Speccing an IP you don't own

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  • Speccing an IP you don't own

    A new thread to discuss the idea of writing on spec a project you don't own, jumping off from this thread: http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/...ad.php?t=70635

    I've done it twice now: Once with a director, and once on my own in what started out as something for fun and ended up being a pretty good script.

    But is it a good idea? Speccing something you don't own? Can you benefit from it?

    Obviously I think it is as long as you're aware of the risks and the odds. Discuss.
    Chicks Who Script podcast

  • #2
    Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

    I think it is fine if you are learning the craft and will remain in the drawer. But I think it is a dead end idea if you are using it to advance your career in Hollywood.

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    • #3
      Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

      I posted a version of this on the other thread, but I figure I'll repost it here, where it's more pertinent...

      I think Emily is right on this. Studios are hiring fanfilm directors to direct franchise films. Agents are signing writers based on screenplays that feature elements that aren't original or public domain. Studio marketing departments and comic-book companies are hiring poster designers who previously created fan-art online. Heck, the publishing phenom of 2012 was a book series that started as Twilight fan fiction.

      Times have changed. This is the age of reboots and prequels. This is the age of Mondo posters (licensed art mostly by artists who started making fan art) and fan films getting millions of views online. Studios aren't put off by this, they're intrigued by it.

      Yes, if you write a spec based on a famous property, it's very very unlikely you'll ever get that film made or even be able to sell it to anyone. But I think it's much more likely that you'll get people to read it.

      So my advice on this topic has changed 180 degrees from what I would have said a decade ago or even five years ago. If you have a great idea for a script based on very famous material that you don't control, go ahead and write it. But only if you're aware that it can only ever be used as a writing sample. Because that young agent, manager, exec, or assistant is much more likely to read THE SECRET DIARY OF DARTH VADER than THE SECRET DIARY OF BORING GUY NO ONE KNOWS. And they're much more likely to hand it off to their buddies.

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      • #4
        Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

        I was poking around the Blacklist yesterday - I find reading the loglines and reviews interesting - and found a Wonder Woman spec. I was really surprised to see it.

        What about biopics and "based on a true story"? There's a fascinating story I'd love to tell - a charismatic con man who is bilking an eccentric millionaire and the controversial museum director determined to bring him down. There are disguises and double crosses and car chases in Europe. But most everyone involved is still alive and the guy never got convicted so it's not a matter of record, either.

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        • #5
          Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

          Originally posted by Hamboogul View Post
          I think it is fine if you are learning the craft and will remain in the drawer. But I think it is a dead end idea if you are using it to advance your career in Hollywood.
          I certainly wouldn't advise this to someone who already has a career in Hollywood. But I don't think it's a bad idea for someone who currently has no representation and isn't up for assignments. Sometimes it helps to write something crazy to stand out. And right now the crazy that's in vogue happens to be odd spins on famous IP. Ten years ago it was stuff like Being John Malkovich or the various other scripts full of famous actors playing themselves.

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          • #6
            Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

            Originally posted by keithcalder View Post
            I posted a version of this on the other thread, but I figure I'll repost it here, where it's more pertinent...

            I think Emily is right on this. Studios are hiring fanfilm directors to direct franchise films. Agents are signing writers based on screenplays that feature elements that aren't original or public domain.
            What do you mean with this?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

              Being John Malcovich was not an adaptation of IP written on spec. I thought the spirit of this thread was to discuss the pros and cons of adapting IP you don't control - as Emily wrote about in her blog.

              http://www.bambookillers.blogspot.co...-vacation.html

              Because IMO, if you write something like Being John Malcovich - I don't think you'll find anyone who believes an idea as fresh as that wouldn't get read.

              Can we discuss adapting properties you don't control?
              https://twitter.com/#!/moviewriterJeff

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

                Who knows.

                Kevin Tancharoen also gets to direct the new Mortal Kombat which could be a billion dollar franchise just because he made a fan film that went viral.

                Is it possible that a repped writer, writes a, let's say, Daredevil spec which turns out to be so good that they hire said writer to work on a reboot?

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                • #9
                  Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

                  I vaguely remember UK writer Stuart Hazeldine saying he did an unofficial Blade Runner sequel script way back when, which helped him get repped in LA.
                  My stuff

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                  • #10
                    Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

                    Originally posted by Chief View Post
                    Is it possible that a repped writer, writes a, let's say, Daredevil spec which turns out to be so good that they hire said writer to work on a reboot?
                    I'd eat glass to do a Daredevil: Born Again script...
                    My stuff

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

                      Originally posted by mrjonesprods View Post
                      Being John Malcovich was not an adaptation of IP written on spec. I thought the spirit of this thread was to discuss the pros and cons of adapting IP you don't control - as Emily wrote about in her blog.

                      http://www.bambookillers.blogspot.co...-vacation.html

                      Because IMO, if you write something like Being John Malcovich - I don't think you'll find anyone who believes an idea as fresh as that wouldn't get read.

