How long is too long?

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  • #61
    Re: How long is too long?

    "Look, if the idea is solid and you have the chops then this should take six months to from start to finish, i.e., from the time you agree this is a great idea to write and the time you turn it over to him so he can sell the thing."

    SB,

    If this is true, then ARMORED would not have been sold and produced.

    If this is true, then THUNDERCADE would not have been written.

    Comment


    • #62
      Re: How long is too long?

      Originally posted by Farnsworth View Post
      Like selling your house when the market is depressed.
      If the Real Estate analogy works for you, this is your situation:

      You have listed the house you wish to sell exclusively with a real estate agent who has not shown your house to any potential buyers in over two years.

      All your Real Estate agent has done is ask you to keep repainting the walls, changing the carpet, replacing your kitchen cabinents.

      During this process, the real estate market collasped. Yet you keep renewing your exclusive contract with a real estate agent who contunues to fail to show your home to any buyers in the market.

      Yet you are confident your home will eventually sell.
      Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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      • #63
        Re: How long is too long?

        I'm scratching my head, struggling to understand.

        How come Farnsworth is on one side and everybody else is on the other?


        "Artificial Intelligence will never match the efficiency of Natural Stupidity"

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        • #64
          Re: How long is too long?

          Originally posted by docgonzo View Post
          You said you had "tons" of scripts, but he only read one. So why hasn't he read any of the others? Is he encouraging you to write other scripts or just the one you're working on now? Have you written any other material in the past two years besides this script?
          Good question, doc.

          He has not read the others because I have not asked him to. I have only asked him to read one because it was similar in genre to one he is trying to set up this year.

          When I met him, he offered to work with me one of two story ideas. I agreed to read material on those ideas and picked the sci-fi.

          I am writing other things, sometimes stories that I abandon. I am presently writing a spec on my own while I wait for notes. I will ask him to read it. I will give him a logline and he can ask to read the script. He is really busy now, so I don't flood him with my other specs. There will be a time to show those off later.

          Comment


          • #65
            Re: How long is too long?

            Originally posted by Farnsworth View Post
            "Look, if the idea is solid and you have the chops then this should take six months to from start to finish, i.e., from the time you agree this is a great idea to write and the time you turn it over to him so he can sell the thing."

            SB,

            If this is true, then ARMORED would not have been sold and produced.

            If this is true, then THUNDERCADE would not have been written.
            I think Simpson wrote this before Farah got involved. Don't know about Thundercade. But, if it is taking longer then six months or so for you and your rep to decide on an idea, and for it to then go out to the market, well, I think I've already made my opinion clear.

            Look, obviously the guy is selling material and making movies, and that matters. But, what really matters is his selling YOUR material and making YOUR movie.

            I'm out.

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            • #66
              Re: How long is too long?

              The bigger, overriding issue, Farnsworth -- if you really ARE considering dumping DF (which I don't think you are) -- has been broached in other threads, which is: do you get to take the script with you?

              I'll wager a billion dollars that you would see threats of a lawsuit in a heartbeat if you really did up and leave and said this long-gestating project was going with you.

              Comment


              • #67
                Re: How long is too long?

                Originally posted by Farnsworth View Post
                There will be a time to show those off later.
                I'm tres curioso...what's "later" in DF years, boobie?

                Comment


                • #68
                  Re: How long is too long?

                  Sounds to me like you're looking for people to give you reasons to stay with the manager/producer.

                  DF is obviously legit and a definite player with solid credentials. But, in my opinion, it's should be less about the credentials and more about the relationship itself.

                  It's like that guy that stays with the hot girl even though he's not happy because he thinks she's too good for him and he won't find another girl as hot as her to like him. And, as any relationship guru will tell you, you're staying in the relationship for the wrong reasons.

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                  • #69
                    Re: How long is too long?

                    I don't know why Farns even started this thread. Clearly, he is set in his opinion--nothing we say is going to change his mind.
                    http://www.pjmcilvaine.com/

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                    • #70
                      Re: How long is too long?

                      I think the problem, Farns, is somewhere along the way you got it in your head that you have a manager.

                      You don’t.

                      You’re developing a project on spec for a producer.

                      That’s fine. That could pay big dividends for you possibly.

                      The nature of the relationship should have been made clear up front, though.

                      If this guy told you “I’m your manager” and then proceeded to spend two years solely developing one project with you…making you wait months for notes…not circulating the sample that got you into the fold to his contacts in order to make execs and producers aware of you and introduce you around town…not trying to get you an agent….not ASKING to read everything you have ever written so he can become an expert in all that is Farnsworth…not setting up meet and greets for you (you’re IN TOWN…you should be REGULARLY going on at least meet and greets, dude – they are a laborious but vital part of building a writer’s career)….well then that’s highly problematic and I would definitely advise you to at least clarify the nature of the relationship with him and maybe move on if he is not willing to do any of the above.

