Quoted from Baltis. Be exceptional... Don't worry about what idea is taken and what idea isn't taken.  As a writer you're not as strong as your best script or idea, rather the vault of material you have or are capable of coming up with.   Do you think McDonald's got scared when Burger King said they were coming to market with burgers? No... A burger is a burger.  It's how you make it and what you do that the other guys don't do that makes it different.   If your work is good enough you have a place in the business...

Ditto! ... and reality is a big place and there are a lot of suns to be under.

Sandra

A short - flattered.

A feature - pissed off...

A few years ago I wrote an adaptation of Henry James' "Turn of the Screw" - well, about half of it anyway before I decided it wasn't working.

I framed the story by having the heroine in a mental institution, telling her tale to the Doctor there - so we were not sure if she had been driven mad by her ordeal, or whether what we were seeing was a reflection of her unstable mind.

This was the best bit of the script for me, and I kept thinking over the years that it would be worth reviving and trying again.

Last night I saw the BBC's trailer for their Christmas version of "Turn..." - which starts in an asylum with the unfortunate heroine telling a Doctor her tale.

Bugger.

Not happy but not angry either.  What can you do?  

Life goes on.

Ok, so you’ve written the best screenplay ever. It’s so damn good, the word masterpiece doesn’t do it justice. It’s the Matrix, Nightmare on Elm Street meets Gone With The Wind.

It’s original, has blistering pace and the characters are so deep you could drown in them.

The audience are going to laugh, cry, do two backward somersaults and a twist and still leave ultimately satisfied.

So what? I mean it’s not like anyone is ever going to see it. If they do, you can guarantee your names not going to be on it.

Neo’s going to become Theo, Trinity – Virginity and Vivien Leigh is going to discover that tomorrow is just another fucking day.

The two guys under contract with the studio are the ones going to the premier and spending the next six months telling the world where the idea came to them. The only ones who ever really get in, are those with a pass and guess what? You don’t got one.

If you’re lucky, and I mean the sort of luck where you fall down a mine shaft and come up with a diamond stuck up your ass lucky - you might just get a Based On.

You’ve registered your script with the WGA, CIA, FBI and the Space Core - just in case. It won’t make any difference. Everyone will tell you that ideas are a dime a dozen and coincidence is the rule and not the exception.

PLEASE! Somebody tell me I’m wrong.

You are.

Yes, there are nightmare stories, but there are plenty of films (not necessarily the blockbusters, but even some of those) that are the work of a writer who has not had his script ripped to pieces, rewritten, stolen or lost in the vision of others. And I don't just mean writer-directors either.

"American Beauty" is one that springs to mind. It was such a hot script that Alan Ball - by no means a big name in film then or now - was able to keep a strong measure of control over it.

And there is money to be made - or at least a good living - without sacrificing principles or control over your work or selling out to the devil.

If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't still be hoping and dreaming and wishin' to be a writer 28 years after I wrote my first story outline.

Now then, let's see... I mean I really want to believe that and sure, some guy wins the lottery every week. I mean that's why so many people play it right!. I also get your point about Alan Ball. But does anyone have a story of a plumber, carpenter, some guy who cleans windows, making it to the big silver screen. Alan Ball was little known, but still known. He had conections. I'm not saying they were great - just there.

You see Nile I like your writing. And I can't believe in 28 years you haven't written something worthy of an independant, at least. So where is it?

I'm new to this particular party, so I could be way off base. I'm just not convinced.

The writer of "The 51st State" was working in an off licence when his script was picked up for production. Mind you, maybe he should have stayed there, having seen it!

It's not much Nile, but I'll take it. Hope springs eternal after all.

I remember him being interviewed on TV at the time.

Two weeks after selling the script he also got a book deal!

But I haven't heard much from him since.

To quote the Book of Ecclesiastes (or The Byrds, if you prefer):

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven

Or - every dog has his day.

Or - All good things come to he who waits.

The fact that yesterday I did not write, does not mean I will not today.

The fact that last week I did not sell a screenplay, does not mean I will not next week.

This time next year, Rodders, we'll be millionaires.

Well then, let's hope we find that watch soon. That's if we can sell it and nobody steals it. Oh, God! I'm at it again.

Question about copyright that I think is relevant to those living outside the U.S.

I know about WGA and all that. However, being English and living in Ireland that ain't really suitable. As far as I know copyright exists on your work automatically.

However I've got sites asking for copyright serial and record numbers.

Anyone down my neck of the woods have any good cost effective of doing this?

RV

Within the UK and EU, copyright exists from the moment of creation of the work, without the need to register it with anyone. In fact, as the US is a signatory of the Berne Convention, this is also the case with America!

Registering is simply a safety measure for the paranoid writer, exploited by the unscrupulous and greedy!

I understand, though may be wrong, that a non-US citizen may register their work with the Library of Congress, provided the work is in English. You may like to look at there website.

As there is no legal requirement to register your work, I doubt there is any standardised serials numbers or the like, unless they refer to codes given by organisations like the Library of Congress or the Screenwriter's Guild.

The British Writing Unions may also be worth approaching for advice on the matter.

I'm dealing with Inktip and the like so that Library of Congress sounds the job. I'll have a look at their website shortly.

I'm not fond of unions. But then again I wasn't fond of Thatcher. Now, that reminds me...

Quoted from Frankie Boyle £4 million pounds for a state funeral for Margaret Thatcher? For that amount, you could buy everyone in Scotland a shovel and they'd dig a hole so feckin' deep we'd able to deliver to Satan himself.

Many thanks Niles. I'll look into that.

You may be interested, Malcolm, in the story of James V Simpson - not exactly a "plumber or window cleaner", but he is a Canandian screenwriter, who after film school spent 10 years trying to make it as a screenwriter, staying in Canada as well, rather than moving to LA or anything - and he sold his first screenplay for $400,000 three years ago - the film, "Armoured" (sorry, "Armored") is about to be released, with his name still firmly attached!

The screenplay is available online if you'd like to take a look for yourself and see what you think.

Quoted from James V Simpson "It's the kind of Hollywood story Hollywood sells -- some kid gets plucked from obscurity and gets his movie made"