                      Can we discuss adapting properties you don't control?
                      You're quoting me out of context. I was saying that scripts that featured movie stars playing alternate versions of themselves were a trend ten years ago. Scripts that are revisionist or quirky spinoffs of famous IP are a trend today.

                      Also, you don't control John Malkovich. I mean, unless you control a portal into his head, in which case I guess you do control him.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

                        Originally posted by Chief View Post
                        What do you mean with this?
                        What I mean by "Agents are signing writers based on screenplays that feature elements that aren't original or public domain."

                        Agents are signing writers who are writing spec screenplays that can almost never be sold as specs because they feature intellectual property they don't control. Specs like MUPPET MAN or CHEWIE.

                        Anyway, I think I'm giving some potentially dangerous advice in this thread. So here's some clarification...

                        I'm not saying people should write a script based on intellectual property they don't control. I'm saying that one of the approaches an aspiring writer can take today is writing a script that has a great twist on famous intellectual property that they don't control. The great twist on famous intellectual property might get more people to read the script than just a great original idea. That's all I'm trying to say.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

                          Originally posted by keithcalder View Post

                          Anyway, I think I'm giving some potentially dangerous advice in this thread. So here's some clarification...

                          I'm not saying people should write a script based on intellectual property they don't control. I'm saying that one of the approaches an aspiring writer can take today is writing a script that has a great twist on famous intellectual property that they don't control. The great twist on famous intellectual property might get more people to read the script than just a great original idea. That's all I'm trying to say.
                          Totally agree.
                          https://twitter.com/#!/moviewriterJeff

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

                            Originally posted by keithcalder View Post
                            What I mean by "Agents are signing writers based on screenplays that feature elements that aren't original or public domain."

                            Agents are signing writers who are writing spec screenplays that can almost never be sold as specs because they feature intellectual property they don't control. Specs like MUPPET MAN or CHEWIE.

                            Anyway, I think I'm giving some potentially dangerous advice in this thread. So here's some clarification...

                            I'm not saying people should write a script based on intellectual property they don't control. I'm saying that one of the approaches an aspiring writer can take today is writing a script that has a great twist on famous intellectual property that they don't control. The great twist on famous intellectual property might get more people to read the script than just a great original idea. That's all I'm trying to say.
                            I tend to agree with Keith (hi bud).

                            Industry reps the CHEWIE guys. I mange the SEUSS writers and Dan Dollar who wrote A BOY AND HIS TIGER (on plate for later this year), so I'm very familiar with how well this can work, and how challenging they can be.

                            When executed in a great way, it can be great. I don't think people should go off and write SUPERMAN and BATMAN specs. Those won't do much for you. What's great about CHEWIE, THE MUPPET MAN, SEUSS, etc, is they were all great ideas that when people heard about them, they said "Why didn't I think of that?" And Keith is correct, in most cases, not all, it will only be a writing sample. But having a script that is loved by execs all over town will be a calling card and open a lot of doors for you.

                            The other key ingredient in all of this is execution. You have to execute the script at a tremendously high level. One of these ideas won't cover up a lack of talent and short comings as a writer.

                            Best,

                            MB
                            twitter.com/mbotti

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Speccing an IP you don't own.

                              I'm with MichaelB and Keith on this. DON'T try to write GHOSTBUSTERS 3. DON'T write your brilliant idea for THE FLASH. I don't think doing so benefits you at all because the limited liklihood of those ever being bought will scare away people from even wasting their time reading it.

                              Even public domain stuff is kind of a risk. Take that from a guy who wrote an OZ-related spec a few years ago. I got it read at a couple places, even got some complimentary notes, but this was right as every writer was seemingly diving into the "retelling old fairy tales" pool, so it got lost in the glut.

                              As Michael notes, CHEWIE and THE MUPPET MAN are cases of this sort of thing working, but - I suspect - largely because the writer still had to bring a lot of themselves and their own ideas to this project. When I've seen misguided writers attempt to adapt stuff they don't own, it feels like they draw WAY too heavily on the source material, to the point where it's hard to tell if they're any good or if the material of a better writer is being used as a crutch here.

                              (In other words, one reader might be provoked to ask "Is your version of SUPERMAN truly brilliant, or have you just borrowed generously from Grant Morrison's ALL-STAR SUPERMAN?")

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