Anyone out there can share their experiences on how they sold a feature script? I'll be glad. Of course I know the drill... get a manager, query letters to producers, contests and all that but I really want to hear real people talking about that. thank you and have a nice day!
Screenwriting : Screenplay sell by Duarte N. Nóbrega
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There are many ways to go about it. Most ideas and comments on Stage32 are based on real experiences. I made money producing in development and by actual writing. Nevertheless, its a creative business and nothing comes for free. What is it that you'd want to know?
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Taxes and commission/legal fees are a drag. These contracts are shit. They pay a little at a time, installment plans and they never pay in full.
Never sold to a WGA signatory prod co's, studio, or PGA Producers. I am guessing they play hardball as well.
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Dan M, Yes they all play hardball. Professional filmmaking is a profit oriented business, not a 501c3 feel-good entity - they keep the stockholders happy or they are unemployed. .
You got optioned sending a query letter to a producer, right?
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Dan G - yeah optioning scripts was was a lucrative little cottage industry during the '70s and early '80s when Hollywood would tie up anything and everything just to lock up the market. Hell, I had one script optioned three times in a row - and it never got made. $10,000 per year was pretty much the going rate in those days so optioning three or four scripts a year made for good pocket change in those days. Times have changed.
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My experience is from my local market (Brazil). I've spent two years trying to sell my first script, a suspense thriller / horror. I've sent cold (or hot) emails to basically every production company I could find out, with different responses (some good, some not), but leading to zero contracts. Finally, I gave up and moved on.
After I've totally forgotten about it, a friend of mine - who doesn't work in the Industry - mentioned that one of his friends was starting a production company and was looking for screenwriters. So, I've sent my screenplay to this new producer, and it was an instant match, not just in business but in the personal level too. He's a friend now.
This script was optioned and developed into a TV series project. We received great feedback from potential buyers, which led his company to develop a detailed budget, casting suggestions, attached directors, samples of settings and photography, the whole shebang. Later, this series was pitched and presented to a big studio in LA (I'll save the names) which was really excited about this project. Until, one day, their CEO told us that they've changed their minds and decided to not launch a new TV series that year. And it was the end of it.
Needless to say, this feature / series never got made (technically, it's still in the studio's portfolio). But this script opened the doors to the company I now work with. Now we are producing an animated series for Fox, targeted at children from 8-12. So, this was a really a long, long way from my dark and gritty first thriller... who now shall gracefully rest in some virtual drawer.
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Thank you all for sharing your experiences!
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Yeah things have really changed. Instead of being optioned you are supposed to beg, steal or borrow a million or more dollars, make your film, get it screened at festivals, look for a distributor and if you don't find one and lose 90 percent of the money oh well. Is it surprising that not much content is coming out under such conditions?