                      On the other hand if he came at you and said, “I have a couple projects I have in mind for you to possibly develop with me. Pick one and we’ll go from there…” then he is not in the wrong really. He’s simply developing a project with a writer on spec in the hopes that it will pan out and sell – then if it did sell maybe he would want to expand on the relationship and start doing the above listed standard duties that a good manager does for a client…but right now it certainly doesn’t sound like he is actively “managing” you.

                      If he is just acting as a producer, though, then you should still be free to seek out a manager while using your existing relationship with this producer to your advantage. Maybe he would even be willing to recommend you to other managers he knows that he thinks would be a good fit for you?
                      "I hate to break it to you but there is no big lie. There is no system. The universe is indifferent.- - Don Draper

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                      • #71
                        Re: How long is too long?

                        Originally posted by joe9alt View Post
                        Maybe he would even be willing to recommend you to other managers he knows that he thinks would be a good fit for you?


                        Now that's just downright hysterical, Joe!

                        Comment


                        • #72
                          Re: How long is too long?

                          How long?!

                          Let me give you some terrible truth--not all spec screenplays sell.

                          A good agent will beat the bushes, and give you updates on where, when and how long a property of yours has been circulating.
                          This process could take a few weeks or months.
                          But a good rep will keep swinging until they go down.

                          Now if you have a rep that folds on the first pass or comment.
                          Then you may have to reconsider your relationship, because he/she has no spine.

                          But if your rep has exhausted their rolodex--then most likely you'll have to put it way for a while.
                          Possibly a long time.
                          The town is fickle.
                          You may have something real good, but be in the wrong place at the wrong time with it many, many times.
                          And there is no way to know what is the right property, in the right place in the right time.
                          Those three elements have to come together--and they don't always do.

                          When this happens you have to go to the next project.

                          T

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                          • #73
                            Re: How long is too long?

                            From what I was told, Simpson did have ARMORED written when he met DF. He rewrote it a number of times according to DF's notes, and I understand that took seven months. I don't know how long Simpson had been working on it prior to meeting DF.

                            The trades quoted DF as working on THUNDERCADE from scratch for 2 years.

                            I put up this post to get answers from others, because others had at least implied that there is some kind of time-line with working with a rep. And there may be, I just don't know what it is.

                            There may be a concensus developing here. Maybe that's all I can hope for.

                            And, MacG, ole buddy and former fellow rep-slave, even if I decided to leave, I would not try to take the project I worked on with DF to someone else. That's just not right, in my ethics book. If I were to leave, I would query with my other scripts. But I have no intention of leaving. DF may have not been a great fit for you. You appear to see assignments as your bread-and-butter, while I think that it's better for someone like myself to go DF's way.

                            And it is all about the rep of the rep.

                            And, joe, what you say may be true. You're smarter than I am about those things. I can write, but I can barely keep my shoes tied. I would rather be with DF than with a rep who has some connections but is sending stuff all over town. The shotgun approach. See what you can hit.

                            I think that the rifle is the better weapon, at least for me.

                            Comment


                            • #74
                              Re: How long is too long?

                              Not going to get involved in the arguments here, but I'll throw in my experience and maybe it can be instructive/interesting for some.

                              Was recommended to a management team about two years ago by an exec at Sony (Screen Gems). Management team is solid and well liked so far as I can tell (with decent clients). The team read a few samples after some time and wanted to talk about developing ideas. That took a few months as well. Keep in mind, I'm not in LA so things do get slowed down by the distance I think.

                              Was sidetracked a bit on some other projects, but about a year ago landed on the idea I would work with them on. This idea is more epic and period in nature, which I know is a harder sell, but it's something I wanted to do and the one idea the managers kept coming back to.

                              Draft one was completed in the fall. After getting thoughts, did a rewrite which was submitted in January. Did another rewrite which was sent in April. I met with the team in April when I was in LA and they wanted to see another pass to shore up the protagonist. This film, they maintain, will only get set up if an major actor is attached--and I agree with that.

                              So now I am closing in on draft three and will submit that next week. No doubt the script is getting better, but I'm at the point where I'm not sure how much longer I want to dance with this team. They are not "my managers," though I think the idea is it may evolve into a full blown relationship and I know I'm not number one on their list, but I think if I don't see them going out with it to actors and others this summer it's just not going to happen. One year is plenty. Could I go for another year of this? Maybe, but I'd rather be told the script is not working and that's that then to be lead on.

                              Anyway, that's my addition to this thread...
                              Quato Lives!

                              Comment


                              • #75
                                Re: How long is too long?

                                Originally posted by Farnsworth View Post
                                To tell the truth, sc111, I don't know what is professional in this business.

                                The best reason that I can give you as to why I stay with him is because he can get it done.

                                And if he has to postpone getting back to me with notes, I just have to endure it, or go with a rep who sends me out on assignment meets that will go nowhere.
                                Hi Farns. You are one of my heroes. Seriously. A true master of the art.

                                Good luck and best wishes.
                                Doth thou desirest a slapping? - William Shakespeare

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