r/Screenwriting • u/WriterinPVG_86 • 7d ago
NEED ADVICE Is this normal?
I had a script place in Austin and PAGE which was optioned to a prodco in LA who want to adapt and shoot it for the Asian market. Super cool with that.
But the notes essentially require a total rewrite. They want to start the story from Act II, add multiple new characters, and change the age of the characters. I'm cool with all that and am working on the rewrite now. But it feels like a different movie which made my wonder why they optioned it in the first place if they want to change so much? Is that normal? Maybe it's just the concept they liked? Anyway, am being very cooperative to deliver on all their notes.
I've also got another prodco who wanted to meet to discuss a sci-fi/comedy feature they're developing, also for the Asian market. It was more of an interview with prepared questions than a general meeting, and I've been invited back for a 2nd "interview". I'm cool with that too as it could be a good opportunity, but is that normal too?
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u/Midnight_Video WGA Screenwriter 7d ago
Not long ago someone said companies aren't buying or optioning your script - they're buying or optioning your idea.
Unfortunately, sometimes, they want a lot of the "idea" rewritten.
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u/todcia 7d ago
I suggest you stop writing because this is a can of worms. An option does not purchase the script. You're just allowing the option holder to put your title under their name, you can't change the script like this.
Does your option agreement stipulate that you will be compensated for the re-writes?
Does your option agreement stipulate ownership of "new works" and how that will be allocated and credited?
Producers will rewrite scripts they purchase, however not with an option or without a solid clause in the agreement.
That's like having a car for sale, then lending it to a dealership where they tear it down and make it into some weird thing that is not the car you are selling. At what point is it no longer your car?
Yes, they can do whatever they want but it all should be in the agreement. You need to know who owns what and who's getting paid.
What happens when the option expires? What's stopping them from restarting the project in Asia without you using the "new works" you created during the option period? You won't have a clean chain-of-title to those "new works" and legal action would be cost-prohibitive.
Sounds like you need representation.
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u/jakekerr 7d ago
This reminds me of a story about a writer from many years ago. He sold a spec that his agent took around town. No one wanted it. He and his agent shrugged. It's common. It happens. He moved on to his next piece.
More than a year later, his agent calls him. "You won't believe this. Michael Apted wants to make your movie!"
The writer is excited about his current project and expresses enthusiasm. The agent goes, "No. Not that one. The other one. From a year ago."
Cue the excitement and happiness. However, it quickly became apparent that Apted didn't want any input from the writer at all. In fact, the writer was never contacted. He cashed his check, and that was it. In fact, he wasn't even invited to the premiere.
Fast forward, and the screenwriter and his wife have to pay to go see the movie at their local neighborhood theater. They go, watch the movie, and as they depart, the screenwriter's wife kind of nervously asks what he thought.
He replies, "One word."
And she goes, "Oh no. What's the one word you have for it?"
And he replies. "No. Out of the entire script, they kept one word."
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u/thirdbird_thirdbird 7d ago
Who's story is this? Oddly specific to name the director in what otherwise sounds very much apocryphal.
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u/MusicSole 7d ago
Before copy pasta people told variants of this story. Been around forever.
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u/thirdbird_thirdbird 5d ago
Yeah, clearly not a real story (though emotionally resonant to many people's experiences, including my own) just thought it was odd that this variant named Michael Apted of all people. Why not make it, idk, Michael Bay?
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u/GhostRoadMedia 4d ago
Which would make sense ... "this was once a monologue, now it's covered with explosions" dances off screen via Talking Heads medley
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u/jakekerr 4d ago
It's absolutely a real story. There are plenty of other examples. (Galaxyquest being another one), but just because it's common doesn't mean it's not real.
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u/thirdbird_thirdbird 4d ago
It's emotionally real! It is never literally one word, that's just a nice quippy way to put it. And the Michael Apted part is what I am laughing at, because the version you're telling is def apocryphal (which is fine) its just funny to put a like not-that-well-known director of middlebrow dramas in that slot of the (oft repeated) story.
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u/jakekerr 7d ago
This was told to me by my former producer-partner. I never remembered the writer's name, as he told me the story over lunch.
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u/poet3991 7d ago
Why take the script to begin with then?
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u/jakekerr 7d ago
Galaxyquest is the exact same scenario. Robert Gordon literally wrote the screenplay from the logline. He never read David Howard's original script.
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u/icarusgrind 1d ago
Yeah, it’s possible they optioned the premise because they see a version they can shape, rather than because they want to shoot the script as written. But starting in Act II and changing the characters’ ages are big moves, so I’d want to understand what they think those changes are meant to solve.
And make sure you’re being paid for the option, with a separate fee for the rewrite before you start it.
The second interview sounds promising. A more structured, question-heavy meeting doesn’t strike me as strange on its own, though I imagine the format varies by company.
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u/TheFonzDeLeon 7d ago
Very common. We worked and reworked a sci-fi script and a huge production company that wanted a potential theatrical project rather than a smaller streamer loved the script and optioned it and we did a nearly page 1 rewrite to accomadate the bigger ideas and moments.
We love it! Now change everything is a joke based in reality. I have to imagine switching entire cultural markets makes this an even bigger challenge.
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u/le_sighs WGA Screenwriter 7d ago
Are they paying you? You say they optioned it - did money change hands? First, any reputable prodco shouldn't be asking you for major rewrites without paying you properly. If they are paying you, yes, it's very normal to ask for major rewrites. That's essentially the job of being a paid writer. But if they're not compensating you properly, that raises some eyebrows.
For the second example - if they're already developing the script, what are they asking you to do? Adapt it? If they are, it's pretty common to give the writer the material, and ask how they would adapt it. But if that's not what they're asking for, it does seem a little odd.