While the usual vehicle for controlling the rights of history is the option agreement, a trend among manufacturers is to use a new legal vehicle to freeze a writer`s creative rights. Type the scene correctly — the purchase agreement. Because producers and production companies “borrow” your script instead of buying it, they will always try to access your work. These people offer you either a very small down payment or a share of turnover. A share of revenue is a percentage of future money (provided the whole project advances), which means you have all the rights to your script for free with the hope of staying something… Many screenwriters are in endless loop to rewrite their scripts a second or third time to satisfy the interests of production companies and producers. In addition to all these free letters, if the writer had not complied, he would have been obliged to repay the initial down payment of the party option plus damages! The rights holder is also entitled to a percentage of the film`s net profit. This varies from deal to deal and can be used as a bargaining point. You can negotiate a lower option fee if you offer them a higher net shareholding. In short, if no film is adapted by your screenplay, you will receive the rights back… But you may have no idea of their true value after your work has been exploited by a third party. If no film adapted by your script is produced during the duration of your option contract, the contract expires and the rights will be returned to you.

This is the real selling point that most producers and production companies use to reject an “option” on you rather than on a purchase. You also need to remember the secondary rights that we talked about earlier. If you create a spin-off of your project, the author also wants a share of these gains. The net participation of these ancillary projects is generally less than the net share of the original`s profits. It is essential to agree on this point at the beginning. The same applies to all other secondary rights that you acquire, as most authors will insist that they participate in all related projects. As a producer, you spend a lot of time negotiating options for a book or script. The option agreement is often one of the first agreements signed when you start developing a movie or series. So it`s really important to do it right. Many authors dream that one day their story or screenplay will arouse the interest of someone who wants to turn it into a film or television project.

In general, the first step is when someone, perhaps a producer or a production company or even a studio, offers the author a contract known as an option contract. As with all these issues where art meets trade, I always advise you that when you are asked to sign something, except an autograph, you should have your lawyer checked first. Every writer should have a literary agent and a lawyer to advise him on his business relationships as soon as he enters this phase of the process, where the creative is spreading in the business world. If your option contract expires and no film is produced from your work, you should always ensure that all these continuation, prequel and Nearquel rights are restored before reapplying your returned script. There has already been a time when the original property has returned to a writer, but the sequel, Prequel and Nearquel rights remain at a production company. The idea of an option agreement seems great. This is a small risky opportunity where well-connected professionals come on the pitch and promote your scenario and deal with all the intimidating things.