Q: I am new to the screenplay business. I do not have an agent since I have not yet had anything produced and the agents that I have approached are not taking on new clients. I have written a screenplay that has been a contest winner. I have shopped around and have attracted some interest…
Q: Do I have to share my Author/Writer Credit with someone who collaborated on the script, even if he never wrote one word or typed one keystroke on the script? A: This comes down to the terms of your agreement with the collaborator, and to the definition of “collaborated”. Most dictionaries refer to collaboration as…
Q: I read an article in a small town newspaper and felt it would make a great movie. It was about a true story that occurred one weekend to some guys on a trip. It is the kind of story you might tell some friends at dinner. It is not a story the writer spent…
Q: Around 1966 I and some partners formed an independent film company and made what many consider to be one of the best horror films ever made. I was the Production Manager, and played a major role in the picture. Many concerns consider the film to be in Public Domain, market products, and rip us…
Q: I work in educational theater. Every year we revisit the same topic: Filming performances. I keep telling the director and others that it is simply not legal to record a performance. The response I always hear is that they never sell the film. They are only making an “archival copy” which is given to…
Q: I want to write a script inspired by several real-life events in my life, but I’m wondering if I need permission from everyone involved or I can just change the events enough to make it new. If the latter, how much do I have to change so that people don’t feel like it’s their…
Q; I’m developing a game which is an original idea and is based on a film that I did (wrote, produced, directed) and on scripts that I’m working on. I’ve register in Mexico but I know I need to register further in the US. What is the best way to register games ? Which is the…
Q: Last summer I read a book by a local author, the true life story about her survival as a 7-yr.-old Ukrainian girl in various work camps during World War II, culminating in internment at Dachau 5 months before it was liberated. I and members of my production crew loved the story, all were anxious…
Q: My current screenwriting project is taken from the old adage to “write what you know”. As such, it is a story from my perspective, working in a medical office. Many of the characters are either an amalgamation of patients, or possesses the characteristics of a single patient, that I have encountered over the years. …
Q: I belong to a script development group in Hollywood. The group recently let a developmement executive in as a member and are talking about letting in other producers and development executives. I think this is a bad idea because even though they sign a non-disclosure agreement, there is no paper trail for individual projects and the script ideas can not be protected. The group argues it’s a way to get their work seen and the producers/execs can give an industry perspective. I think it is a naive and desperate grab at selling a script and if the members work was good enough to get representation, they woud not have to do this. I am now considering resigning. Am I being paranoid and is this a good idea?
A: I’m of two minds about this issue. I think you’re right to consider resigning, if you’re concerned that you can’t trust the other members of your group… regardless who they may be. There’s nothing fundamentally riskier about having a development executive in your group, than having other writers seeing, hearing-about, and evaluating your work. The fact is, other writers are just as capable of ‘borrowing’ material from your work, and in-fact, may be more likely to do so.
I see the value, however, in having producers and execs involved in the group. It IS a good idea that the members of such a group sign on to a code-of-conduct and, preferably, a non-disclosure/non-circumvention agreement that has some legal teeth. Maybe the thing to do is to keep meticulous records (establish the missing paper trail) so everybody knows who’s present for presentations, discussions, etc., and what material is discussed. This is really just a good idea anyway.
The bottom line, however, is this: At some point, you’ve got to let other people read your material, or it will never be optioned, purchased, produced and distributed. So, again I repeat what’s becoming a mantra…. Only do business with reputable people whom you can trust.