John August

QandA

Three directors, no money for rent

Directors, Film Industry, QandA

questionmarkI have a good problem. Three of my scripts have found directors in the last two weeks, after about 18 months of development. But! I just lost my day job and my bank account is in dire straits.

Each director has given me comprehensive notes, enough to keep me working overtime if writing was my sole moneymaker. I want to show them what a quick, clean worker I am, but I also have to pay my bills, and eat. What the hell do I do?

— Ben
NYC

Most screenwriters are broke at some point. Better it happens at the start of your career than the end.

I had a gap between my last “real” job and my first paid screenwriting assignment. I watched what little money I had dribble away. I made a spreadsheet budget and figured I could make it two months. My mom helped pay my rent, and I made it five months until the first check came. During that time, I wasn’t going out a lot.

Cut your expenses as low as you can. Don’t buy Starbucks. Cook cheap things you can eat for a week. And cancel your cable — you’ll be too busy working to watch.

Desperation can be productive. You have a lot of incentive to work your ass off.

Don’t get evicted or ruin your credit. You probably have someone in your life who can loan you some money to see you through this stretch. Maybe it’s a parent. Maybe it’s a friend. So ask. Be honest about the good things that are happening, and the bad things.

How cool are the directors/producers you’re working with? If there’s one you really click with — and who doesn’t seem to be down to his last twenty — be candid about your situation and see if he’ll advance you some money. A director can’t get your best work if you’re fighting to stay afloat.

There’s no romance in being broke, and no shame either. Be smart and work through it.

WTF is a beat sheet?

Charlie's Angels, Ops, Projects, QandA, Treatments

questionmarkFirst, thanks for telling me to [buy a new car](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2010/fix-or-ditch-the-car). (I did.) Second, what the frak is a beat sheet?

I’ve taken screenwriting, short-story writing, and novel writing classes. I’ve taken filmmaking classes. I’ve read several writing manuals. Writers and professors all love to talk about the importance of beat sheets. While they are apparently the single most important thing a writer can ever do, they never show examples. And I’ve heard multiple definitions, from a one-sentence description of each scene to a detailed breakdown of every action in the script.

I’m beginning to suspect conspiracy. I don’t think anybody really uses beat sheets. They claim to in order to sound responsible, much like the myth of flossing. Can you post an example of a beat sheet and blow this mystery out of the water?

— Nick T.

Beat sheets are a form of outline. Each major plot point gets its own bullet point (or occasionally, a number). That’s it.

They can be a helpful way of discussing the storyline of a movie.

PRODUCER

What if Shoe and Dog’s dance number at Marvin Gardens came before Race Car discovered the Community Chest? We could get rid of these three beats, including Top Hat and Thimble’s knife fight.

SCREENWRITER

Did you know Inception wasn’t based on anything?

In the [Library](http://johnaugust.com/library), you can see a minimal [beat sheet](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/ops_venezuela_who_writes_what.pdf) that Jordan Mechner and I did for our never-shot pilot Ops. It includes a column showing which characters are in any given scene, and which one of us was going to write it.

For the first Charlie’s Angels, I did a series of beat sheets as we debated and formulated. [This one](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/charlies_beat_sheet.pdf) shows a pretty close approximation of what I ended up writing for the first draft. Numbering the beats ended up being a huge help for conference calls.

(Trivia: You’ll notice there’s a villain character named “Lucy Liu,” which far predates the actual Lucy Liu being involved with the movie. That villain character was ultimately played by Kelly Lynch, while Lucy was later cast as the third angel.)

Note that beat sheets are also commonly written after there is a draft of a screenplay. I’ve asked my assistants to do a beat sheet of a script I’m about to begin rewriting so that I’ll have a roadmap of how things are arranged.

Do novelists get more for successful adaptations?

Big Fish, Film Industry, QandA, Rights and Copyright

questionmarkWhen a novel is adapted into a film or television series, how does compensation to the writer of the original novel work?

Does a studio pay the writer in one lump sum and then is allowed to do whatever they want with the property? Or does the original writer still benefit in some form if the adapted film or series is successful? For example, in the case of the television show Dexter, does Jeff Lindsay receive any extra compensation because the show has lasted as long as it has? Or was he paid only once, and then the success of the series makes no impact on his checkbook?

— Corey

I don’t know the specific deal with Dexter. But as a general case, yes, both scenarios are possible.

The studio (or producers) might pay a lump sum for all theatrical and/or television rights, generally structured as an option agreement. (Some money now for an exclusive hold on the rights, more money later if we decide to make it.)

Particularly in the case of a best-selling novel, the writer’s deal could include some form of backend. For a television series, that would likely be a specific amount per episode produced, along with a piece of the show’s profits. For feature films, it could be anything from a percentage of net profits (which almost never actually occur) to staggered bonuses at certain thresholds of domestic or worldwide box office.

Studios often buy books as manuscripts before they’re published. (That was the case with Big Fish.) In that situation, there may be language in the contract stipulating additional fees if the book enters the New York Times bestseller list, or some other event after publication.

For a novelist, a successful film or television adaptation should result in more sales of her book, and that money is all hers. The studio doesn’t get any portion of Stephenie Meyer’s publishing money for the Twilight series, nor Lindsay’s for Dexter.