A written pitch (on an awesome, very specific concept) was just "passed" on by a VirtualPitchFest prod co b/c "Great minds think alike! We're already developing this concept."
I registered this concept 3+ years ago, shopped it around, took a break, wrote two other features then came back to improve this one. Currently weighing options, such as:
A: (ideal) Convince them to buy my script (a low price is fine) so my ideas can be used to improve the film. I'm not a killer screenwriter, but there are some gem ideas in this script.
B: Continue to market this script, knowing it could be pre-empted
C: Walk away
What's my best approach to foster option A? Or is this Mission Impossible?
Other info: VPF prod co typically makes features in the $1MM - $5MM range, my concept is a~2MM budget
- I have no idea how far developed their concept is, or when they started it.
- We've made no direct contact except through the VPF query
- I have three completed features, unlikely to finish any more in the next 3 years due to a family situation
D (what I usually do) - change the story, usually by making it more personal, so that it is the same but also different than the other version.
I've heard from plenty of literary agents that many times writers think their idea is original when in fact it's been written already. Seems odd but then again they all say it. That's why they want writers to read everything in the genre they are writing in. I don't know if that applies here but I thought I'd put out there since so many agents write about that online on their sites.
Producers will tell you that they get the same concepts 4-5 times per week. It happens. They aren’t going to buy a script they already have in development. I would take Martell’s advice.
Thanks for the ideas so far. I should have mentioned that it's a sci-fi comedy that imagines Earth's creation resulting from a very specific mash-up of Biblical and evolutionary beliefs. I doubt my overall execution is better, but I'm confident the prod co would want to use some of my elements if they could.
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Doesn’t generally work that way. They already have a deal in development.
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Walk away.
You had the same idea as someone else. It happens.
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I'd do option B and try to find help in beating them to the punch. (It's not a stretch, things get stuck in development hell all the time.)
Remember we've had occasions where two very similar movies release around the same time. I'm thinking specifically of Dante's Peak/Volcano and Armageddon/Deep Impact. I wouldn't call an existing project a deal-breaker. It might even be a plus for a production company, as publicity for one feeds the other and these pairings generate more interest (or notoriety) as a duo. Try B if you're feeling lucky.
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Go with option B. Anything is possible in production. The VPF producer might even decide not to make their duplicate project. And yes, things get stuck in development all the time too. Go for it.
Combine option B and D
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SMH. They passed and you're begging them again? You have 0 relationship other a VPF query in which you paid them. Now, you want to undervalue your script more.
Move on. If your screenplay is indeed good, it will get you meetings with Peers & Reps who actually know the market
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B + C. Keep promoting and start working on another script. Which is literally the answer to most of these situations...
If you are talking a $2M movie then I wouldn’t worry about it be preempted.
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I had a script optioned several years ago and shortly thereafter a similar themed film was released. I later found out that the studio optioned it just to keep it off the market so as not to compete with their own boxing theme movie. So now my Gorgeous George script is dead and will never see the light of day again... but it was a handsome option.
My humble advice is to suck it up and move along... nothin' left to see here.
Thanks for all the comments. I guess it's just frustrating that I can't help them make it a better movie -- I know that I could. I don't care about the money, I just want to see the concept delivered well, exactly one time.
"Great minds think alike! We're already developing this concept" = either 1) your concept is strictly Zeitgeist, so go to the back of the line, or 2) a kind way of saying, "No thanks."
Sadly, Temoleton could be right. I’m a member of several script writers groups and it’s not the first time I read this, posted by several different people in less than a year. It really sounds like a standard rejection letter to me, in publishing we use them a lot, usually the formula is “great concept, but the market is saturated for now”, which creates a lot of confusions as well as false hopes in the rejected writer.
I agree with Klein, Templeton, and Asssunto! No and Pass is one thing. What's behind the No and Pass is rarely if ever known, but it's something that artistic people have to accept. For what it's worth!