SCRIPT OPTION AGREEMENTS: USEFUL TIP FOUND ONLINE FOR SCREENWRITERS

When anyone with access to MONEY wants to option your script, YES, you should expect money HOWEVER...

There's a huge scam going on in Smell-A right now that you need to be aware of...

A producer comes in and options your work... Let's say the option is for $5K a year for 2 or 3 years... You get your first year's payment and you're a happy camper because a fairly well-known producer is shopping your script around...

Unbeknownst to you, the producer sells your screenplay to a prodco for $250K... The deal THEY have is to buy the script outright but if NO FILM is made within a specified timeframe, all rights revert back to YOU, the screenwriter.

By the time that happens, your script has been passed around and it's agreed on that it's not that bad but still needs some polish but the prodco doesn't have enough time to make that happen... Hence, the script and all rights are now yours but since the producer you sold the option to has already made $250K, nobody wants to pay you any more money at this juncture...

This is happening all the time in Hollywood...

Now on the other hand, if the prodco gets off their asses and makes the script into a movie, you'll still get paid... A lot hinges on the deal the original producer makes with the prodco.

Having said that...

Unless you know contracts (and even if you do), be sure to have an entertainment lawyer take a look at the option agreement BEFORE signing...

Now back to this actress... Does she have a prodco of her own? If so, that means she has access to money. Make damn sure your screenplay and all subsequent drafts are registered by the WGAw and you've filed for a copyright as well.

Options can be for as little as a $1 all the way up to $100K (or more) if you're a produced screenwriter with the norm running around $5K to $25K a year with a 2 year minimum... I personally wouldn't give any producer more than 2 years to shop that script around... All they will be doing is going to all the studios in town and pitching the script, hoping to get financing. If someone packages your actress and gets several other pieces of talent and crew on board (simply for the packaging) they just might pull off a studio deal.

Just be very wary of signing a contract/option without an entertainment lawyer looking it over for you.

Good luck!

filmy http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=8347