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Hollywood Dealmaking: Negotiating Talent Agreements
$19.95
Two entertainment attorneys and Hollywood insiders explain all the ins and outs of negotiating in the movie industry, including back ends, gross and adjusted gross profits, deferments, box office bonuses, copyrights, and much more.
Adaptation
$18.95
One of the most talked about scripts of the year, Adaptation is the story of an orchid collector, a journalist, and the screenwriter who is adapting Orlean's bestselling book and writes himself and his twin brother into the movie.
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Are Sequels Fair Game?
by Dina Appleton & Daniel Yankelevits
I am interested in writing a sequel to someone else's movie. I was wondering, do I need permission from the original filmmakers, or can I just write the screenplay and market it as one of my own spec scripts?
Margaret C., Far Hills, NJ
Dina Appleton & Daniel Yankelevits respond: Great Question. Here's the answer -- you are free to go ahead and write the screenplay -- but purely as a showcase of your work. Any potential buyer of the screenplay would be precluded from exploiting it in any commercial way without separately securing the underlying rights. Sometimes (though it’s rare) a studio will love your idea for a remake or a sequel of a property they already own, which makes it relatively simple. In fact, this is exactly what producers do. For example, Brian Grazer may go to Universal and say: I have an idea for a theatrical movie based on your 1970's series, ‘The Six Million Dollar Man.’ Universal already owns the rights, and might go ahead and hire a writer -- or, Brian G. may already know that you have created such a script.
In order for aspiring television writers to secure representation (i.e., an agent or manager) or to secure employment, they are frequently told to write spec scripts for existing series. As mentioned above, this is purely for the purpose of demonstrating their writing ability. No buyer (other than the owner of the TV series in question) could actually exploit that script. In short -- if your question is, can I write (but not sell) the script, the answer is yes. If you are hoping to actually make a sale, don't count on it. Chances are the owner of the original property already has someone in mind to work on a possible sequel, and you will be hard-pressed to get such an owner to consider your work. And, vis a vis any other buyer (unconnected to the original work), that buyer is unlikely to want to invest in a property that cannot be used without separately acquiring the original work. Good Luck!
Dina Appleton and Daniel Yankelevits are the authors of ‘Hollywood Dealmaking: Negotiating Talent Agreements.’ Dina Appleton is the Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Writers & Artists Agency, a talent and literary agency with offices in New York and Los Angeles.
Daniel Yankelevits is an executive in the Business and Legal Affairs Group at DreamWorks SKG and teaches an annual entertainment law seminar at UCLA. He previously served as Director of Business Affairs at HBO and at New Line Cinema and was co-chair of the Beverly Hills Bar Association's Entertainment Section. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and currently lives in Los Angeles.
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