[Spike]

(02-19-2013 05:07 PM)painter Wrote:  

Don't worry about anyone "stealing" your idea. That's what a copyright protects, your intellectual property. The simplest (and cheapest) way to protect your script or anything else you write is to print a copy, mail it to yourself, and DO NOT OPEN IT! Put it somewhere safe and if someone does steal your idea you have dated proof of copyrighted intellectual property.

The reality is that if you write something good, a book, screenplay, poem, whatever, the people who produce or publish want to work with YOU, not pawn it off on someone more established. Or they'll pay for your original idea and do whatever they want to it. An author should never fear being ripped off, especially if their work is copyrighted.

Good luck with the project Neil! You might want to read this book by Joe Esterhas, Hollywood Animal. He did the screenplays for Basic Instinct, Jagged Edge, Flashdance, Showgirls, and Jade, it's a great read:

http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Animal-M...0375413553

I already did the email thing and of course my book is fully copyrighted by the US copyright office. I'm indeed not too worried about anyone stealing ideas but on the other hand I'm still cautious at this moment. From what I've read Hollywood isn't really stealing ideas anyway. Too much bad publicity if people find out and of course the lawsuits always reach astronomical figures in the US.
I'm willing to negotiate any offer I get.

Thanks for the link. Sounds like a good book. unfortunately it's not available as an ebook and since I'm not located in the US it's quite hard to buy the paperback or audio CD.

(02-19-2013 06:54 PM)PartyonBro Wrote:  

(02-19-2013 05:07 PM)painter Wrote:  

Don't worry about anyone "stealing" your idea. That's what a copyright protects, your intellectual property. The simplest (and cheapest) way to protect your script or anything else you write is to print a copy, mail it to yourself, and DO NOT OPEN IT! Put it somewhere safe and if someone does steal your idea you have dated proof of copyrighted intellectual property.

The reality is that if you write something good, a book, screenplay, poem, whatever, the people who produce or publish want to work with YOU, not pawn it off on someone more established. Or they'll pay for your original idea and do whatever they want to it. An author should never fear being ripped off, especially if their work is copyrighted.

Good luck with the project Neil! You might want to read this book by Joe Esterhas, Hollywood Animal. He did the screenplays for Basic Instinct, Jagged Edge, Flashdance, Showgirls, and Jade, it's a great read:

http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Animal-M...0375413553

You can also send it in to the US Copyright office, which is a little better. Takes a month or two maybe longer to get in the system.

Do all the writers/actors/etc starting out still all live in the Oakwood apartments in Toluca Lake? Remember that used to be the spot back in the day.

I found this link about the Oakwood apartments. Sounds like a great place to live. Ill look into it but with my budget I probably end up in Inglewood not Oakwood, haha

http://askville.amazon.com/celebrities-s...d=66978684

Can you imagine being with a girl there who later becomes some superstar? How awesome is that?

(02-20-2013 05:57 AM)painter Wrote:  

Don't know how I forgot about this yesterday but it's always been my goal with something I wrote: First you sell them the movie rights to your book. Then you sell them the screenplay you wrote. Doesn't matter if your screenplay isn't great and they have a seasoned pro or the director or whoever rewrites it. Obviously it takes some finesse and you might have to sell the rights for less to get them to buy the screenplay but it's a double payday.

This accomplishes two things. First, by selling the movie rights to the book you get paid. As someone already mentioned it can take forever for a movie to get made, you've heard the term development hell. If they don't make the movie after the agreed upon time then you can sell the movie rights again. Second, by making them buy your screenplay you get a very important "Screenplay By" credit in the movie which is enormous (the only reason they have credits in movies is so all the people who work on them can put it on their resume).

To be honest, I haven't looked into the business part of script selling/pitching yet because I wanted to finish the first draft first. I'll probably study up on it in the weeks before I leave. First I want to make sure I actually have a decent script to show.
It sounds like a good idea but does that mean I have to sell all the rights to my book?
I won't sell away my royalty rights. if a movie is ever made there will probably be a ginormous surge in book sales. I wouldn't want to miss out on 6 figure royalties numbers which is easy to get with a 5 dollar royalty a book.