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Breanne, All that is pretty genuine, he is just a young actor trying to break into the bigger scene maybe. The Global Talent Agency is very legit and I have spoken to the gentleman who owns it, John Epstein and he is a fine person too. Chase Craig might also be very much a genuine person, young actor and talented. So, I think you have no worries communicating with him. I hope this helps. Sincerely. J.R.
I guess I should have asked for a contract to be signed.
In any event, someone did email me about the very first script I ever posted here, I agreed to let them do it as long as I receive a finished copy and writing credit.
Only....they changed the dialogue, entirely. I guess they were more interested in the idea and not what the characters had to say. Problem is, they completely changed the story around by changing their dialogue. Instead of character A saying earth shattering news, it's character B, which changes the entire tone of the script.
I did get writing credit, but they but the director's name on their too, since he did the dialogue. Who knows, maybe the FINISHED copy with just say STORY BY......
So, found this thread, thought I'd drop a post and get an opinion off some of you guys.
I had a filmmaker from Orlando contact me in regards to a short on this board. He wanted to produce it. Basically, I did a quick Google search of his e-mail and name and found out he had his own website, he'd also shot a music vidoe in Haiti. He's legit, I'm sure.
We came to an agreement. He sent me a "contract" of sorts to sign, I made some changes to it so that it fitted both us, and he agreed to the new terms. I printed off two copies of the agreement.
I signed and dated two. And my parent (because I'm under eighteen) signed and dated both. Then, the next day, I sent them off to the director's address in Florida with a hard-copy of the short in the package.
That was ten days ago I sent the package. I was just wondering how long is the norm for a package to go from the UK to the US? He told me he'd contact me when the package arrived.
Anyways, I wanted to know if the whole process I described above, is, like the norm? I had a girl contact me before about a different project, and she never replied back to me.
Also, about a week or so ago, I got an e-mail from a director in Texas who wanted to film the same short (that the Flordia filmmaker is hopefully going to follow through and film) and I broke it to him I had a contract with a different director.
So, basically, he asked if I had anything else in that genre and I eventually ended up sending another of my shorts. And it's been four days since I sent him the script.
I'm just paranoid because I'm so young and I just want all this stuff to follow through and I don't want to be taken on by anybody. I also don't think it's a good idea for me to be sending them e-mails for updates everyday.
-- Curt
"No matter what you do, your job is to tell your story..."
From my experience of sending stuff to my friends stateside, it can take anywhere from 7-14 working days for packages to arrive.
And don't be fazed by people taking a while to reply. I've worked with people before who have had an aversion to constant, up-to-date contact; yet, the project we've worked on still came together fine.
When someone wants to film one of my shorts, I give them the following conditions:
1. I get sole writing credit 2. I make all changes in the script, or they're done with my approval 3. I get two copies of the finished work on DVD 4. The director keeps me advised as what's happening 5. I retain the rights to my script
I asked for sole writing credit, and any changes to the script had to be done through me with my permission. I asked the director to keep me up to date. And that the rights to the script belonged to me.
I didn't ask for two hard copies though. Maybe when the short is made, I will inquire.
Anyways --
I've had two e-mails from another Texas filmmakers who wants to make one of my shorts, I think it's going ahead, these are the latest e-mails:
Quoted Text
Hey Curtis,
So sorry I haven't gotten back to you, it's been a little bit crazy on my end. I did receive the email and script and its amazing. I'd love to take on this script. I'm sending it over to my producers so we can start a breakdown of it.
Once we get a breakdown I'll send over an agreement right away.
Let me know if there's any questions or concerns.
Thanks, Kevin
I asked what "breakdown" and "producers" involved/meant exactly, and then --
Quoted Text
Hey yeah no worries.
Are you ok with a Skype conference call? Maybe we can strike out some questions so we don't have to keep going back and forth with emails.
Just let me know.
So, was wondering to get advice off you guys. A guy suggested to me that because this guy has "producers" I should be getting at least some money for this short, but nothing about pay has come up yet. I haven't mentioned it to him, and really, all I am excited about is getting a writing credit and having my stuff on-screen -- getting paid doesn't really bother me. I wanted to get your guy's opinions...
Also, I told him I'm free this weekend, and we just need to work out a time for the call. I hope he doesn't look down the camera, see a 16 year old, and then want to back out. So, fingers crossed on this one!
-- Curt
"No matter what you do, your job is to tell your story..."
Shorts don't make money for anyone. If the director/producer want to throw a few bucks your way, hey cool! But don't expect it. Shorts are generally business cards for the directors, actors and writers.
Nah, just because he's got a producer, doesn't mean there's money involved. I'm working with a producer at the minute on The Only Boy In The World, but no-one's getting paid. The producer is just making it all happen.
Yesterday I got an email about my micro-short "Curiosity", but I had already given my permission for its use (to a film student), so I denied. What would you do in such cases?
BTW, let me thank the people who run SS for the great exposure they provide to the writers. And I'm just a newbie here.
Manolis, did you tell the film student he could have it exclusively? Has an agreement/contract been signed? If not you can let the other guy or even another guy film it too. It's up to you how you set the terms unless it's 'optioned' exclusively or where money or a contract is involved. Least that's my understanding.
As long as you haven't sold the rights, your script belongs to you. I gave permission to 5 different companies for one of my shorts, only one produced in the end. So if you want a better chance of it being made don't be afraid to give it out to other people.
In other words you can give permission to whom you like. Once money exchanges or it's optioned(which is kind of rare for a short) then it belongs to them.
This is Phil's rules which I use also : 1. I get sole writing credit 2. I make all changes in the script, or they're done with my approval 3. I get two copies of the finished work on DVD 4. The director keeps me advised as what's happening 5. I retain the rights to my script
Thanks for the advice, Libby and Mark! There was not any contract. The truth is, I wouldn't have given my permission to the second guy anyway (I didn't like the samples of his work I saw), but I was wondering how I should handle such cases in general.
If I may ask another thing, when a script is considered adapted? I had my script "In the nick of time" translated in Portuguese and slightly modified (some dialogue was added, but the story is exactly the same) and the man asked my permission for this adaptation. I've already agreed, but what kind of writing credit do you think I should get?
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So, you got an email about your script...
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