Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

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  • Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

    What ways do screenwriters use when trying to retain more control and influence over their script and/or the production? Apart from producing the film (only achieved only after many successful produced scripts and re-writes), directing the film or financing it, what other ways are possible or am I being naive?
    I post too much.

  • #2
    Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

    Originally posted by MPrince View Post
    What ways do screenwriters use when trying to retain more control and influence over their script and/or the production? Apart from producing the film (only achieved only after many successful produced scripts and re-writes), directing the film or financing it, what other ways are possible or am I being naive?
    Write it as a novel first.

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    • #3
      Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

      Originally posted by MPrince View Post
      What ways do screenwriters use when trying to retain more control and influence over their script and/or the production? Apart from producing the film (only achieved only after many successful produced scripts and re-writes), directing the film or financing it, what other ways are possible or am I being naive?
      Apart from producing or directing or financing, there's little you can do. With few exceptions, once you've sold it it's gone. It's a bit like selling a car that you loved and wanting some control over how the new owner drives it. Until you have the sort of credentials that enable you to exert some control over the production process, it's a case of learning how to let go.
      "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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      • #4
        Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

        Please push for the nominal Associate Producer credit as part of the agreement-- there will be no compensation most likely, but this will at least get you on the path of greater control on following projects. This is a tough get the first time out, so have your rep push a bit.

        Best,
        M
        "The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely." ~Jung

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        • #5
          Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

          Originally posted by MPrince View Post
          What ways do screenwriters use when trying to retain more control and influence over their script and/or the production? Apart from producing the film (only achieved only after many successful produced scripts and re-writes), directing the film or financing it, what other ways are possible or am I being naive?
          If it's just a script, honestly, no. There is no way. People will give you all kinds of advice but in the end the answer is no. Every script gets rewritten. Every single one. Even if you go the independent producer route, there are all kinds of people who have input on the script, all of them with a lot more than the original writer. You either learn to live with it, be as cooperative as you can with the right attitude, or you end up on the outside looking in on what used to be your project. For a lot of unproduced writers this is a tough thing to put your head around, but if you know and understand this going in you're going to save yourself a LOT of angst in the future.

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          • #6
            Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

            Don't write personal scripts.

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            • #7
              Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

              For the record, I wasn't advising the OP to write their story as a novel first to brand the IP and maybe give them a stronger creative leg to stand on in terms of collaboration (though Gillian Flynn and others come to mind in that regard)-but because if you want any kind of creative control as a storyteller, Hollywood is the last place to go looking for it unfortunately.

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              • #8
                Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

                Originally posted by ihavebiglips View Post
                For the record, I wasn't advising the OP to write their story as a novel first to brand the IP and maybe give them a stronger creative leg to stand on in terms of collaboration (though Gillian Flynn and others come to mind in that regard)—but because if you want any kind of creative control as a storyteller, Hollywood is the last place to go looking for it unfortunately.
                True. Much more control as a novelist or a playwright. It's great advice for anyone set on having control of their writing. Screenwriting is the last place to look for that because it's never going to happen there.

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                • #9
                  Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

                  Originally posted by markerstone View Post
                  Please push for the nominal Associate Producer credit as part of the agreement-- there will be no compensation most likely, but this will at least get you on the path of greater control on following projects. This is a tough get the first time out, so have your rep push a bit.

                  Best,
                  M
                  If you are given the title of Associate Producer.... what responsibilities go with that?
                  What's expected of you? (I'm guessing nothing if you're not making extra as the AP.)

                  Also, if you're in the process of selling a script, could asking for AP title turn off potential buyers? I mean, like someone already mentioned, you're probably not making extra... yo're just asking for the title, right?

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                  • #10
                    Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

                    Originally posted by Terri View Post
                    If you are given the title of Associate Producer.... what responsibilities go with that?
                    What's expected of you? (I'm guessing nothing if you're not making extra as the AP.)

                    Also, if you're in the process of selling a script, could asking for AP title turn off potential buyers? I mean, like someone already mentioned, you're probably not making extra... yo're just asking for the title, right?
                    Did you ever see the film State and Main? Watch it. It explains exactly what an Associate Producer is.

