John August

Producers

Is it risky to spec something in the public domain?

Adaptation, Pitches, Producers, QandA

questionmarkLately I’ve been adapting novels and shorts stories that are in the public domain and I’m worried that some producer I query could just forget about me and hire someone else to adapt the same novel after my query letter puts it in their head it would make a good movie.

Now I know stealing ideas rarely happens and there isn’t anything I can do to protect my rights on a story in the public domain, but if a producer I query decides to adapt the same novel I have, without using my script, well then my script is pretty much dead in the water, right?

Basically I was curious to find out if you think I should stop worrying and pitch these adaptation, or should I focus on pitching the other two scripts I’ve written (which are based on true stories I control the rights to) and then pull out my adaptations once I forge a working relationship with a producer?

— Rob
Ohio

Would it suck if a producer, upon reading your query letter (or hearing your pitch), decided to go off and use the same public domain material as the basis for a different writer’s script? Yes.

Is it likely? Not really.

Let’s say you wrote an adaptation of some lesser-known [Christopher Marlowe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Marlowe) work. Say, “Dido, Queen of Carthage.” The producer is unlikely to know anything about the story, so if your pitch (or query) is interesting enough that he wants to know more, he’ll read your script. At that point, you’ve succeeded in getting a producer to read your material, and that’s the whole point of pitches and queries at this stage in your career.

Sure, you hope he loves it and wants to produce it. But that’s all dependent on his reaction to your writing. If he likes your writing, and he likes the idea, you’re golden. If he doesn’t like your writing, his loss.As a reminder, I assume that everyone writing in with a question is a fantastic screenwriter. This is an absurd postulate, but lets me sleep better at night.

Either way, I think it’s unlikely that your script would suddenly kindle an interest in a long-ignored literary property. I’m sure there are cases where that’s happened, but it feels like the exception, rather than the rule. So if the best script you have available is an adaptation of a public domain piece, by all means show it around.

Should I worry about a competing project?

Film Industry, Producers, QandA

questionmarkI have a script about a big event in American history told from my personal viewpoint. A star is looking at it and it is a finalist at a prestigious writing lab. It is also with three important producers (including an Academy Award winner). It was always considered a “small independent film.”

Suddenly. last week an A-list producer wants my script. I asked myself why? Then I found through the trades, a major studio, producer and director are making a movie about this same event. There is a well known writer attached. But no script yet.

What should I do? Let my project die? Or go to the competition and drum up buzz? Suddenly my little personal script has become “commercially viable.” This is stuff I would discuss with an agent or manager, but presently, I have neither.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Again, thanks.

— Sung Ju
Venice, CA

I originally misread your question, and assumed that it was the competing project’s producer who was trying to buy your script — perhaps in the hopes of squashing it. That’s rare, but it does happens, and I’d have a hard time giving you helpful advice.

But since it’s apparently a completely different A-list producer who wants your script, let me lift my virtual 2×4 and smack you gently with it. Sell, Sung Ju, sell.

You have no agent, no manager, and no compelling reason to say no. If you like the A-list producer, go for it. The fact that there’s a competing project shouldn’t slow you down. In fact, it lights a fire under your producer to try to get your movie into production before the other one. And as a well-known screenwriter, let me assure you: lots of projects get started that never make it into production. (CoughTARZAN).

So go for it. Let the A-list producer hand-deliver you to an agency. Even if your script never gets made, your career has begun.

The only reason to put on the brakes would be if you intend to direct the movie yourself as a small-budget indie. If that’s truly your heart’s ambition, then don’t go with the giant producer. You need to be matched up with someone who makes movies of your size with first-time filmmakers. The screenwriting lab would likely be the place to get hooked up.

Either way, write back in six months and let us know what happened.

Co-producer credit

Producers, QandA

How did you get co-producer credit on GO? I know it was an original spec.
Is that enough to ask for producer credit, too? Alan Ball got it for AMERICAN
BEAUTY, another original.

I ask because I’ve acquired the rights to a comic book & I plan on writing
the script. The manager I was pitching it to said I’ll "never" get
producer credit because it’ll "set a bad precedent."

–Falzone

I got my co-producer credit on GO for three reasons. First, I asked for it.
No one is going to offer it to you out of the blue. Second, I sold my script
to a tiny company that couldn’t afford to pay me much, so they were much more
inclined to offer me something that didn’t cost them anything – and they didn’t
have any "precedents" to break. It’s extremely unlikely I could have
gotten that credit at a major studio, particularly on my first feature.

The third and most important reason I got the credit was that I did the work.
I was there for every casting session, every budget crisis and pretty much
every frame of film shot. I went through a dozen or more different cuts of
the movie, along with the trailer and the commercials. Being a co-producer
gave me enough authority to be involved in these decisions, but it came with
a load of responsibilities.

Does everyone with a co-producer credit do this much work? Unfortunately,
no. Producer credits are all too frequently handed out.

You’re right in assuming a spec script is a stronger position to be in when
negotiating for credit. As long as you have the option to walk away, a buyer
is more likely to give you what you want. (That’s also how Jessica
Bendinger got her co-producer credit for BRING IT ON.)

Surviving development hell

Producers, QandA

I just signed my first option agreement for one of my spec
scripts and am starting work developing and rewriting the screenplay with the
producer’s development personnel,
which is all very exciting, but also a bit scary, as I’m wary of them damaging
the script. Any tips on how to survive the process or any good
stories from development hell?

–Jay

The best advice I can give you is to keep an open mind as you’re talking with
them, and not to commit to any changes during a meeting. Remember that they
can only offer suggestions about what they’d like to see changed, not how to
actually do it. That’s your job. Any damage done to the script will be your
doing, not theirs.

A lot of times, I’ll encounter a note that seems idiotic or unworkable. But
the more I talk with the note-givers, I begin to understand what they’re really
getting at. Maybe something that I think is obvious simply isn’t clear, or
the problem isn’t with the scene itself, but how much it’s ultimately going
to cost to film.

Try to make every meeting a real conversation, rather than a session of attack-and-defend.
The ability to look at your work objectively and impassively takes a lot of
time to develop, but it’s a skill that will ultimately make your scripts stronger.