HOW TO SURVIVE RE-WRITES FROM A PRODUCER

You've written a script. Have you heard of the great American novelist writing the great American book? Well, times have changed... every writer wants to write the great American movie or tv series. How do you go about that? What's the reality of me selling a film script?

You as a writer have slaved over the first draft and you have done re-writes yourself. You polished it up to the best of your ability and you think it's perfect to send out to producers? Next, comes the marketing of a script. Almost all film producers in Hollywood will not look at your script unless you have a valued manager or agent representing you. If you just send it to them... most likely it will not be returned and it will end up in the trash. What's the reason for this? They are afraid to take a chance on unknown writer and are afraid to be sued.

The best way to do this is to send it to independent producers. They are always looking for stuff to make and they might take a chance on you. You could always self-finance your project yourself, but that's a huge gamble in itself. Sometimes, you can try to sell your script in the international market. Producers from countries like Australia and Japan will look at scripts from American writers.

Let's say you sell that script and a producer pays you money for it. The producers or the company will send you a contract to look over. Don't sign it right away. You will need a lawyer to look it over. You have to make sure you protect your rights before signing them over. Once, you sign them over. Guess what? The project is not your anymore it's the producers because you just sold the script to them.

A smart screenwriter would also draw up a contract and have demands of their own. A writer I know says two rewrites then he is off the project or you negotiate a new deal for how much money you'll get paid for this re-writes. If you're a brand new writer this is a little tough to do. You have to know you're dealing with egos in this industry.

Some producers and production companies will give you pages of notes. This sometimes can be frustrating for a writer. Sometimes, the original vision can be lost. I wrote a short film years ago, "My Mother's Eyes". My original vision of the finish product was about 5%. Everything else was changed and the producer hired a new writer to take it over. I have seen the film and it's okay, but nothing how I originally attended it to be.

It can be a real headache because producers change their mind all the time. The truth is they don't know what they want from it. They think they know, but the trick is to try and bring them something great that they like and you like as well. It's very hard to do. The best thing is to do two re-writes and then say that's it... go do what you please with it. It's a chess game not checkers. But, you as the writer have to make the best decision for what's best for you when you sell the script. You can always self finance the project yourself. However, it's a risk. Everything is a gamble, but if you did something magnificent the rewards are amazing.