|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Getting a script sold in Hollywood: What to expect
It would seem that far too many bad movies get made in Hollywood. Even more astonishing is that the films that actually make it to the big screen represent the very best of what Hollywood has to offer. For every project that is made, studios develop scores of other projects that are never actually put into production. For every script that a studio develops, thousands more end up no farther than the recycling bin.
Indeed, most spec scripts are destined to receive the notorious pass letter. Typically, a writer's agent or manager will formally submit a script to a studio or production company. After the script sits on an executive's desk for a few weeks, or gets toted around in the executive's script bag, the coverage, drafted up by some lowly reader, comes back. The coverage usually talks about how the script is nothing more than a failed attempt at a tired genre, and falls short as a screenplay in nearly every important aspect. The executive's assistant, at the request of his or her boss, will call up a form letter on the computer which conveys something to the effect that, "while I enjoyed reading [insert catchy title here], it is not the kind of project we are interested in pursuing at this time."
The agent will most likely submit his or her client's script to as many potential buyers as possible, while walking that fine line between aggressive and shameless.
To be sure, there are quality spec scripts out there that production companies and studios are interested in. So what happens when someone is interested in your script? There are several possible scenarios:
The Option
A buyer could choose to option your script. An option is defined as purchasing a script for a finite period of time. If, for example, Warner Bros. likes your sci-fi thriller that takes place on Saturn, they can pay you $10,000 to option your script for 12 months. Warner then has 12 months, to the day, to develop the script into something that is worth actually going forward with. In those twelve months, a number of things can happen. Warner can hire you, the original writer, to do additional work, they can hire someone else to do additional work, or it can sit there and really do nothing.
If after twelve months, Warner decides they are not interested in further developing the script, the option expires, and ownership of the screenplay reverts back to you, and you are free to take the script to another studio. But if Warner wants to continue to develop the project, they could renew the option, and pony up another $10,000 for an additional twelve months.
Optioning is a common course of action for a script that receives attention in Hollywood. For the studio, they are hedging on the project by spending less money up front, and essentially are leasing the property for a set amount of time. If they decide they don't want the project, they can return it to the original owner when the option expires.
A writer likes an option because they can always get their script back, should it stall at the studio. At that point, a writer is free to shop their script around elsewhere.
The Purchase
Another scenario is that a studio or production company will simply purchase your script. You hear a lot about purchases because they represent the sexy side of screenwriting. Some dude wrote the best sci-fi thriller to take place on another planet since "Total Recall," and some studio bought the script outright for $300,000. Even more impressive is that your agent had multiple interested buyers bidding against one another, thus getting a much sweeter deal than if only one studio was interested.
This means that the studio now owns the script, with no expiration date on that ownership. The studio can do whatever they want with the script, even if that means using it to make 120 paper airplanes.
The upside for the writer is obvious: money, money, and more money. Purchase prices are obviously a lot bigger than option fees. But if your script stalls in development hell at the studio, the studio is not obligated to return it to you.
If you decide you want your script back from a studio, the studio has to agree to put it into "turnaround." At that point, you are free to shop your script around, but any interested buyer will have to purchase it off the initial studio. There is one catch. A new buyer is only entitled to buy the original script that you wrote. All the rewrites you did for Studio A still belong to Studio A. So if you introduced a new character in your second rewrite, Studio A "owns" that new character. Now those rewrites are likely for sale, but they are sold separately. You can be sure that the first studio will want the money they spent to purchase and develop your script back, and then some.
Otherwise, a studio is happy to let a script, along with all of its fruitless rewrites, collect dust in their basement. Better that than another studio snatching away the script and turning it into a hit.
A studio can also "abandon" a project. This is a WGA term, which essentially says that ownership of a script reverts back to you, the original owner, and the studio will simply write off all expenses associated with your script as a loss.
Services
Alongside any option or purchase of a script comes fees for services. Of course, if a studio buys your sci-fi thriller, they could say, "thank you, goodbye," and hire a real writer to rewrite it. But often, a studio will work "services" into your deal. What this basically means is that you still have work to do on your script.
Say for example that the studio buys your script for $300,000. They may give you $200,000 up front, and then the remaining $100,000 will be paid out as you complete "steps." So you may get another $40,000 after a first rewrite, another $40,000 after another rewrite, and the last $20,000 for a final polish. Rewrites and notes and more rewrites and more notes can go back and forth for months, even years. Hence the term, development hell.
A good deal will have a production bonus written in for you, where you get even more money if the movie gets made, and even more money if you are the only writer to get credit for your brilliant script.
Good agents have thought of a 1,000 different ways to get more money for their clients, and studios have countered with thousands of ways to get the biggest bang for their buck.
Best Case Scenario
Ultimately, the greatest single fate for a script is the proverbial greenlight, where the fat cats in the biggest offices on the lot decide that your sci-fi thriller is worth committing millions of dollars to.
At that point, the fun is just beginning...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
