Movie contracts at their basic are about two things; Money and rights. Everything else revolves around these two items. Let's say you just got that phone call (they almost always phone, never email) that someone wants to buy your screenplay.
You might only sign a "Deal Memo" which is a mini-contract and consists of two or three pages of the basics; names, money, rights and assignments with a formal agreement of maybe ten pages or more to follow and usually covers everything including the universe.
Usually a screenplay is optioned for 10% of it's fee, which if you're in WGA has scale minimum fees. Some writers get a lot more but for most of us, it's WGA (WGC is the Canadian version) minimum which is happening more often than not.
There's also the "scale and ten." This was 10% added to the sale price to cover the agent's commission. But this is disappearing and the 10% comes out of your sale price.
Writers as a whole don't like contracts as most people don't. They're hard to read and much of the terms and names seem to be another language but within that language are several areas where the producer can practically own you. Or dispose you.
I learned how to read contracts when I wrote a Private Offering for Ghostkeeper, my first feature and where I passed the Securities Commission. How did I do it? I didn't know much about Private Offerings but I grabbed a bunch of them and cut and pasted them together. The fact that it passed the Securities Commission indicated to me that nobody really reads these things.
I also have software that can write a contract for a writer to an actor and even overtime for the crew. It's basically a template that all you really need is to fill in some blanks and you have an offering to build a film.
Of course there are a lot of writers don't want to deal with contracts and offerings but for the most part many writers count on their lawyers of agents. For me, I never really needed a lawyer except a few times.
To begin with, the producers will want every possible right there is, even if it doesn't exist. In the U.S., copyrights are sold to the producer whereas the rest of the world allows copyright only to the creator, be it writer or artist to anyone who creates an artistic piece.
I decided to include a chapter on adapting both books and screenplays. My first experience with adapting a book happened about twenty years ago with a non-fiction book called Who Killed Janet Smith by Vancouver writer Ed Starkins. The book had been painstakingly researched and attempted to unravel a mysterious murder in 1020's Vancouver.
Janet Smith was a Scottish girl who worked for an English family in the upper class of Shaughnessy. One day she was shot dead in the basment. A Chinese "houseboy" was blamed, arrested and taken to jail.
I read the book and got totally into it, it was very much like Robert Towne's Chinatown which was loosely based on rich corrupt leaders . We made a deal and I started work. The book had several attempts by other writers but none were able to come out with a store that worked for everyone.
The biggest problem was that the story played out over several years and with a huge cast of characters.
This was my first attempt ad adapting a true life story and I had no real idea as how to do it. I found a few books on adaptation but they really didn't inspire me. I went to see Ed and we talked more and even passing the house that Janet died. I imagined the house, even now still a family lived there.
One thing was okay that the story wasn't made it. And I was here where it happened. Then I had an idea. Janet's grave was nearby, overlooking the city and I decided to visit here. I sat at her aging gravestone in the perpetual soft rain common to Vancouver and waited for something.
An idea came to me, an eerie one. Making sure nobody was watching me I asked a dead girl to tell me who killed her.
The idea came slowly, I realized I was getting obsessive over Janet and it occurred to me that obsession was the key. I had walked the streets and even talked to the last feew people who actually remembered the murder. I even heard stories of Janet's ghost that walked down the hallway of another mansion down the street.
Then something became clear, Janet's beautiful face was looking back at me from the book cover in my hands and I was the one who was obsessed. And that would become the central semi-fictional character of the story.
That character, me, would tell us the story of Janet Smith.
"Actors are good liars; writers are good liars with good memories."
I was doing a reading with a handful of actors and one of them, Barry Flatman, was a friend of mine. He opened the screenplay and started reading:
"My line, my line, bullshit, my line, bullshit, my line."
Of course we all laughed but there's more truth in that than one might think. The fact is, and I'm being nice, and I'm being nice, that many actors just read their lines when they get a part in a movie and don't really care about anyone else's lines.
