Optioning Your Script: Someone Wants To Make Your Movie
Screenplay option agreements are both exciting and sometimes puzzling milestones in a new screenwriter’s career. The initial excitement of acceptance (instead of rejection) brings a flush of positive emotion. But the dense legal jargon in the contract is like a cold shower, that brings things back to reality.
Option agreements are basically like car rentals, with an option to buy. The producer gets the exclusive right to try and make your script into a movie, often for one year, sometimes six months, sometimes eighteen months.
Where many writers may understandably feel pleased, offended, or baffled is when the option agreement gets to the money portion. Here is where it’s vital to realistically assess where the optioning party stands in the business.
Are you optioning your script to someone with no produced credits? If so, you should probably reconsider, unless the terms are great. In most cases for newer writers, the first option agreement is probably going to be with a smaller producer who has a handful of produced credits.
Where writers can sometimes run into trouble is expecting the world on that first option agreement. This is it, you’ve made it, a real producer wants to option your script. Time to rake in the cash, right?
Realistically, it’s not. Option agreements typically come with limited upfront money, and often for smaller independent films even the purchase price for the screenplay (the amount the writer gets in the event the film gets made) is small.
The vital cost-benefit analysis screenwriters must make when they get to option agreements are questions of relative scale. Is this a producer in a good position to make the film? Is this script commercial enough that there may be other, better, buyers? If produced, what’s a realistic budget for this film? How does my fee compare to that budget?
Understanding the approximate scope of the most likely final product can help set appropriate expectations. If the script can’t be made for less than twenty million dollars, the purchase price should be significant (comfortably well into six figures, no matter what).
But if all the producer’s credits are in the two or three million range, and the script is for a low budget genre film, the purchase price is going to reflect that. Understanding the budget of your script, and the relative place it falls into in the market (and within the producer’s oeuvre) can be a great way to demystify option agreements.
Have you ever optioned a script? If so, did the financials meet your expectations? Please tell us about the experience in a comment below. Thanks.
Leandrew Baillum
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Leandrew Baillum
Hey there, it’s me, Leandrew Baillum, and I’m thrilled to tell you all about my latest screenplay, A New Phenomenon: The Worldwide Swap & Trade the Gift Challenge! This screenplay is going to take you on a wild ride, exploring the world’s first massive social network phenomenon that has completely taken over the gaming industry.
Imagine a world where everyone is obsessed with the next group of winners, who are set to become instant millionaires. This social media game challenge guarantees to change the lives of ten lucky winners every year with life-changing gift giveaways that will sweep the world. And guess what? The whole thing is going to be televised, so you don’t want to miss out!
My screenplay is all about the rags-to-riches story, with a fresh and exciting twist that’s sure to captivate audiences of all ages and backgrounds. I’ve crafted mythical, realistic, relatable characters that you’re going to fall in love with as they navigate their newfound wealth and take on new challenges.
I’m confident that A New Phenomenon: The Worldwide Swap & Trade the Gift Challenge has what it takes to be a box office hit, and I’m excited to partner with you to bring this exciting new project to life on the big screen. So what do you say? Let’s make this happen!
Reach me at; lbaillum@yahoo.com or text me at 2679054791