Hello All,

I've recieved two e-mails from people (outside of my country) who've read my shorts. The Novel and The Bench. In the e-mails, that said that they wished to film it. The first e-mail saying that I would recieve writing credits, the other did not mention it.

If I do let the guys film it "with my permission" and say they make make millions of dollars in their country, or whatever. I won't see any of it right? Even if I have them copywritten?

Highly unlikely situation I know, but just curious.

Unfortunately you won't get any money unless you sign some sort of purchase contract with them.

For me, when I get requests, they are mostly by students who want something for their reels, or amatuer filmmakers wanting to break the film festival circuit. For students, I only ask for credit where credit is due and a copy of the final film. For anyone who is looking to publically view the movie, I make sure that I have something in writing that enables me to get a cut from any profits ever made.

Remember, contracts not only protect you, but also the filmmaker.

I am more than willing to let people use my scripts (shorts), as long as both of our butts are covered.

Hope this helps.

haha writers always get screwed... without us there would be no movie.... but yet its the actors who get all the money....

sort of like the blue collar workers of society.

First off, hardly anyone makes money on producing shorts.  They're a way to showcase all the talents involved.  The director's just out of film school.  The actors are waiters and bartenders looking for something to put on their resume.  The writers are just dreamers who refuse to wake up despite the fact their wives are constantly bothering them to do something more productive with their lives  "Phil, come to bed!"  "Phil, you spend too much time at the computer!"  "Phil, we received another shut off notice from the electric company."  "Phil, when are you going to start looking for a job?"

SHUT THE FUCK UP BITCH!!!!

I'm sorry.  What were we talking about?  Oh yeah....

As I said before, don't expect to make money from a short.  It's something to put on your resume.  Just have the produceer draw up a contract saying that you want to keep the rights on the story.  You want credits on the film as writer.  Copies of the finished work.  These things should be a problem for the producer as sending you copies is the only thing that actually costs money (and it's not much).


Phil

Quoted from The boy who could fly If I ever said that to my girlfriend I would get no sex till I'm old and grey

Who said Phil was getting any sex?

Quoted from MacDuff Who said Phil was getting any sex?

Wait, what's all this talk about sex? Is that what happens if I go to bed BEFORE my wife goes to sleep? How will I get through all these posts, though?

Quoted from MacDuff Who said Phil was getting any sex?

Your girlfriend said.

Rimshot!



Phil

Oh Snap!


BTW - don't tell my wife about my girlfriend.

She knows about your girlfriend.  She was there with us.

DOUBLE SNAP!

Anyway, back to shorts.  Tell your wife I left mine in her car.

TRIPLE SNAP!

If someone wants to produce a short that you wrote, let him/her.  Even if it means you won't make any money.  Just get credit for writing it and keep the rights to your work.  If it turns out great, you have something to show people.  If it looks bad, you can just forget about it.


Phil

Quoted from Breanne Mattson So we’re not allowed to stand up for a fourteen year old kid when people gang up on him and bash his choice of subject matter but people can come onto someone’s thread and turn it into a bunch of obnoxious sex chatter?

Are you referring to the fourteen year old who wrote the Power Rangers story?  Or the fourteen year old who bashed the fourteen year old for writing the Power Rangers story?

Quoted from Breanne Mattson Okay, I see how it works now.

Can you explain it to the rest of us.  I still don't understand....

And I did try getting it back on track.


Phil

My bad...I couldn't resist, The door was left wide open for a remark and I couldn't resist.

You should hear me in company meetings....


PS - We both did offer some insightful review based on experience.

Quoted from MacDuff My bad...I couldn't resist, The door was left wide open for a remark and I couldn't resist. You should hear me in company meetings....

We would get in trouble for blatant sexual comments, but we are ripe with innuendo. Sometimes, the powers that be want us to create team names, and we keep wanting to use the "HR Issues" but they never let us.

Quoted Text Or the fourteen year old who bashed the fourteen year old for writing the Power Rangers story?

First of all, I'm sixteen, second, it was a comment, thrid of all, you're not helping to keep this thread on track.

