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Rights and Copyright

The One with the Austin Winner

Episode - 250

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May 17, 2016 Follow Up, QandA, Rights and Copyright, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Transcribed, Words on the page

Remember the live show in Austin, when we promised we’d read one lucky listener’s script and talk about it on the air? This is that episode.

John and Craig talk with Amanda Morad about her pilot script Betty Bureau, offering praise, suggestions and a few next steps. You can read Amanda’s script in the links below.

We also answer a few short and simple questions about rights and clearances.

Links:

  • Escape Room LA
  • Scriptnotes, 248: Pitching an Open Writing Assignment
  • Scriptnotes, 228: Scriptnotes Holiday Show 2015
  • Master of None, S1 E4: “Indians on TV” on Netflix
  • Individual bonus tracks are now available in the John August Store
  • Watch Matthew edit an episode of Scriptnotes
  • The Austin Film Festival
  • Betty Bureau by Amanda Morad
  • @amandamorad on Twitter
  • screenwriting.io on referencing proper nouns in your screenplay
  • Director J Blakeson answers John’s question about the background Big Fish poster in The 5th Wave
  • Hollywood jumps without CGI
  • The Empty Cup Awards
  • Hamilton: The Revolution on Amazon
  • Outro by Paul B (send us yours!)

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 5-20-16: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

What screenwriters mean by IP and YA

January 18, 2016 Adaptation, Film Industry, QandA, Rights and Copyright

Sven in Germany writes:

In your January 5th episode with Aline and Rawson, you spoke about IP and YA and I kind of got the idea from the context, but couldn’t figure out the exact meaning of the abbreviations.

IP means “intellectual property,” and in a general sense could refer to anything covered by copyright, trademark or patent.

But for screenwriters, IP means some pre-existing property that a studio is hiring you to adapt into a movie. IP includes comic book characters (Iron Man), games (Clue), and all manner of remakes and reboots of other movies and TV shows.

A friend was hired to develop a TV series based on a candy logo. That’s crazy, but that’s IP.

When Rawson notes that it’s hard to get a movie made that’s not based on IP, he’s saying that studios want to spend money on projects that they feel already have brand recognition. Given two identical navy-vs-aliens scripts, they’ll greenlight the one called Battleship.

YA stands for Young Adult. It’s fiction that’s technically written for teenagers — but is often read by adults. The Hunger Games and Twilight series are YA books that became best-sellers and huge movie franchises. (We don’t talk about movies being “YA.” Only books.)

Notable movies based on YA books tend to be dystopian dramas and supernatural romances, but YA itself isn’t a genre. YA is more about who the intended reader is, which very often reflects the age of the hero.

Middle-grade fiction is written for kids roughly 8 to 12 years old. Harry Potter and Percy Jackson would generally be considered middle-grade. (Of course, Harry and his friends age up over the course of the series.)

In Hollywood, I’ve never heard anyone say “MG” aloud the way YA is thrown about.

Screenwriters don’t really need to know much about the publishing world and its target audiences. When adapting a book, you’re just thinking about the movie. But if you’re curious, Malinda Lo has a useful collection of thoughts about the differences between middle-grade and YA fiction.

Feel the Nerd Burn

December 8, 2015 Directors, Film Industry, Follow Up, QandA, Rights and Copyright, Scriptnotes, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed

Craig and John discuss three new entries in the Three Page Challenge, looking at how simple mistakes and confusing word choices can hurt the read.

Also this week, a follow up on functional revenge, a brand-new version of Highland, and Craig gets big laughs on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Links:

  • The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, December 3, 2015
  • Craig in The New York Times and on Jezebel
  • Download Highland 1.9 now and sign up to be a Highland 2 beta tester
  • Does Revenge Serve an Evolutionary Purpose? from Scientific American
  • One Hit Kill is now available for purchase
  • Projection Problems Plague 70mm L.A. Press Screening Of Quentin Tarantino’s ‘The Hateful Eight’ from Indie Wire
  • Three Pages by Jody Russell
  • Three Pages by Mark S.W. & V.P. Walling
  • Three Pages by Matthew Gentile
  • Submit your Three Pages here
  • The Wall Street Journal on How Cyndi Lauper Wrote Her First No. 1 Hit, ‘Time After Time’
  • Secret Hitler is now on Kickstarter
  • Amazon Prime Now offers one hour delivery
  • Email us or tweet John or Craig for advice on things that have nothing to do with screenwriting
  • Outro by Roman Mittermayr (send us yours!)

You can download the episode here: AAC | mp3.

UPDATE 12-11-15: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

The 200th Episode Live Show

June 2, 2015 Adaptation, Directors, Film Industry, Formatting, Genres, QandA, Rights and Copyright, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Television, Transcribed, Words on the page

Craig, John, and Aline record the 200th episode of Scriptnotes live with a worldwide audience listening in — and chiming in — as they discuss TV showrunning and whether quality really counts at the box office.

Then it’s time for listener questions, ranging from presidential plagiarism to locked drafts.

Hard to believe it’s been 200 episodes. We wouldn’t and couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks to all our listeners, both for the live feed and all the weeks that came before.

Links:

  • Aline Brosh McKenna on episodes 60, 76, 100, 101, 119, 123, 124 152, 161, 175 and 180
  • CW picks up Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on Deadline, and the first-look trailer
  • Jane the Virgin on CW
  • Marie’s Crisis on Yelp
  • Seth Rudetsky’s Deconstructions
  • u/tcatron565’s Reddit post, 2013 Domestic Wide Releases Opening Weekend Out of Total Gross Over Audience Perception of Film from r/dataisbeautiful
  • A Cliff or a Rolling Hill from the Black List blog
  • Can You Copyright a Dream? on Politico
  • Hear about Writer X on Scriptnotes, Episode 194
  • The New York Times Magazine on A 12-Hour Window for a Healthy Weight
  • EaterLA on Korean bone broth soups and where to get them in LA, and Han Bat Sul Lung Tang on Yelp
  • Ultrasound Restores Memory to Mice with Alzheimer’s on Popular Science
  • Everybody Calm Down About Breastfeeding on FiveThirtyEight
  • Supergirl first-look trailer
  • Intro and Outro by Scriptnotes editor Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!)

You can download the episode here: AAC | mp3.

UPDATE 6-5-15: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

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