how to keep control of your script

[wwcs]

Thanx a lot!

[ScriptNurse]

Google Dov S-S Siemens and his 2-Day Film School. This is a good, nuts and bolts course.

[wwcs]

Thanx again!


Are there any books you'd recommend on the subject of writing and producing your own films?

[ScriptNurse]

If you sell the script, they own it. If you don't want to do that, become a producer and write and produce your own films.

If you're an unknown, the chances you'd strike a deal with a major indie of studio is about zilch. With a smaller producer, you stand a chance. If you produce yourself, you do what you want.

These issues (and more) are often what cause many creative teams where one is the business head and the other the creative head.

[wwcs]

Thanx a lot for the feedback!

What if you don't want to sell your sell your script as a work for hire, will a studio still produce it?  Or does the very fact that you've "sold" it make it theirs to do with as they will?  I'd prefer not to sell my script as a work for hire, I'm just wondering where that leaves me.  What if you want to play a part in your own script, does that become an incredible issue?  If you write and act in your film, is it expected that you'd also direct it?

Thanx a lot!

[ScriptNurse]

Mostly, they said 'no' until they got the deal they wanted. I imagine that in all cases they turned down a lot of offers before they got what they wanted.

A word about work for hire ... When you sell your script to a producer or studio, it's no longer yours unless you have a contract that spells out the control you have over the project. When someone pays you to write something, it's called work for hire and they own it, not you. This is clearly spelled out in copyright law.

Respect ... everyone thinks it's easy to write stories ... and it is. It's damned HARD to write great stories. Producers who've been around a while know this.

[wwcs]

Hi,

I'm new to screenwriting, previously I've written plays.  Is it possible to write a script and have it be filmed more or less the way you wrote it?  I am kind of shocked at the lack of respect screenwriters get.  Movies bring in more money than any other art form and the person responsible for the vision in the first place often gets locked out or rewritten.  How did people like Sylvester Stallone, Billy Bob Thornton, and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck write and star in their movies before they were big names?

Thanx a lot for any feedback