’s a road-trip comedy about a transgendered rabbit and a zombie turtle.”

“Just handing someone a script” is doom. No one wants to read your script. No one. If you doubt me, reverse the roles. A stranger comes up to you and thrusts a 120-page document in your hands, along with a promise-slash-threat that they will call and ask you what you thought. Unless you had reason to believe that the script or the writer was genuinely worth your time — or that saying no would have a significant social cost — you’d find a way to get out of it.

When screenwriters move to Los Angeles, the first year is spent finding people willing to read their scripts, generally for an even exchange: I’ll read yours if you’ll read mine.

The Saturday issue
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Movie studios aren’t what you think they are. They don’t have a front desk where scripts come in. They have fairly typical Monday-Friday schedules, but that’s irrelevant.

Producers, managers, agents and filmmakers bring projects to specific executives at the studio. Paula Producer may have good relationships with three executives at Imaginary Pictures, but for this nautical action drama, she picks the guy who sails.

Getting a movie made, and getting a script set up, relies on knowing the people involved. That’s why just landing your script somewhere physically within the halls of a studio isn’t worth much. Studios have readers — I used to be one — but they’re largely there to help executives by writing coverage and reading the least-promising material that comes in.

There’s far too much mythology about “what studio readers are looking for.” Generally, they’re looking for an exit. They have very little influence on which scripts get purchased or made.

Evelyn, your goal as an aspiring writer should be to convince producers, managers, agents and filmmakers that you’re a great writer with great material. You do this by getting read; you get read by making relationships in the industry. That’s also where you’ll pick up a better understanding of How It All Works.