A lot of smaller part actors usually count their lines as well and will often try to get a few more lines as this helps their credits and maybe an upgrade. It's not unusual for an actor with a few lines is so good that the director will ask the writer to add more lines. I've done that several times. Writers can often work with actors both before the film is shot and during the shooting.
However, if and when you get to work with actors, like every other aspect of this business, it can be fun or it can be difficult. I've always felt writers and actors are closer to each other than they know. We're always looking for a job and we both are judged by what we are. The only differences is that writers get the chance to work alone. Actors rehearse and take classes but we are alone, unless it's a writing team.
There is a dynamic that happens herre. Usually after the read everyone settles down and then, according to rank (who almost is always the Star), and wait for them to speak. After the director and producer For the supporting actors it's a wait and see situation as etiquette requires that the star goes first.
Most of the questions deal with the storyline and those are usually easy to explain. But then there's a question about the character's arc. This relates to the entire character's life on this series or movie and what it means is this; how does he/she change in this episode or movie. I was never big on arcs because I think it's just another for character development.
I learned a great lesson from a very good Hollywood character actor, who has been in more movies and TV shows than I could count. He was the co-lead on a series and with a lead wasn't very good. When we had our table reading (where each actor says their words). When when we had our table reading everyone at the end knew it. He was legendary in stealing scenes and when on screen and when on screen, you would watch him rather than the lead.
When the reading finished and nervous eyes moved around the table, the producer took a pause and then said, "Jack?" Jack mumbled a few word and something like "tightening". The supporting players nodded in agreement. It was over.
But it wasn't.
I was at my desk when Jack came knocking. He had just spoken to the producer/showrunner about :a "few ideas" Jack sat down and we talked about "a few ideas" for his character and I was happy to make a few changes. Jack was smart. He knew that if he started to make a few changes at the reading the lead would want "changes" and so would the other actors and the reading would go over time.
I've seen actors compete and it can be frightening. I once had written a game show with a comedian and we invited another comedian to be a guest. As we were getting ready to start production the star came out to "warm up" the audience by doing some jokes. Then the guest comic "accidentally walked out" and started telling his jokes.
Within 5 minutes these two guys were going at each other like sharks, each put-down becoming stronger and meaner. It was actually scary, almost like a battle to the death watching them go at each other. Actors have it the hardest and I always try to make them feel like they're important, no matter how big or small the part.
"Is a director someone who expects a round of applause when the sun rises in the morning? As a forcing ground for self-delusion, greed, plagiarism, vanity, hindsight, malice and treachery, the cinema has few equals."
- Frederic Raphael
I've written and directed three films as well as way to many commercials, several documentaries and filmed and co-produced an award-wining short film which I also wrote. I feel for each side of the table after all writers and directors have to deal with producers and actors.
An aspiring feature director once asked me if writers should be allowed on set or not. That question answers ; if they have to ask the answer is probably no. Good directors who have a realistic level of confidence welcome writers while bad directors don't want anyone there who might be a threat to their little fiefdom.
Where arguments arise is most often in who owns the screenplay and I don't mean who paid for it. Many directors seem to feel it's their story and there interpretation. Good directors aren't afraid to have the writer there or to ask the writer some questions. They will even have the writers on set.
I've worked on both features and had good directors and bad directors. Video and TV are different as the writers are the kings of the castles. Video directors may also have some power but it all comes back to the writer. I was working on a TV set in Vancouver where it always rains. I usually didn't need to anything, just hang around.
Then, a crew member approached me as we both looked out in the rain as the others were building the next scene. The member looked at me and smiled and said "It's all yours." I felt good.
The best directors I can say are brilliant are anywhere from 1935 up to the end of the 70's. The films today are more interested in making explosives and creatures. I think you should see movies with directors like John Huston, James Cameron, Preston Sturges, Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola and some indies like John Sayles and David Lynch. All were writers before being writer/directors.
Today's directors seem to be the same, same movies, same ideas and get lots of them over and over again. There was a time when every movie that came out didn't make copies.