                    I got an Associate Producer credit once when I did a last minute polish on a film going into production two weeks later. I wasn't going to get writer credit, but they were so pleased they "gave me a bone". It's a credit mostly given as a reward for doing something to help get the film made. There is no job that goes with it. No pay. No responsibility. No decision making. Just mostly a "thank you" credit.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

                      Originally posted by Terri View Post
                      If you are given the title of Associate Producer.... what responsibilities go with that?
                      What's expected of you? (I'm guessing nothing if you're not making extra as the AP.)

                      Also, if you're in the process of selling a script, could asking for AP title turn off potential buyers? I mean, like someone already mentioned, you're probably not making extra... yo're just asking for the title, right?
                      In my experience, everything in this racket is about negotiation and LEVERAGE. Usually we writers have none of the latter and the person who's negotiating on your behalf (NEVER TALK MONEY WITH A BUYER, if at all avoidable), be it lawyer, manager, or agent might wanna push for that nominal producer credit up front just as a bargaining chip.

                      A lot of times it gets struck, sometimes it sticks. A lot of times the buyers are such cheap bastards that you end up getting a producer credit because it's a vanity credit and any compensation you'd get from being a "producer" is paid out after the film is made—which saves them from having to pay you now. For example, someone says they can only pay you guild minimum now, but they'll throw you a producer credit bone. If that happens, it'll usually be "writer's definition," which pays out your percentage of net after all producers are paid their cut on the backend, meaning you'll most likely see nothing. Bro and I actually scored co-producer credit on a feature we sold on pitch to an actor, who paid us out of pocket and conceded us not only the credit but also "producer definition" on the cut of net, which is paid out when their cut is paid out (or at least in the producer chain). More likely to see something in the event you actually get the film made, though nothing is guaranteed with Hollywood accounting.

                      As for duties, as you can see this is often just something negotiated because you give up something on the front, which sucks to a large degree because so many things flounder in development that you really always need to be trying to maximize cash-in-hand for development. If you actually bring something to the table in a producorial capacity, you can push to help in that capacity and earn your credit and maybe even "producer definition" on a better tier of credit than AP.

                      If it's a script that you wrote on spec and you somehow spark a bidding war, you can push (LEVERAGE) for producer credits and legit cuts of the backend as a means to sweeten the pot when making final decisions between buyers who are offering effectively the same money and situational goods (packaging, likelihood of getting greenlit and made, etc).
                      Last edited by ihavebiglips; 07-10-2016, 08:34 PM.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

                        Originally posted by EdFury View Post
                        Did you ever see the film State and Main? Watch it. It explains exactly what an Associate Producer is.

                        I got an Associate Producer credit once when I did a last minute polish on a film going into production two weeks later. I wasn't going to get writer credit, but they were so pleased they "gave me a bone". It's a credit mostly given as a reward for doing something to help get the film made. There is no job that goes with it. No pay. No responsibility. No decision making. Just mostly a "thank you" credit.
                        Ah, I see. Thank you for your clear answer.

                        I will put State of Main on my "to watch" list.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

                          Thank you so much for your detailed answer ... very helpful.

                          (Oh, how I would love to spark a bidding war. Someday....)

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                          • #14
                            Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

                            Originally posted by markerstone View Post
                            Please push for the nominal Associate Producer credit as part of the agreement.
                            The movie of mine least like the script I had an Associate Producer credit on. Totally meaningless. They gave me the credit and then shut me out of everything. I had some recognizable actors willing to work for scale as a favor to me, they did not hire them because they thought it would give me some power... and they didn't want that.

                            Love him or hate him, at one point in time Joe Eszterhas was the highest paid screenwriter in the USA (and his MUSIC BOX won international awards and got Jessica Lange nominated for an Oscar), and after buying BASIC INSTINCT from him for a record price... they fired him the very next day and brought in another writer. That's just the way it is.

                            No matter how big you are - no control.
                            Free Script Tips:
                            http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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                            • #15
                              Re: Retaining more control over your screenplay and/or film

                              You have control if you're the writer/director/producer.

                              Frankly, I'm of the opinion that if other people are involved, it's because they're supposed to be involved and they'll add to it.

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