Is it OK for a movie producer to see my unpublished book?

I appologize for the long set up, but here are the details:

Years ago I was in a hostage situation that ended violently.

Even though this happened quite a few years ago, I got a call a few months ago from a Hollywood producer who intends to make a feature film about the incident. He interviewed me - I signed a release, but had a lawyer go over it and make sure that I kept all rights to my story, even though it allowed him to use material from the interview in the screenplay he was writting.

Anyway, I thought with the possible movie in the works, now would be a good time to get my own book of this story finished. I've writen the book, frankly with some help from him along the way (he's studied the incident extensively and I think he knows more about it than I do).

His screenplay is finished and it looks like it might start filming soon. My book is finished - I've sent queries to agents and gotten back mostly "Sorry, not interested"s, with one agent asking for a proposal.

The producer and I have e-mailed back and forth several times since the first interview, in a recent e-mail, he mentioned that he would be happy to read my book if I wanted him to. He added that he doesn't know much about the literary world (he's been in film for years - I IMDB'd him), but he'd ask around if he could help.

so my questions is: Am I going to run into any problems if I send my book to this guy? He's very likable and seems trustworthy - but I don't want to do anything stupid and later have an agent go "You did WHAT?"

I don't have an agent yet for this book, but one agent asked for a proposal and then followed it up by asking for revisions to the proposal. So I e-mailed him and asked if it was an issue. He replied that it wasn't an issue and might even help.

As to why I would send to this guy - during the writing of the book, he and I exchanged frequent e-mails. I answered questions for him that helped with his screenplay and he sent me some useful information that was instrumental in writing the book. He seems genuinely interested both in seeing the book and helping if he can.

So I went ahead and sent it to him. If it's a dumb thing, it's already done. If I live to regret it, I'll let everyone know.

I agree with everyone's concerns. I had them myself or I wouldn't have posted the question.

I guess what prompted me to even consider sending him the book was that he and I have become quite friendly since the initial interview and he (as I said) seemed genuinely interested in helping me.

I'm naive, but I'm also aware that I may be completely wrong about him and it would probably be better to be cautious. But since the agent who currently has my proposal (a pretty reputable agent with a good agency) seemed to think their was little chance for harm, I've jumped off the cliff already. Let's hope there's water below.

IceCreamEmpress said:

Have you mentioned in the query that a movie based on these real-life events is in production? Because that would make the draw of your book stronger.

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I certainly would've thought it would make the appeal stronger and so I did mention that fact. But my ratio of "No thanks" to nibbles is about 100 to 1 right now.

As far as the producer guy buying an option: Even though I was there, I think he knows more about this case than I do by far. He's actually been very generous with providing me materials. He's already interviewed everyone involved and has blueprints of the building, police reports, etc.

Wow, I didn't realize anyone was still commenting on this thread.

Since the agent who had expressed interest in the book said that it wouldn't hurt anything and might even help, I did sent the book to the movie producer to read. Now, I really don't have any prominent place in his movie. I was just one of the people there, he interviewed me as research for the film and that is as far as it goes.

Now, I completely realize that Hollywood people can be very good and appearing trustworthy and then turn out not to be so. So far, I still feel okay.
He read the book, complimented it and essentially critiqued it. there were a couple of points that I got wrong, based on inaccurate newspaper accounts, which he corrected. He also offered a couple of suggestions on expanding the story.

Shortly after, the agent who had initially expressed interest in the book called me, primarily to ascertain just what my legal rights were and were not. They wanted me to fax them the release form which I signed for my interview. I passed some of their questions to Mr. Producer, who answered them and offered to talk to them if they had any other questions or doubts.

And that's where we're at now. I'm now just playing the waiting game with the agent (familiar story).