True Story?

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  • True Story?

    This may have been covered somewhere on this board before, but I have a question as to when we may use the moniker of something being 'based' on a true story? how much of it has to be what truly happened? and where do we list that - on the cover page or on some SUPER line in the beginning?

    another question about what we list or not in the beginning of the script - should we allow for CREDITS to roll in at some point? i've seen it listed in some scripts, but not in others.
    People are always writing, but not always thinking.
    -Anonymous

  • #2
    Re: True Story?

    don't everybody overwhelm me with responses all at once now...
    People are always writing, but not always thinking.
    -Anonymous

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    • #3
      Re: True Story?

      To the best of my knowlege, you can say anything is based on a true story. I don't think there's any law about claiming something's based on a true story even if it's not, unless Congress recently enacted House Bill Liar Liar Pants on Fire recently, which wouldn't be very Congressional, for many reasons. Didn't Fargo say it was based on a true story and turned on not to be? Plus now there's the "inspired by a ture story" line, which is code for this is all bull****.

      The key thing is that if something is actually based on a true story, you have to have the rights in order to make a movie out of it. If you don't have the rights, don't bother writing the movie. Too many ways to have it backfire.

      As to having a "roll credits" in your screenplay, I wouldn't bother with it. I think it's mostly an anachronism at this point. Most newer screenplays I've read don't have it.

      Hope this helped. Good luck.
      "Witticism"
      -Some Guy

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      • #4
        Re: True Story?

        FARGO was complete fiction, but the Coen bros cleverly hinted that it was a true story. Same thing happened with THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. And according to some, the author of SLEEPERS made up the fact that it was a true story.

        The problem is you're trying to sell a script to someone for a large amount of money. Falsely claiming that it is a true story is akin to false advertising. I'm not exactly sure, but I think you may open yourself up to litigation if you use "true story" as a selling point when in fact it's pure fiction.

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        • #5
          Re: True Story?

          Your script can be inspired by real events and it is up to you whether to put it on the cover or not. Just make sure your true story is in public domain...

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          • #6
            Re: True Story?

            Take any movie that claims to be based on a "true story", Erin Brokovich for example.

            Well, there is a planet called Earth.
            There are beings called humans on that planet.
            One of them is named Erin Brokovich.

            Therefore it is based on a true story.

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            • #7
              Re: True Story?

              That's just what I was thinking. You could argue that anything is 'based' on a true story. I could argue that my character who falls from the 44th floor of a building and survives is based on a true story, somehow...

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              • #8
                Re: True Story?

                I don't think being based on a true story is a selling point AT ALL. Unfortunately, I've had some experience with this, having had more than one such project rejected because I hadn't sewn up the rights. If you do have the rights, then yes, it's a selling point. If you don't, and it's not in the public domain, then the corporate lawyers are going to scream. Just to have them read through my script once for problems was going to cost $17,000, so they simply killed it right there, before the read.
                It's not just a forest: it's a whole bunch of different trees

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                • #9
                  Re: True Story?

                  Braveheart, Gladiator, Alexander, and all those movies. No problem if it's based on a historical character or event (but you knew that). But I think they draw the line on someone living or who has living and litigous relatives.

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                  • #10
                    True Story

                    Hollywood's idea of a "true story" is a marketing gimmick for a story that has no excuse for being such bad fiction.

                    For me, "true story" means using court testimony, eyewitness accounts, maps, geneaologies, photographs, etc., and assembling it into a drama, rather than a documentary.

                    As for credits, why not mention some, (if not all), your principal sources and helpers, since Hollywood gives an end credit to drivers, caterers, payroll clerks, and like contributors to their productions.

                    My prejudice is to mention what did happen to the characters, after my version of the "true story": who became a doctor, who became a prime minister, who returned to being a farmer, what happened to the lead character for the next fifty years of his life, etc. For a good example, consider the credits of THE NEWTON BOYS.
                    JEKYLL & CANADA (free .mp4 download @ Vimeo.com)

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                    • #11
                      Re: True Story?

                      Or you could write: "Based on events that may or may not have happened."

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