What should you pay for when trying to develop your script?

I had some correspondence with yet another person that indicated they wanted some help developing a film. This individual was a writer and had asked how much “it” would cost. When I inquired as to if he meant the whole project or my fee to develop, he indicated that he would never pay any upfront money to someone to develop his script.

I have to admit that I was very disappointed in myself for not responding to this person, so I decided to do it this way and instruct and hopefully inspire.

Dear _______

I found this old e-mail as I was doing some cleaning in my inbox. It would seem I failed to respond to your last e-mail. This could be due to your comment about upfront money.

As it is in your best interest to learn the business, I thought I’d take a moment and explain why I did not respond.

There are so many people trying to break into all areas of the entertainment business and after doing this for more than 20 years, I suppose I should be less surprised when I see comments like “as long as you’re not talking about ‘up front money’ I’m listening…”

I will admit that the industry is filled with fly-by-nighters and scam artists. Possibly this is the reason people continue to say, “never give anyone any money.” I have to laugh when I hear this because it’s just simply wrong. (for the most part)

Granted there are things that you should never pay for, but packaging and development are not one of them. I’m not at all saying you should use your own money, but the fact that a producer already passed on your script leads me to believe that it may need work. A polish at the very least or possibly it was just not their kind of film.

So if you are in a position that has you continuing to write and any or all of the following is not happening:

1. Your script(s) are not being produced
2. They are not being optioned
3. You do not have representation from a literary agent
4. You pretty much have little or no heat on any of your work

…then it is time to look at different options. Please note: I do not mean any disrespect here, nor am I inferring that this is the case with you, specifically. It is however, the case with most screenwriters and as soon as a producer insinuates they will need a fee to develop a script, then all sorts of red flags go up.

Those of us who work in the industry know these facts. Those facts are much different than you will get in (his home town) or anywhere outside the inner circle of the entertainment world. (I do not mean geographically…________ is a fine city)

What I mean is the old theory of “Hide the Gold.” If you were a prospector in the days of the gold rush and you found a vein of gold in the hills, would you run down the mountain telling everyone you came into contact with? Definitely not. You’d keep that secret for your closest of family and friends. Then you’d get back up there and dig the gold out on your own or with a few other hands to help you.

The entertainment industry is very much the same. Of course you’re going to hear “never pay anyone any upfront money” because this is what those inside the circle want you to continue to believe.

What I will tell you is this: How would you expect to get anything done if this was how traditional business was transacted? Have you ever built a house? Typically there are three draws from your bank and the contractor gets (at least) enough money to buy the materials. Then as the work progresses, the contractor continues to get paid. He has employees to pay and various expenses required to build your house, so he’s entitled to a paycheck, right?

Maybe you’ve hired a handyman. Well once you’ve agreed on his or her price, the handyman works for a few days (or one day) and gets paid after a certain amount of work.

I’m sure you’ve had your car worked on. Same thing. The difference in the entertainment industry is simply that so many people have been scammed and nothing was done. What you should do is check out to whom your considering paying. (same with a doctor, handyman or potential film producer) See what their track record is, how many films they’ve produced, etc. I would suggest you do this before you indicate that you’re not going to pay for a particular service, your money or not.

I’ve digressed quite a bit here. Possibly your comment was simply due to the fact that you don’t have the seed capital films require to develop. Let me clarify…every potentially successful film. The way the business works is like this:

If you don’t sell or option your script to a producer or company, an individual or team is hired to develop the project. This person or team could do any or all of the following:

Obtain or do the coverage on the script.
Help with re-writes and/or give notes.
Begin negotiations with talent (on both sides of the camera and above and below-the-line)
-what I do is strictly above-the-line. I find the recognizable talent on both sides of the camera, even though some of the talent might be below-the-line.
Create or adjust budgets.
Create business and marketing plans.
Procure preliminary distribution deals.

…and then some producers remain on to “physically” get the movie made.

These are all things that I do. So would you believe that I or any other producer would provide any of these services for free? There’s a reason its called show business and quite frankly, this is the main thing most of those inside the “circle” do not want you to know. Its not at all easy. If it was, everyone would do it.

So I do not mean to be snide here, but I would make a heavy wager that most of the things you’ve learned in (his home town) about the film and entertainment industry are not all that accurate. Again, I mean no offense to anyone in any category. It’s simply that this is how the industry is programmed and this is what “they” want you to know.

One last thing. Seed capital is the second most important element to making a real movie. The first is proper packaging. Unfortunately, you don’t get the second without the first. It doesn’t have to be your money but if a person or company is not paying you for your scripts and you want to get them made, one of three things will happen:

1. You hire someone to develop your project and eventually make the film.
2. You wait and find someone to do it for free and you’ll end up with the equivalent of 95% of all movies that get started. That is a final product that is not going to get sold or distributed and nobody will see it. (this is a fact by the way) Most films that get made never see the light of the projector or the laser of the disk player. (and this is considering the film even gets finished)
3. You’ll continue to write scripts that will collect dust on a shelf or a hard drive.

Its really up to you how you wish to proceed. I am in no way trying to get you to hire me or anyone else. Its just that I believe in my heart that someone needs to stand up and tell people how it really works.

Here’s a little challenge:
Ask around to everyone you believe is “in” the industry and see if what I’ve written to you is even remotely what they talk about. Then decipher if any of those folks have ever written a script that was made into a film, (and was it distributed) or produced or directed a film of any financial viability for the marketplace. I promise you that anyone that has made a film that’s done anything will either agree with me or they won’t tell you anything.
(hiding the gold, remember?)

So if you choose to respond to me, I will be very happy to continue our correspondence and help you in any way I can. I will however, understand if you choose to take offense to what I’ve take quite a bit of time to write. This is the way of the business. People get offended, so I understand.  Good luck with your project!  -RH