Quoted from TheUsualSuspect Hello All, I've received two e-mails from people (outside of my country) who've read my shorts. The Novel and The Bench. In the e-mails, that said that they wished to film it. The first e-mail saying that I would receive writing credits, the other did not mention it. If I do let the guys film it "with my permission" and say they make millions of dollars in their country, or whatever. I won't see any of it right? Even if I have them copy written? Highly unlikely situation I know, but just curious.

Just to get this thread back on track:

Copyright your screenplay by including the copyright logo (C) on the title page of your script or screenplay a date isn’t a bad idea also.. Movie Magic Screenwriter, Final Draft and Microsoft Word all have a  facility to include this copyright character so there's no excused to leave this off your script.

Copyright by registering your work with WGA it's $30 for 5 years in which time if it doesn't sell then re-new after the five years.

Any problems with a third party trying to rip you off get a lawyer and sue. If your script is registered with the WGA they will provide back-up in a court of law to prove your work has been copyrighted with them.

If a third party wishes to acquire your script then they may do this in one of a few ways:

#1 The script is that good they want to place an option in it. This means they will make you a provisional offer and usually comes with some kind of payment either a portion of the investment money and or together with a percentage of the gross profits. This is a very good deal and if a successful movie you could make a lot of money. Alternatively, you may be offered a cash sum and this can be as low as low or all the way up to a six figure sum - all depends on how good the screenplay is.

#2 A film-maker wants to acquire your script, similar to #1 but only has a small limited budget, all the legal paperwork will be the same but the offer will be more limited. You have to decide if this option is worth it and if you also get credit and a copy of your work on DVD say.

#3 a Student Film-Maker wants to acquire your screenplay and shoot it. Usually this will be a short but in some cases it may be a final year student who has a reasonable budget and can maybe pay you a basic fee for the use of the script, you will be offered screen credit and possibly copies on DVD for your show reel.

#4 A theatre group want to use your screenplay for a "read". This means they have discovered your screenplay and want to use it for a read through with live actors in rehearsals. There is no payment, this is done for free and what you get it a report of what dialogue works and what doesn't.

#5 Competitions - these don’t necessarily come to you since you as the script-writer enter your scripts yourself into these with the view you will win a prize. The prizes vary from $50 US, to Screenwriter software packages to prizes where the screenplay gets made into a short or a full-length feature such as the Greenlight Project. Alternatively, you may enter a script competition such as the Nichol Fellowship and if you get in the last 5 of this competition then you may be offered a scholarship for  two years to study screenwriting and they pay you to do it. You also get access to some of the top Hollywood agents, producers, directors and such, they set up pitch meetings for you, lunches and you get to live the life of Riley as a wannabe screenwriter and meet the right people - pretty cool stuff.. This last option can get you past go and enable you to reach your dreams.

#6 SCAMS - this is where assholes visit this board download a script and or screenplay and play con artist games with us writers. They send release forms with the view you will sign over your script to them then they send you a contract and offer you $50 and 5 per cent of the gross on a film that is not probably going to get produced. Instead, they mention in the contract that once purchased they will own the rights to the story and characters and they can do anything with it now or in the future because you sold the script to them on this legal basis. Once they have their paws on the screenplay they re-write it, give it a new title and low-and-behold, you don’t have a leg to stand on because you went and let them rip you off. Now you have no money, a contract that isn’t worth the paper it's a written on and now somebody has a better version of your original screenplay idea.

The moral of the tale is copyright your stuff, if you're in doubt about the 3rd party visit SimplyScripts for help  from another writer here or other writers and also consider consulting a lawyer.

Never take anything on face value, be careful, copyright your work, register it with WGA and watch out for he sharks out there, its a big ocean out there where you can not only drown but get bitten by fish with big teeth in the process..

If in doubt research these people and companies, get legal advice and don’t be too eager to sign on the dotted line. If everything checks out fine then great, good luck to you and me..

If the screenplay is not your masterpiece and you don't mind letting it out to become a very-low budget video movie then just make sure you retain the rights to the screenplay at least so a decent movie could be made from it one day. And don’t forget those copies on DVD for your showreel. Hey, screen credit too!

Got any problems then mention them on SimplyScripts and one of the older writers can provide you with advice and support..


Kev

Fourth, I was one of the first, and the most recent, to say anything about selling a script.


Phil