John August

QandA

Finding out if a book has been optioned

Adaptation, QandA, Rights and Copyright

questionmarkWhat is the best way to find out if a novel has been optioned for a film/screenplay?

–Jon Hanemann
Union City, NJ

I could swear I’ve answered this question before. But in 30 seconds of searching, I couldn’t find my previous answer, so it’s unlikely you could. And it’s so simple, I might as well answer it again.

1. Open the book to the publishing/information page.
2. Note the publisher.
3. Call 212.555.1212. This is New York City information.
4. Ask for the phone number for that publisher.
5. Call that number.
6. Ask for “subrights, please.”
7. You’ll likely get a voicemail telling you to fax your request. Follow their instructions.
8. In your faxed letter — or in the event you connect with a live person — explain that you’re trying to track down film and television rights to THIS GREAT NOVEL by This Author.

You may need to follow up a week or two later, but you’ll eventually get contact information for the author, her agent or attorney. You then write to them to ask.

What if it’s not a New York publisher, or not a US publisher, or some other special case? You can almost always find someone who knows something. Eventually, you need to get through to the author or her representatives. They’re the only people who will really know the status.

Make your introduction

Challenge, Words on the page

Following up on last week’s article about [How to Introduce a Character](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/how-to-introduce-character), I think it’s time for the second ever Scene Challenge. [Scene Challenge]

For the first one, [Masturbating to Star Trek](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/masturbating-to-star-trek), you had to write an entire scene. This time, you simply have to introduce one character. And trust me, sometimes that’s harder.

Here’s all I’m giving you:

__A man is picking up his clothes at a dry-cleaner.__

The man is a principal character in your script, and this is the first time we’re meeting him. What’s his name? What’s the story? What’s the genre? You decide, to the degree it matters.

You’re welcome to write as much of the dry-cleaner scene as you want, but the focus is on the man’s introduction. The winning entry might be one sentence long. You may wish to [consult the how-to](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/how-to-introduce-character) for helpful suggestions.

Here are the rules:

1. Post your entry in the comments thread of this article. Please don’t attempt fancy formatting. It usually just screws up the margins.
2. All entries must be submitted by 8 a.m. PST on Saturday, April 28th, 2007. Remember that comments are sometimes held in moderation. __Don’t submit twice.__ It will show up. Promise.
3. I’ll pick a winner later that day.
4. Winner receives bragging rights, which may be exchanged for a sense of self-worth. [Liz](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/blingons-and-despair#comment-53174) used her win to make an appeal for meningitis vaccination.

And…begin.

Comments for Jane Espenson

Resources, Television

Jane Espenson runs a [terrific blog](http://www.janeespenson.com/) offering advice on writing TV spec scripts. If you’re at all interested in writing for television, it’s worth checking out.

Jane’s site has two quirky aspects. First off, she consistently notes what she ate for lunch. Second, she doesn’t offer any online mechanism for reader feedback. Not only are comments turned off, but she doesn’t even provide a contact email. Instead, she lists a post office mailbox. You’re supposed to write a letter the old-fashioned-way.

That’s her prerogative, certainly. But it makes it difficult to point out simple errors she might want to correct. For instance, [this post](http://www.janeespenson.com/archives/00000338.php) from last week:

I’m sure there are many of these out there, but tonight I’m just presenting the first documented clamshell that has captured my attention. Remember these lines?

You smell like aftershave and taco meat. (Blades of Glory)
You smell like beef and cheese. (Elf)
You smell like sweet red plums and grilled cheese sandwiches. (The Wedding Planner)
You smell like old people and soap. (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)

That last one is from my script for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is the Gene Wilder version, and doesn’t feature that line.)

A simple mistake, easily corrected. But how am I to tell her? I suppose I’ll need to write her a letter, and find a stamp with which to mail it.

This got me thinking: Since she and I probably have a significant overlap of readership, why not provide a feedback mechanism for her? So here’s what I’m going to do.

Next Monday (April 30th, 2007), I’m going to print out this post and all attached comments and mail it to Jane. So if there’s anything you’d like to ask her, or a response to something she’s written, just leave it as a comment on this post.

Remember, these comments are for Jane’s blog, not mine.

Me? I’m having Quizno’s for lunch. A mesquite chicken sandwich, no bacon.

Renumbering when moving a scene

Formatting, Projects, QandA, The Nines

questionmarkLet’s say you are doing revisions and are dealing with scene numbers, and a scene gets moved up/down. How do you format the scene number?

Say scene 70 moves up in front of scene 69. Do the numbers read: 68, 70, 69? Or: 68, 68A, 69, 70 OMITTED.

Technically the scene still exists, i.e. was not omitted. What to do?

— Johnny

The second form is correct, though my AD’s prefer to use the letter before a scene number, for reasons I explained in an [earlier post](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/hollywood-standard). So I would number the scenes…

68
A69 (the scene you moved)
69
70 OMIT“OMIT” or “OMITTED”. Either is okay. (where the scene used to be)

With rare exception,One exception was The Nines, due to some complicated time-and-reality issues, which made normal sequencing too confusing. When revisiting an earlier scene, we’d put an X in front of the scene number. So, X48 was a version of scene 48. you always maintain scene number continuity. If you’re pretty far into pre-production, it may be helpful to include a note either with the script revision or on the page itself to point out the change, so a harried production designer (for example) doesn’t look at the “OMIT” and suddenly stop construction on a needed set.

The “OMIT” is a good place to put such a note:

70 OMIT [This scene is now A69.]