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Be very careful. If they ask for personal information (bank account details etc.) to 'transfer' the money or require any money up front from you then run away!!!
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I'm XXX speaking on behalf of a production company regarding your script listed on Simply Scripts. Reaching out to see if you’d like to sell the ownership of this IP. If so, what’s your price range?
We are building an exclusive IP catalogue and your project would be a nice expansion to our collection. Depending on if or not we can secure the right team and investor, it has the possibility of being made into a feature film.
Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions or concerns. Looking forward to your reply.
Best,
My reply:
Quoted Text
Hi, XXX: Thanks for reaching out.
While I appreciate you interest, I only offer my scripts for purposes of having them made as a film under a standard option or purchase agreement and always seek to retain full rights as the writer. I am not sure that matches your objectives. Should you ever be interested in actually entering into an agreement to produce this film, please let me know.
Thanks again for your interest and all the best to you in your endeavors.
I really hope that Cabin feature wasn't bought by these guys. I'm intrigued as to what the scam could be, assuming there is one.
The optimistic explanation is it's just some people who really want to make a film but have no idea what they're doing (and have a lot of money burning a hole in their pockets).
The less optimistic explanation might be they're buying rights to pass them off as their own (which, it technically would be) and shopping them to production companies to turn a profit.
Although, that doesn't seem like a smart plan... assuming they could even get interest on a script I'd think the acquiring company would have concerns over the transfer of rights based on whatever shady, non-standard contract they made with the original author.
I can't make sense of any of it. But I'm intrigued.
I really hope that Cabin feature wasn't bought by these guys. I'm intrigued as to what the scam could be, assuming there is one.
The optimistic explanation is it's just some people who really want to make a film but have no idea what they're doing (and have a lot of money burning a hole in their pockets).
The less optimistic explanation might be they're buying rights to pass them off as their own (which, it technically would be) and shopping them to production companies to turn a profit.
Although, that doesn't seem like a smart plan... assuming they could even get interest on a script I'd think the acquiring company would have concerns over the transfer of rights based on whatever shady, non-standard contract they made with the original author.
I can't make sense of any of it. But I'm intrigued.
They did have a real name (company established in 2016), an IMDB listing (one animation feature in 2016 - but the contact info was blank) and an address in Los Angeles.
I am guessing that, if legit, they are doing something akin to buying concepts that they will re-pitch as their own somewhere down the road and are picking them up from writers desperate to sell something. It's kind of odd. Anyway - will let you know if I hear further from them.
anks for your reply. We are looking to buy out the script and all relevant merchandise copyright altogether. You will have the writer’s credit if the script is turned into a film. Sorry but it looks like we are not the perfect match for each other.
A company (DFG) contacted me today regarding for an IP catalog. I asked them why don't they want to option the script first. Their reply was that they want to build a pool of future selections and they have several features scheduled for production in 2018-2019. My answer was that they contact me closer to date when they are free of productions and that I don't want my work to be in a catalog.
They said they were a financier company and keeping it low profile.
Hi everyone, chiming in here to provide some insight from the perspective of someone who actually sold a script to TDG and am now a little unsure of my decision. Like MarkItZero mentioned, I wrote that script called the Cabin, and TDG reached out to me and offered to buy it for the same IP catalogue that many of you noted above. almost the same email in fact.
The only difference is that we went back and forth a few times and I requested "Written by" credit as part of the contract. Of course, since they now own the IP, they could do what they want with it and claim it's re-written enough to not warrant the "written by" credit, but still, it's an added provision that at first made me feel a little safer.
When it comes to payment, they offered a little more (not much) than the prices discussed above and offered to pay it either by wire or by check. Fearing the same things you all noted, I asked for a check, which they did send and which did cash with no issue. Never requested routing information, account numbers, or anything like that, so there's no feasible way they could be stealing from me in a literal sense.
That being the case, I'm a little unsure as to what the potential scam could be. I had the same concerns as many of you, but now my biggest worry is that this may just be a case of a newly formed company being overly optimistic without having much of a realistic plan in place. I've seen it happen before where a company will be well intentioned as to their plans, but overall can't follow through and so the script becomes eternally tied up, and I'm worried that's the case here.
Did I jump the gun? Probably. But at the same time I have some money in my pocket for a script that probably wouldn't have seen the light of day otherwise. It's not a huge return, but so far I haven't been able to figure out what the scam could be if there is one.
A company (DFG) contacted me today regarding for an IP catalog. I asked them why don't they want to option the script first. Their reply was that they want to build a pool of future selections and they have several features scheduled for production in 2018-2019. My answer was that they contact me closer to date when they are free of productions and that I don't want my work to be in a catalog.
They said they were a financier company and keeping it low profile.
If it was my post in particular that got you worried, I’d note that I haven’t been doing this whole screenwriting thing for long and I have a grand total of zero credits to my name. So I don’t actually have any idea what I’m talking about. I probably shouldn’t have chimed in at all with my random theories.
There are other people on here with a lot more experience with sales/options. I mentioned your script just because I enjoyed the read a lot and wanted someone to do the script justice. I’m hoping it turns out great and gets made into an awesome film.
Worst case scenario, it doesn’t get made and you write another script down the road that will. No one can take away your talent.
The thing here that all writers should be aware of is that there are a LOT of wanna be producers/directors that start their own production companies. Starting your own production company is something anyone can do. A couple of hundred bucks if you do an LLC. From what I've learned, and as always there are exceptions, these people option or buy scripts cheap from eager writers, then put those scripts in their portfolio and post them on imdb. This does not in any way mean that the film will be made at all. These people take your script and "own" it for a few years or forever depending on you optioning it or selling it. During this time, these people will try to shop your script at film markets and also make themselves look like they have big shit going on and they are a real production company. I've had three features that I've sold or optioned to companies like this. They're just hoping to get some interest in anyone of their scripts in their portfolio so they can make a film. Any film. Most fail, btw.
If you have imdb Pro, look some of these people/companies up. Often they have 5-12 scripts listed, but none are in pre-pro. They are just hoping that they can get funding for any of their scripts. Meanwhile, the hopeful writer have given away ALL the rights to their scripts. I could list several SS members who have done this, me included. It really is a BAD thing for writers. We get hopeful and let people take our scripts to sit on them...for years. I won't do this anymore. I option scripts for 12 months max. If they can't prove that they are actively working on the script getting made, it comes back to me. Don't fall for this. Look the company up on imdb Pro. If they already have several scripts listed and none are filming or in post, then they are just script hoarders that hope to find funding for any of their scripts in their arsenal. Any.
Also, if you ask them any questions about your script, like, what did you think about Alice killing her mother, most likely, they have no clue what you're talking about, because they haven't really read the script.