A prodco replied to my query with a phone number

Plot Device · Jan 29, 2008

I'm so used to an e-mail reply of: "Here, sign the release form and then send us the script and allow us 6-8 weeks to get back to you."

But as for THIS particular company ...

Their e-mail reply had NO release form and included a phone number and the request that I call them at my earliest possible convenience.

Huh???? :Huh:

RainbowDragon · Jan 29, 2008

Maybe they liked your synopsis and want to talk about developing another project? If they're a legit company and they're not on the WGA strike list, why not call and see what they want to talk about?

Plot Device · Jan 29, 2008

RainbowDragon said:
Maybe they liked your synopsis and want to talk about developing another project? If they're a legit company and they're not on the WGA strike list, why not call and see what they want to talk about?

That's actually a pretty valid theory--phone calls leave no paper trails. So I checked the WGA STRUCK COMPANIES list just now:

http://www.wga.org/subpage_member.aspx?id=2537

and they ain't on it. So that eliminates THAT possibility.

Okay, NEXT possibility: you think maybe they want to give me a writing assignment??? But they've never seen my writing samples. (And my query wasn't exactly Shakespeare!

)

My concern is that if they don't have me sign a release, then neither side of the table has any protection. So I'm kinda hesitent.

Plot Device · Jan 29, 2008

NEWS FLASH!!!

I haven't called this prodco yet because I'm waiting for my screenwriting mentor from Los Angeles to call me back with his thoughts on all this.

BUT ... I have been clicking around on the web site of this prodco. One of the pages is about their "workshop program." It's a series of classes (yes--they cost money!) to help aspiring screenwriters "improve their craft."

*sniff sniff*

Anyone else smell that???

:gone:

nmstevens · Jan 29, 2008

Plot Device said:
That's actually a pretty valid theory--phone calls leave no paper trails. So I checked the WGA STRUCK COMPANIES list just now:

http://www.wga.org/subpage_member.aspx?id=2537

and they ain't on it. So that eliminates THAT possibility.

Okay, NEXT possibility: you think maybe they want to give me a writing assignment??? But they've never seen my writing samples. (And my query wasn't exactly Shakespeare! )

My concern is that if they don't have me sign a release, then neither side of the table has any protection. So I'm kinda hesitent.

This is one of the great fantasies -- that a release form somehow protects you.

Protects you how? A prodco makes you sign a release form to release *them* from the possibility of being sued by *you.* All they agree to is to read your work. They don't concede anything. They don't offer you or script any particular protection.

And it's not like a contract in which both sides hold a copy. There is only one original and they hold it. Even if you make a copy -- thinking that that would have some legal weight as proof of submission -- it's just a copy, and if the original, which they hold, somehow vanishes -- of what legal use would the copy be?

The thing sounds a little bit odd to me. I've never heard of such a thing. But then again, I've never heard of any scam that involved having you call either.

I suppose you can use a reverse directory to find out just who you're calling, before you do, if you're worried about it.

Obviously, they already have your address, so it's not as if you're exposing yourself to them by giving them access to your phone number by calling them.

So you have two choices -- you can call them and if, in the course of the conversation anything comes up that involves you giving them money, or of them "managing you" and recommending you or your script to an editing or rewriting service to get it just right for submission -- say "no thanks" and hang up.

Any deal that involves their managing you or being an agent or any other deal that might involve you contributing any money of any kind or paying any fees to anybody -- the answer should be the same. No, thanks.

Listen to what they have to say. If the words Xanu, the Reverend Moon, or our Lord Satan come up, you might consider exercising a certain amount of caution. Other than that, proceed accordingly.

Or you can just forget about it.

As I've said, it's a bit odd.

NMS

Plot Device · Jan 29, 2008

Hey, NMS, I just sent you a rep point with the NAME of the company in the rep point and their URL. Can you do me a huge favor and get a look at their web site?

What do you think?

LIVIN · Jan 29, 2008

Here's what you do:

Record the entire conversation. Maybe even film it also.

When you eventually go to meet them, wear a wire. Also, bring along a hidden camera.

Record, tape, film the entire situation. Then, when you get abducted while trying to sell a script, you'll have a real life documentary of the entire event.

I'm thinking something along the lines of "Adaptation."

Plot Device · Jan 29, 2008

LIVIN said:
Here's what you do:

Record the entire conversation. Maybe even film it also.

When you eventually go to meet them, wear a wire. Also, bring along a hidden camera.

Record, tape, film the entire situation. Then, when you get abducted while trying to sell a script, you'll have a real life documentary of the entire event.

I'm thinking something along the lines of "Adaptation."

I'm thinking of calling the phone number for the heck of it. And I suspect I'll either get an answering machine, or else a live person who will try to sign me up for classes.

That's MY bet.

But for now I'm waiting for my mentor to call me back.

preyer · Jan 29, 2008

oh, lord have mercy, here we go with the satan bashing again.... how do you think most of us are going to be successful screenwriters if we keep dragging his name through the mud?! hard work, creativity, determination? jeez, that would take, like, months!

btw, i held a contest a few minutes ago, and guess what?! YOU ALL WON!!! YAY!!!! just send me your home address and i'll rush you a plaque (hey, i *do* own a trophy shop, you know) proving your awesomeness. (plaque prices start at $11.50. get yours today!)

