Hi y'all,

Just joined the forum. Looking forward to being here!

I was hoping someone here might know legal aspects of filmmaking.

I am a proefssional cinematographer in Hong Kong. Things are a bit slow for me at the moment so I thought I might like to develop some kind of screenplay for the Hong Kong and China markets.

However, I am not a writer so I thought maybe developing a remake of a Hollywood film would be more 'efficient'. There are a few 80s Hollywood films that I think would be great for the Chinese markets. I am also thinking of maybe leaving the stories pretty similar the original screenplays as the original stories pretty much work for Asia as they are.

So my question is this...

How do I get permission to use an already produced US screenplay?
How much does it cost?
Do I have to pay upfront? Can costs be deferred?
Who do I pay?
How do I find out who to pay?
How do I find out who owns the screenplay / film?

Are there any websites out there that explain the legal aspects of all this?

Thank you for any advice you can give me!!

Best regards
Morgan Peline
http://www.morganpeline.com