Option contract - final buyout question

[Patton]

Folks - I've posted here a few times over the preceding months - and I won't recount the full details of my bizarre tale. Nevertheless, I'm a first time screenwriter. My first script ended up in the hands of a hollywood star. After several months of waiting, his film company is putting me in touch with their lawyer to do an "option contract." I don't have an agent and (probably stupidly) do not want one at this point. Any advice or guidance anyone could give on option contract prices would be greatly appreciated. Specifically, I know the option payment amount can vary wildly. But with regards to the final buy out amount (which I'm due once filming begins) - is there any industry standard (no matter how vague)? For example, x% of the production value of the film is a fair buy out price for a script. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

[MrJayVee]

I'm assuming this is not a major studio or prodco. But somewhere between 2-5% of the budget is typical. My question is: Are they optioning your script? In other words, will they pay you X amount for a specific period of time?

If you're talking about a substantial amount of money, and if it's for a decent-sized prodco, you'll do yourself a favor by obtaining an entertainment lawyer to look things over and keep you protected. You can contact Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts at www.artswire.org/artlaw/info.html for more info.


Good luck!

[maestrowork]

Consult an entertainmnet lawyer.

[refriedwhiskey]

Yeah. Get a lawyer in on it.

And if you intend to make a career of screenwriting, then you should want an agent. And a lawyer. And maybe a manager.

If the star is big enough, this could be your opportunity to get an agent. You could call around and say Mr. X wants to option your script, and you'd like to have an agent handle the negotiations and fine print.

[EggMcGuffin]

you should get yourself an entertainment atty and then have him do the contract for you then refer you to an agent.

[Patton]

With regards to using an entertainment lawyer to negotiate the deal - does anyone know if it's industry standard (or perhaps at least acceptable) to have the attorney be paid on a contingency fee (% of the deal) rather than at an hourly rate? As a lawyer myself (practicing in a wholly different area), I know how quickly hourly fees can run up and would prefer to pay based on the value of the deal. On the other hand, I don't know if that's generally done in the movie biz.

With regards to getting an agent, the star is one that we all know very well. I suspect using his name could get me at least through some agents' front doors, but I'm not sure when to play that card. I don't have a follow-up script yet, so I don't have anything to advance as the next project I'd like to sell. I'm not sure if this is truly a dilemma or not. Thanks.