Hey stage 32 community. I have a question for you guys. If you are throwing a pitch to an exec and you have a script based off a novel you wrote that's yours should you tell them that or not?
Screenwriting : To Tell or Not to Tell by Kendall Loyd
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Why not. Its about making a deal. And its good to have more than one pitch.
Yeah, you should tell them.
Why wouldn't you?
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Was the book published by a publisher and if so do you still have film rights to it?
AND...Who owns the characters? Who gets what slice if subsequent rights are sold? (etc.)
sure why not
Having a novel in addition to a script is a positive selling point. Particularly if the novel has sold some copies.
I think you would have to disclose it because they wouldn't be too happy if they discovered after they optioned the screenplay. You definitely want to make sure you still hold the film rights to the material. I've adapted a lot of novels and if the book did well and got good reviews it can help you market the script because they are less risky. However, if the novel didn't do well and didn't get some good reviews it could have an opposite effect.
I would tell them.
Thank you all for your feedback.
Totally tell the exec
I would make sure that you are upfront on any facts and copywrites you have with your material.
You're a writer...why not? I see nothing but plus+++ for your skill.
I was told by a film festival judge that if I tell a producer that my script is from my book to make sure I emphasize that it was published with a company and not out as an indie. I don't know, maybe she could be wrong, but what i got from the conversation that producers look down on books that are indie published maybe thinking they weren't good enough to get someone to publish them.
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You throw a pitch in baseball. In movies, you make a pitch. Has your novel been published? By a publisher - or a vanity press? Either way - of course you mention the novel in the pitch. Better yet - since it's your novel - just go ahead and adapt it as a screenplay and pitch that. Or if you have an agent - have the agent send out the book to try to get interest in THAT from a potential producer/network/studio - get it optioned - and have them PAY YOU to adapt it into a screenplay.