My concept sold today

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #31
    Re: My concept sold today

    We've all been here. But what you have to realize is I was pitched that Border idea by a few production companies during meetings. I saw many specs go out with similar concepts and some sold. So even this sale wasn't the first. And even more, it's really about the talent attached. It's a whole different ball game when the actors you need in the film to make it work (who else could really pull this concept off well?) agree to do it. We all can't just assume our scripts would have sold just because of same concept.

    What did your manager say? Often I see specs go out with same concept as soon as a similar concept gets set up.

    Comment


    • #32
      Re: My concept sold today

      Originally posted by goldmund View Post
      My concept hits the theaters May 9th starring Johnny Depp, man. Worked on it for a year. Massive brainwrecking, rewrites, midnight revelations. Turns out the script was on the Black List around the time I started the first draft.

      If it taught me anything, it's FVCK CONCEPTS and be happy.

      Listen to my story.

      Two years ago I wrote a small script based on my fears and obsessions concerning a member of my family. It was my second, did semi-well on Nicholl, got free-optioned by an indie producer. Some weeks of elation, then waiting, waiting, and a realization struck me: it's going nowhere, not commercial enough, I'm getting old, etc. etc.

      Okay, I'm not a dude who gives up easily. I need a commercial concept. Something that positively CANNOT not sell. What's the hottest idea right now? What Hollywood wants? Hey! I got it. Let's get down to it and write. Pow! Finished. Sending out. Not much response for the logline. WTF? One day I check IMDB and see the almost-exact same concept in post production.

      I think I cried.

      But wait, there's a happy ending. Remember the small script I wrote before that one? The one not based on what Hollywood wants to buy, the one based on my private one obsession, the one without a mega-high concept? The indie producer says there's one company interested in buying it. They love it but the negotiations last and last, my guy has to extend the option (paying me this time) and one day I get a phone call from an exec at that company. They might buy it, they might not, but they want to talk with me about one idea they have, one idea that's similar in tone and setting to the small script.

      Today I turned in the second version of the outline, I'm starting to write the script tomorrow. They're paying almost exactly what I make a year at my stupid day job. Enough for me to feel I'm a damn writer, enough to sustain my family for one year.

      The lesson? Again. Fvck concepts, fvck what you think Hollywood wants to see. Find that one obsession, one fear, one thing that makes you lose your sleep. It will resonate and it will be your own.
      Congrats to you and you are so correct. Write what moves YOU. That is a fabulous success story. I've had somewhat the same experience....

      The script that got me all the paid work I have right now and have ever gotten was the same kind of film... an out of the box very dark comedic non-commercial thriller... that after 10 years of floating around LA starts principal photography this summer.

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: My concept sold today

        Originally posted by EdFury View Post
        Congrats to you and you are so correct. Write what moves YOU. That is a fabulous success story. I've had somewhat the same experience....

        The script that got me all the paid work I have right now and have ever gotten was the same kind of film... an out of the box very dark comedic non-commercial thriller... that after 10 years of floating around LA starts principal photography this summer.
        I love where this thread is going. Thanks for sharing Ed. Congrats to you and Goldmund as well.

        Comment


        • #34
          Re: My concept sold today

          Originally posted by Strangerthanfiction
          I sympathize, I truly do... I wrote a story some years back, in the form of a novel. I sent it out to quite a few publishers, but it didn't get picked up, so I concentrated on an acting career, but kept writing in the background. 18 months ago, I decided to resurrect said story, and adapt it into a screenplay. Put my heart and soul into it, finished it, then found out that something of a very similar nature was already in development (now in production), similar down to the bone, including almost identical characters ect. I wrote one of the roles when adapting for a specific actress, and sent her agent the script, no idea if the agent ever passed it on or not (her assistant said they would)... Anyway, noticed some stark similarities in the other story, and did some digging, one of the writers just happens to be best friends with said actress... Anyway, it sucks it truly does, and I feel your pain. I spent several days lying in bed in the depths of depression, feeling so sick to my stomach that I couldn't eat, or sleep... At the end of the day you have to find a way to let go, cos all you can do is pick yourself up and move onto the next screenplay.
          Why not file a lawsuit??

          But I've been there too. I had the exact same idea that the movie Prisoners with Jake Gyllenhaal was based on. I also had an idea about a child psychologist who can see the monsters under the kids beds and fights them. But sure enough Will Smith is producing a movie called Monster Hunter based on the same idea and Kevin James is starring in it. But as others have mentioned, the silver lining is that at least my ideas are commerical and being made. If anything it just boosted my confidence and ego, still a little pissed about the Monster Hunter idea though.
          Last edited by ; 04-17-2014, 09:57 PM.

          Comment


          • #35
            Re: My concept sold today

            Been there as well.

            My script had the exact same story as "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World," though the tone was much closer to "This is the End."

            The lesson I learned was to stay away from ideas that were too timely. In this case, the 2012 "apocalypse" was on the horizon, and I should have guessed someone would exploit it before me.

            Also had a story identical to the original spec that sold for "Sex Tape," but luckily never bothered pursing that one, because I thought it was too obvious.

            Comment


            • #36
              Re: My concept sold today

              Originally posted by goldmund View Post
              My concept hits the theaters May 9th starring Johnny Depp, man.
              What was your concept exactly? I doubt it was exactly like Transcendence.
              I'm never wrong. Reality is just stubborn.

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: My concept sold today

                Originally posted by Bono View Post
                We've all been here. But what you have to realize is I was pitched that Border idea by a few production companies during meetings. I saw many specs go out with similar concepts and some sold. So even this sale wasn't the first. And even more, it's really about the talent attached. It's a whole different ball game when the actors you need in the film to make it work (who else could really pull this concept off well?) agree to do it. We all can't just assume our scripts would have sold just because of same concept.

