Quoted from Mr.Ripley I’m curious as to the reason why they didn’t go with the non-exclusive option. Except for being a bunch of d**ks, what’s the rationale? Who’s going to know except for them and the writer that it was non-exclusive? The only thing I can come up with is if the same investor is approached or word gets around?   Gabe

Then that would give the writer the upper hand if it were to be bought, and they don’t want that. Say the prodco, or whoever they are, go for the non exclusive. And say their partners want to buy it—I mean they really like it and need to have it. Then Eric, theoretically, can pull the rug out and say he either sold it already or, worse yet, another company wants it bad, and start a bidding war. Then Eric becomes a jerk, the prodco who agreed to the deal look like fools in front of their partners for starting this mess by agreeing to a non exclusive option.

To StevenClarke - Oh. Thanks for the explanation. There still d**ks in my book lol. God forbid a writer gets paid for his work or even see their work get made.

To Eric, you still have other opportunities. f**k em.

Gabe

Here's what I don't get.  

I submitted my script to them for review.  Why bother telling me about this investor?   Why not just take the script to the investor and get a yay or nay?  

Just a thought.  Wait until there's some actual interest from the money people before alerting me about an option or outright purchase.  The odds of me selling it or optioning it to an outside party before this meeting takes place are pretty slim.  

And pay the writer.  If not a lousy few hundred for the option.  It's at least a gesture of their intentions and seriousness about funding your script.  

Total agreement.

I’m a newbie so just taking a stab in the dark. I’m guessing they were trying to weed out who they were able to get in there stack for free for this supposed investor. It’s all hearsay. There’s no actual proof for the investor or the 700 submissions. It’s there word.

I’m curious as to what would’ve happened if you gave it to them for free lol. F**king bastards.

Gabe

Quoted from Mr.Ripley Total agreement. I’m a newbie so just taking a stab in the dark. I’m guessing they were trying to weed out who they were able to get in there stack for free for this supposed investor. It’s all hearsay. There’s no actual proof for the investor or the 700 submissions. It’s there word. I’m curious as to what would’ve happened if you gave it to them for free lol. F**king bastards. Gabe

I'm never doing anything for free again.  Been there, done that.  

Putting a production slate together and approaching investors is the fastest and surest way to get large amounts of money for development. However, what this deal should be is a shopping agreement, not an option.

A shopping agreement allows a producer to package scripts and look for buyers FOR FREE. They have no skin in the game, and there is no price attached to the script in the agreement, so why should any writer in her right mind do this?

First of all, 100% of the rights to the script are retained by the writer. The producer has no power over the script except a contractual obligation to try to make a deal. This also means that the writer shouldn't shop it around during the agreement period, but if a major deal comes along the writer can sell the script and there isn't much the producer can do except maybe sue for breach of contract, but producers with no money can't afford to do that and they'd probably lose anyway since they never actually had the rights for the property.

Second, shopping agreements are much shorter than options, six to nine months at most. And producers cannot automatically extend the agreement. The writer has the right to terminate the agreement at the end of the period, unless both parties choose to extend it. There might be a clause in the agreement that states the producer can extend it if she is in active negotiations with a buyer, but that cannot be longer than 90 days, and really, that's what you want, right? It protects negotiations from blowing up by writers pulling their scripts just before a deal closes.

But even then, the writer has power, because the writer has to agree to the terms of the sale jointly with the producer. Writer still as the rights to the script, they get to agree to how much it sells for, what the back end points are, everything related to the sale of the script. The producer doesn't have a choice but to try to make the best deal for the writer because the writer can say no to the money if it isn't good enough.

Having said that, option agreements are far better than shopping agreements. Producers have far more security with an option agreement and the writer knows what to expect from it and is paid for that time. If you can get an option agreement and be paid for it, always go for it. However, shopping agreements are becoming more and more common and you shouldn't ignore them.

Quoted from ReneC Putting a production slate together and approaching investors is the fastest and surest way to get large amounts of money for development. However, what this deal should be is a shopping agreement, not an option. A shopping agreement allows a producer to package scripts and look for buyers FOR FREE. They have no skin in the game, and there is no price attached to the script in the agreement, so why should any writer in her right mind do this? First of all, 100% of the rights to the script are retained by the writer. The producer has no power over the script except a contractual obligation to try to make a deal. This also means that the writer shouldn't shop it around during the agreement period, but if a major deal comes along the writer can sell the script and there isn't much the producer can do except maybe sue for breach of contract, but producers with no money can't afford to do that and they'd probably lose anyway since they never actually had the rights for the property. Second, shopping agreements are much shorter than options, six to nine months at most. And producers cannot automatically extend the agreement. The writer has the right to terminate the agreement at the end of the period, unless both parties choose to extend it. There might be a clause in the agreement that states the producer can extend it if she is in active negotiations with a buyer, but that cannot be longer than 90 days, and really, that's what you want, right? It protects negotiations from blowing up by writers pulling their scripts just before a deal closes. But even then, the writer has power, because the writer has to agree to the terms of the sale jointly with the producer. Writer still as the rights to the script, they get to agree to how much it sells for, what the back end points are, everything related to the sale of the script. The producer doesn't have a choice but to try to make the best deal for the writer because the writer can say no to the money if it isn't good enough. Having said that, option agreements are far better than shopping agreements. Producers have far more security with an option agreement and the writer knows what to expect from it and is paid for that time. If you can get an option agreement and be paid for it, always go for it. However, shopping agreements are becoming more and more common and you shouldn't ignore them.

Good topic, Rene.

Here is a link to an article I read a while back if anyone is interested.

https://filmmakermagazine.com/88008-not-an-option/#.XcL8lehKiUk

The surprising thing for newbies (like it was for me) is that even companies that have made movies that cost a few million, like Pia said, they too act like this.

It's the norm, sadly.

Quoted from Demento The surprising thing for newbies (like it was for me) is that even companies that have made movies that cost a few million, like Pia said, they too act like this. It's the norm, sadly.

Indeed