MrJayVee · Jan 29, 2008

Scam...?

Scam. Or they're just trying to get you to spend money on their services. 99.97% guaranteed. But call them -- from a phone with a blocked number -- and see what they have to say. It can't hurt. Unless you let it. Good luck.

nmstevens · Jan 29, 2008

Plot Device said:
Hey, NMS, I just sent you a rep point with the NAME of the company in the rep point and their URL. Can you do me a huge favor and get a look at their web site?

What do you think?

Great. Um -- what's a rep point?

NMS

Plot Device · Jan 29, 2008

nmstevens said:
Great. Um -- what's a rep point?

NMS

A rep point is a "reputation point."

I have given you easilly five rep points since I have been here at AW. (I currently have something like 320 rep points myself from the kind people here at AW.) If somebody LIKES the post you made just now, they can CLICK into the tiny little icon of the "scales of justice" found in the lower left colum of your post, and via those "scales of justice" they can give you a "point," and there's an additional field where they can write a customized comment. They can make the point "positive" or "negative" (I have given only one negatove rep point ever to anyoe here at AW, I believe).

The way to check and see how many rep points you have accumulated --and how to READ THE COMENTS in those rep points-- is to click into your "User CP" (that's "user control panel") and your rep points are listed from top to bottom, from the most recent down to the oldest.

I gave you a "rep pont" (a positive one) that included the URL of the prodco.

nmstevens · Jan 29, 2008

Plot Device said:
A rep point is a "reputation point." I have given you easilly five rep points since I have been here at AW. (I currently have something like 320 rep points myself from the kind people here at AW.) If somebody LIKES the post you made just now, they can CLICK into the tiny little icon of the "scales of justice" found in the lower left colum of your post, and via those "scales of justice" they can give you a "point," and there's an additional field where they can write a customized comment. They can make the point "positive" or "negative" (I have given only one negatove rep point ever to anyoe here at AW, I believe).

The way to check and see how many rep points you have accumulated --and how to READ THE COMENTS in those rep points-- is to click into your "User CP" (that's "user control panel") and your rep points are listed from top to bottom, from the most recent down to the oldest.

I gave you a "rep pont" (a positive one) that included the URL of the prodco.

Well, who knew? I got to look at some nice things that people had to say about me.

Anyway -- I looked at the website and checked out the company at IMBdPro -- and it looks like one of those really small marginal companies with a handful of credits that hangs on around the edges of the business. It also seems to have some sort of vague managerial aspect to it, repping a couple of guys in the movie music business.

There doesn't seem to be anything particularly sinister about them -- nor anything in particular to write home about them. They're probably just another little company on the edge with a couple movies under their belt, looking for stuff.

Why they want to talk to you rather than doing it some other way? I have no idea -- but it doesn't, on the surface, seem to be a marketing scam (which is not to say that, given that they're producers, that they might not, in some fashion, try to scam you).

At the very least, they seem to have real credits, albeit only a handful.

NMS

Plot Device · Jan 29, 2008

nmstevens said:
Well, who knew? I got to look at some nice things that people had to say about me.

Anyway -- I looked at the website and checked out the company at IMBdPro -- and it looks like one of those really small marginal companies with a handful of credits that hangs on around the edges of the business. It also seems to have some sort of vague managerial aspect to it, repping a couple of guys in the movie music business.

There doesn't seem to be anything particularly sinister about them -- nor anything in particular to write home about them. They're probably just another little company on the edge with a couple movies under their belt, looking for stuff.

Why they want to talk to you rather than doing it some other way? I have no idea -- but it doesn't, on the surface, seem to be a marketing scam (which is not to say that, given that they're producers, that they might not, in some fashion, try to scam you).

At the very least, they seem to have real credits, albeit only a handful.

NMS

Thanks, NMS!

(And you deserve every last rep point you got! I'm sure!)

Meanwhile, I found these guys via a Craigslist ad.

The guy who sent me the e-mail today is the guy whose name appears SECOND on the web page that lists everyone's names at the company. He's an actor with some legitimate acting credits including several long-running TV shows. His e-mail to me today went like this:

SUBJECT: Craigslist Submission

Dear [Plot Device],

Thank you for your submission to [Company]. Please call the office at your convenience. Info listed below.

Sincerely,

[Actor from several Prime Time TV shows]

Sr. V.P. of Creative Affairs and New Works
[Company]
Street
Santa Monica
web
e-mail
phone
fax

Very bland and generic. They crank these out all day long I'll bet!!! And the subject heading of the e-e ail is NOT my original subject heading where I cited my query. The subject heading is all generic.

So they may not even have read my query, just harvested my e-mail address and my first name and plugged it into this canned e-mail.

Note also the lack of any reference to my script (or interest in my script). They just want me to call. So I fear they want to suck me into their "workshops" is all.

icerose · Jan 30, 2008

Well worst case senario they want you to enroll and you hang up.