                What did your manager say? Often I see specs go out with same concept as soon as a similar concept gets set up.

                He told me not to sweat it. He said if the movie were to get made that would be a problem but right now they're only at the pitch phase. He's reading it this weekend and we're set to talk on Monday.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Re: My concept sold today

                  Originally posted by goldmund View Post
                  My concept hits the theaters May 9th starring Johnny Depp, man. Worked on it for a year. Massive brainwrecking, rewrites, midnight revelations. Turns out the script was on the Black List around the time I started the first draft.

                  If it taught me anything, it's FVCK CONCEPTS and be happy.

                  Listen to my story.

                  Two years ago I wrote a small script based on my fears and obsessions concerning a member of my family. It was my second, did semi-well on Nicholl, got free-optioned by an indie producer. Some weeks of elation, then waiting, waiting, and a realization struck me: it's going nowhere, not commercial enough, I'm getting old, etc. etc.

                  Okay, I'm not a dude who gives up easily. I need a commercial concept. Something that positively CANNOT not sell. What's the hottest idea right now? What Hollywood wants? Hey! I got it. Let's get down to it and write. Pow! Finished. Sending out. Not much response for the logline. WTF? One day I check IMDB and see the almost-exact same concept in post production.

                  I think I cried.

                  But wait, there's a happy ending. Remember the small script I wrote before that one? The one not based on what Hollywood wants to buy, the one based on my private one obsession, the one without a mega-high concept? The indie producer says there's one company interested in buying it. They love it but the negotiations last and last, my guy has to extend the option (paying me this time) and one day I get a phone call from an exec at that company. They might buy it, they might not, but they want to talk with me about one idea they have, one idea that's similar in tone and setting to the small script.

                  Today I turned in the second version of the outline, I'm starting to write the script tomorrow. They're paying almost exactly what I make a year at my stupid day job. Enough for me to feel I'm a damn writer, enough to sustain my family for one year.

                  The lesson? Again. Fvck concepts, fvck what you think Hollywood wants to see. Find that one obsession, one fear, one thing that makes you lose your sleep. It will resonate and it will be your own.
                  Love this story.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: My concept sold today

                    Originally posted by Bob Smargiassi View Post
                    He told me not to sweat it. He said if the movie were to get made that would be a problem but right now they're only at the pitch phase. He's reading it this weekend and we're set to talk on Monday.
                    Good and true advice. Wahlberg and Ferrell seem to be attached to so many movies that never take off in the end. See their names constantly. Weren't they doing a football movie set on thanksgiving together a few years back? That sounded cool and sure people have that idea, but until it's made, it's still an idea that can sell.

                    Hope he likes it. Because that is an entirely different issue.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: My concept sold today

                      Originally posted by jboffer View Post
                      My script had the exact same story as "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World," though the tone was much closer to "This is the End."
                      Ha! I had to abandon a "Hard-R, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World"
                      script too!

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Re: My concept sold today

                        I can't add much of anything to console you and your plight that hasn't already been said.

                        I would advise you to move ahead. If it's great, it will give you some cred on the scriptwriting streets as being a "terrific example spec."

                        This has happened to me twice now, as well. I ended up changing some fundamental aspects of each story. Now, they are similar, but not the same. They could sell if interest was garnered.

                        But, here's the thing. You went the mile. You wrote. What a fantastic exercise you have committed upon yourself.
                        "...it is the thousandth forgetting of a dream dreamt a thousand times and forgotten a thousand times."
                        --Franz Kafka "Investigations Of A Dog"

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Re: My concept sold today

                          A few years ago I pitched a concept to a certain fairly respected manager. He summarily dismissed the idea as unworkable and nonsensical. Discouraged, I never wrote the script.

                          My concept has since been made into a movie that is scheduled for release later this year. It's an indie film from a director with several notable credits. I didn't write it, of course.

                          Some of the gatekeepers of the movie biz should probably be a bit less confident in their judgment. And I should be more confident in mine.

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Re: My concept sold today

                            Originally posted by MrZero View Post
                            Some of the gatekeepers of the movie biz should probably be a bit less confident in their judgment. And I should be more confident in mine.
                            So true.

                            Not to steer the conversation away from how much it sucks to see your idea in the trades, but...

                            Don't let agents get inside your head!

                            Many upper-level agents are very creative people who promote scripts that they actually want to see as movies. They're masters of being half a step ahead of the zeitgeist.

                            Many lower level agents and managers (the people whom amateur writers tend to deal with) are merely performance chasers. They've swallowed their own taste. They live 6 months in the past. And their notes can really play mind-games with you.

                            I'd say that the main thing that separates the "professional amateur writer" (the ones who get a rep, get some meetings, but never quite break through) and the "professional writer" is the ability to prevent their business-brain and their creative brain from getting in each other's way.

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Re: My concept sold today

                              This happened to me once. Won't go into the details, but I'll never forget reading the synopsis for a new TV show and thinking about how closely it resembled a short film that I had written and directed for online release.

                              I continue to say that originality died with the wheel, but sometimes the comparisons are so in tune that you have to put on C+C Music Factory's "Make You Sweat" album and punch it to track #3.

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Re: My concept sold today

                                It really depends on how the actual screenplay is.

                                Every screenplay that works has not just scenes, but a world as a background. Once this word is established, changes aren't really that impossible.

                                How about changing the concept. The protagonist falls in love in Mexico, the love of his life, but he also gets into trouble, and gets kicked out of Mexico to never return.

                                As his lovely girl can't come to the US, either, he's the only person ever who tries to illegally cross from the US into Mexico.

                                I think this could be a great satire.
                                "Ecco il grande Zampano!"

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X