John August

QandA

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
======
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.

Habits, heavy lifting, and the possibility of suck

Charlie's Angels, Video, Writing Process

[MakingOf](http://makingof.com/insiders/media/john/august/john-august-on-personal-writing-habits-and-process/99/283) has part two of my interview up on the site. (You can see part one [here](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/interview-with-about-adaptions-and-picking-projects).)

Some notes on certain sections:

0:07 Writing process
—-

In [How to Write a Scene](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/write-scene), I go into a lot more detail on “looping” and “scribble versions” of scenes.

0:49 How scripts have evolved
—-

My hunch is that the modern era of writing action begins with James Cameron. Every screenwriter I know read and devoured his scripts for Terminator, Aliens and Point Break. We’re all probably channeling him a bit.

1:30 When I write
—-

I really do try to do most of my work during “office hours.” But during crunch times — which has been a lot more, recently — I find myself going back to work after dinner, or setting the alarm for 5 a.m. to get stuff written before breakfast.

Writing is an inherently selfish act: you’re shutting the world out to live in a fantasy. You don’t really appreciate that until you have a family.

2:18 This could possibly suck
—–

One of the main reasons we procrastinate is to give ourselves an excuse for why things might be terrible: “I know it’s not great, but I wrote it in three days.” Suck early and fix it.

3:30 Writer’s block
—–

You know who gets writer’s block? Non-writers. They think it’s cool and romantic to struggle to make Art. They make sure everyone knows how torturous the process is, so when they finally squeeze something out, it won’t be judged on its merits but rather the emotional anguish involved in its creation.

Writers write. Hacks Posers whine about how hard it is. ((“Hacks” was really the wrong term, because there are some very prolific hacks. There are also some genuinely talented writers who go through spells of low productivity. I find stories glamorizing their travails really tedious, however.))

4:09 Heavy lifting
—-

The twenty minute timer actually works. Do twenty minutes of solid work, then give yourself ten minutes of freedom.

Ideally, you want finesse: a combination of strength and dexterity that uses a scene’s natural momentum to make everything look effortless. But sometimes, that’s not possible: there isn’t time, or there’s some major impediment. With enough craft, an experienced screenwriter can often muscle a scene that shouldn’t otherwise work.

4:35 You can always cut something
—-

I’m obliquely referencing a meeting for Charlie’s Angels, during which the studio president ripped ten pages out of the script and told me to write around what was missing.

5:10 Most people aren’t screenwriters
—-

If you want to work in film or television, you need to work on films and television shows. Screenwriting is mostly writing, but without experience in how stuff is actually made, you’ll never be very good at it.