Plot Device · Jan 30, 2008

icerose said:
Well worst case senario they want you to enroll and you hang up.

At this point, that exactly how I see it.

Meanwhile, my mentor got back to me last night and said the same thing you did, AND he added that I was the second student of his this week to call him to report they were given a phone number by this exact same prodco.

Ron Maiden · Jan 30, 2008

if they were that interested, is there any reason why they didn't try calling you first? (or did they and you were out, perhaps?)

one thing about "call us" mails i don't trust is that it might be one of those scams that bounces you through to a high-rate line that bills you at £5 a minute or something.

Plot Device · Jan 30, 2008

Ron Maiden said:
if they were that interested, is there any reason why they didn't try calling you first? (or did they and you were out, perhaps?)

one thing about "call us" mails i don't trust is that it might be one of those scams that bounces you through to a high-rate line that bills you at £5 a minute or something.

My query had no phone number in it.

nmstevens · Jan 30, 2008

Plot Device said:
My query had no phone number in it.

This honestly doesn't even seem worth the price of a phone call. Pretty much if anyone was really interested, somewhere along the line the words, "We've read your query (name of script) and we're really interested in it" would have popped up somewhere.

Basically, if all you've sent them was a query, there isn't much to talk about beyond -- send the script or "no thanks."

And that's not really worth a phone call.

NMS

Plot Device · Jan 30, 2008

nmstevens said:
This honestly doesn't even seem worth the price of a phone call. Pretty much if anyone was really interested, somewhere along the line the words, "We've read your query (name of script) and we're really interested in it" would have popped up somewhere.

Basically, if all you've sent them was a query, there isn't much to talk about beyond -- send the script or "no thanks."

And that's not really worth a phone call.

NMS

I agree.

But then I have free long distance, so it won't cost anything. But I am growing less and less patient with/forgiving of/indiffernt toward this whole thing, and I now see it all as nothing but an insulting bait-n-switch.

What (you may ask) was the bait???

They put an ad in Craigslist last week looking for scripts (and, of course, the Craiglslist ad keeps their company's name anonymous). So I answered. And THIS is the e-mail I got back. I am utterly convinced that they do NOT want my script, they merely want my tuition fees for their writing classes.

Here's what their web page says their classes have to offer:

Writers will be coached through the process of developing a script from initial concept to a completed first draft and receive and expansive and comprehensive re-write plan for the next draft.

Sounds to me like exactly the same process as what is done in a typical round of development with a studio. The only difference being instead of their paying me an option, I get to pay them for the priviledge of having them tell me what to do.

Writers learn how to effectively integrate their idea into a seamless story assimilating theme and plot expressed through a series of entertaining scenes. We will address all necessary elements required for a great screenplay and guide writers through a step-by-step process in order to build a viable project for the industry.

More of the same: I'm suposed to pay them to have them preside over the development of my script. (Maybe I should pay my current employer for the priviledge to come to work every day. And maybe my pharmacist should pay me for the priviledge of filling my prescriptions.)

All scripts will be eligible for further development with [Company] upon completion of a second draft.

Which means all scriptwriters must take and thus pay for X-number of classes that these con artists deem necessary before a "second draft" is indeed completed. And only THEN are they willing to MAYBE enter into an option with me.

At this point I am growing so annoyed with it all that I want to go ahead and call just to find out what they are charging so I can report back to you guys exactly how much they want to milk me for.

preyer · Jan 30, 2008

why are you hiding their identity, plot?

Plot Device · Jan 30, 2008

preyer said:
why are you hiding their identity, plot?

As a professional courtesy. Do they deserve the courtesy?? Probably not. But I will do so all the same.

icerose · Jan 30, 2008

If they do turn out merely wanted you to enroll in classes as you suspect, please file them in the bewares background check section of the board as all writers should have the right to search their name and find out exactly what they're about instead of wasting their time or worse their money.

Plot Device · Jan 30, 2008

icerose said:
If they do turn out merely wanted you to enroll in classes as you suspect, please file them in the bewares background check section of the board as all writers should have the right to search their name and find out exactly what they're about instead of wasting their time or worse their money.

Good point. So I guess perhaps it's my duty to call.

Okee Doke, Rose, you convinced me.

I'll be back in a bit. I gotta make a phone call

RainbowDragon · Jan 30, 2008

If you call and find out it is in fact a bait-n-switch, you can report them to Craigslist and hopefully they'll be flagged. Then if you see them posting again you can report it again without having to bother to query and call again

A prodco replied to my query with a phone number

A woman said to write like a man.

Perpetuous Revisasaurus

A woman said to write like a man.

A woman said to write like a man.

What happened?

A woman said to write like a man.

A woman said to write like a man.

excessively spartan

Pro scribe

What happened?

A woman said to write like a man.

What happened?

A woman said to write like a man.

Lost in School Work

A woman said to write like a man.

A woman said to write like a man.

What happened?

A woman said to write like a man.

excessively spartan

A woman said to write like a man.

Lost in School Work

A woman said to write like a man.

Perpetuous Revisasaurus