But for the most part directors will go to you when they're not sure; your the only "creative" person behind the camera besides the DP. I get along with the crew, in fact after I left the TV commercial world my first job at the age of 34 was as a P.A., a production Assistant who does all the lowly jobs like copying scripts or getting special food for the star.
Since I knew a lot about cameras, sound and movies they didn't mind me around. Directors tend to give notes on characters and conflict; some will want to go deeper while others need to understand the characters better. This is a tough fix, because what if something you wrote doesn't work. As you've seen it can lead into some real fights.
Sometimes it's worth it. I had trouble with a director while filming in Mexico and this could be a problem but I had the producer on my side.
It always gets finished anyway.
"An associate producer is the only guy who will associate with a producer."
Let's say that you've sold or optioned your screenplay. You will now get notes from the producer or Development exec. You will also be entering a world that can create great things or break you down or worse, be replaced completly.
Generally the process of work-for-hire would include the pitch, the story or treatment followed by the first draft and if needed (and it usually is) the rewrite and finally the polish.
Welcome to the development process.
Assuming that it has been optioned the next step is to meet the producer for a formal meeting. The meeting is where you hopefully begin to work with the producer and/or the development/creative exec. What you hope for is that person or persons will offer some good notes and not too many.
Remember this; good notes should inspire you and indicate a better way to say something in your story. It's always best to have one exec (male or female) from the studio or network as with two it begins to be a little competitive as each one of the studio's people will want to show they know more than the other one does.
Or they'll both gang up on you.
Regardless it's to your advanage because odd numbers make for more conflict. All this means that at least one person out of three will almost always be on your side. This is my own assumption, gleamed from playing blackjack. The next thing would be a half dozen clarifications and some character developments.
Here's some tips for "the meeting."
Also this can apply if you're simply meeting a producer (or ex) because they have read your screenplay and want to meet you. That's the one smart thing that I've learned about Hollywood power people. Many executives and exec's are just as insecure in their job as you are about your work, possibly even more.
Their turnover is only slightly less than the next lower person. Everybody is insecure in this business. And as I said earlier, they want to keep you in their email in case your next screenplay sells to a studio. Everybody is insecure.
Since they've read the script they will have notes and in my experiences, they can be a page or two or they can start on Page 1 and go through the entire hundred or so pages. And those notes aren't going to be nice. Your bank account will tell you if you want to stay in that meeting.
Make sure what you understand what they're saying.
Say this twice to yourself right now. This is the most important thing you have to do. Listen carefully and if you don't understand something, it will come back to haunt you. Ask them to repeat it; they like that because it means you're listening but also you need to make sure you know what they said.
Why?
Because, later you're going to have to deal with that one special note they gave you and you didn't write it down and the next day and they just might test you on it. Sometimes producers give notes that they totally forget, but unfortunately for writers, you don't always know which one. And the one you think is the least important can turn out to be their baby.
Once again, make sure you understand every thing they say even if you have to get them say it twice or three times.
Character is what I discuss in my book, and some of it here. If readers don't like the character it's probably because the character in question isn't three dimensional to use a tired and aging expression.
But it does tell you that your protagonist is flat, not interesting enough and maybe not likeable.
"Likeable" is a funny trait, like James Candolfini in the Sopranos, was a horrible person; he killed people or have them killed. Yet the audience liked him. This is where the writer has some control but not much.
Some actors can pull that off. they seem to be the kind of a person you can go out with and have a few beers with. That's where empathy comes into the game. Readers and audiences need to empathize with the protagonist or any other character for that matter.
Creating a three-dimensional one that will require going back and filling up that particular character, well, more character. I have more information on Character in my book.
So, what do others like in your character; or what don't they like. They may even tell you why?
From that you can get a better idea as to how to make that character more interesting. Unfortunately it isn't quite easy when you're starting. But it's also not so easy for me as well; all though I have more habits to fall back on to figure out. And that comes with experience.
When I build characters I more than often take them from people I see or know or watch. This comes from a long time ago, at least for me. I wrote a book called Emperor of Mars, it's a fantasy story with a twelve-year old character.
I use a dozen characters that I used to create what I thought they were like. And then, I would push them further with having them fill up what I couldn't create myself.
The story is about a 12-year old boy who believes that the Emperor of Mars is coming to his small town in the midwest. And to make it more interesting, there's a new school teacher who has come to teach his class. And he falls madly in love with her, although the ages are not the same.
Then, there's an older man, very odd, who lives behind grain elevators and seems to be strange but mostly interesting for the boy and his school buddy. Even if they're told to stay away from him.
Then, strange things begin in the forms of odd lightning colors and alien-like forms create what looks like space aliens or at least something like that. And the young boy decides that he has to save his little town.
Okay, so there you are. You've got the boy, the teacher, the stranger. From these three you can see what will happen.
"I don't think that I truly appreciated my childhood after reading Jim Makichuk's Emperor of Mars. It is such a sincere and magical look at an age gone by that it made me think of the beauty of the work of Norman Rockwell mixed with the modern cynical perspective of Stand By Me."
Review
The rewrite & the polish.
Not shoes.
Some of my UCLA students asked why rewrites and polishes are necessary, after all directors or actors can't change lines without permission of the playright?
The awful truth in screenplays is the opposite; once it's sold everyone gets a shot at "improving it." Assuming that the first draft is finished, the next stages are usually but not always a rewrite and a polish.
The best ways to describe them is to look at the definitions as determined by WGA.
"Rewrite" means the writing of significant changes in plot, storyline or Interrelationship of characters in a teleplay (same as screenplay, etc. if you want).
"Polish" means the writing of changes in dialog, narration or action but not including a rewrite.
Okay, let's look at where rewrites and/or polishes are required. If you've just finished your screenplay and it still belongs to you, you have two choices; send it around town or go back and read it again with the intention of "cleaning it up."
Or you might want to do a lot of work on it which indicates a rewrite but since you're doing it for yourself WGA isn't involved. They get involved when someone who's a signatory wants to buy it or to hire you to write it.
After I finish a screenplay I usually set it aside for a week, maybe longer if I'm afraid to read it again in case it's really bad. I still prefer a hard copy when I finally drag myself to read it from beginning to end.
I've tried to do it on a laptop screen and can do it, but I still like paper in my hand where I can use a red ballpoint Pilot pen to mark it up where it needs something to be cut out. You can see this in person in my Worker's Writer's Screenplay. Sometimes I use the black Pilot to add something.
Usually I do a minor polish, cleaning it up and doing some reasonable corrections, maybe something new and changing a few scenes I didn't like. I also go over the first ten pages to make sure there's enough setups.
Sorry to be so late, I flew to visit my Aunt Lena, who is 99 years old.
Okay, so let's look at a finished screenplay that you want to send out for some cleaning. The first thing I do is give it to close friends, both of whom are brutally honest. They won't let me get away with much. One is a director and the other is a writer.
Then I begin to mark the screenplay with my red zebra ready too mark. Over the years of writing and doing rewrites on other projects I've learned two things about the polish and rewrite. They are almost always about charactr and clarification.
There's a common expression used often that says; "Writing is rewriting." But what does that mean exactly? Checking for typo's, Day For Night, getting opinions for friends? Maybe some of that. But what really is going to make your screenplay better are the two things I mentioned above.
But before I go there, there's another trap to avoid and that involves showing work to someone else. Friends tend to tell a writer that it's either wonderful or needs work and this often relates to how envious the critic is or how much they think they know. Take compliments with a bit of doubt, they're nice but might be way off.
Superstitions and routines are common amongst film people, especially writers and actors. I always finish a work-for-hire at least a couple of days before it's due. Then I tell the producer that I might go over a few days because I want to make it tighter by "punching" it up. They like that and feel like they're being given more than what they're paying for.
You also need to be able to accept good advice even if you disagree, at least consider it. My usual reaction to anyone reading to anyone reading my work and having doubts about it is to say they're wrong.
But I've learned to wait at least 24 hours to see if maybe they are right. And most of the time they are, it's just a little harder having to face the fact that I was wrong.
And I hate to be wrong.
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