What is a....

The stuff that a writer's dreams are made of, Enigma! During an auction of a writer's work, when bidding is hot amongst multiple publishers/studios, one publisher/studio will take a deep breath and offer a phenomenal amount of up-front cash to effectively end the auction. It goes something like this:

Studio #1 -- I'll bid $50,000, paid in thirds, plus you keep print rights.
Studio #2 -- I'll bid $55,000, paid in half, plus you keep print AND get to approve the director.
Studio #3 -- I'll bid $60,000, paid up front, but that's for everything.
Studio #1 -- Okay, I'll go with $60,000, paid in thirds plus what #2 said.
Studio #3 -- Y'know what? I'm tired of playing games. I'll bid $250,000 up front, plus a $50,000 bonus if it gets nominated for an award.
Studio #1 -- Pfft! I'm out.
Studio #2 -- Yikes! Too rich for my blood.

Publisher #3 has accomplished a pre-empted purchase. Make sense?

Auction?...hmmmm...interesting. How does this "auction" you speak of come about?

Huh! I'd had this vague idea it was the purchase of an unfinished script, or of a novel for later use as a script.

A bidding war is as Cathy describes, but I thought a pre-emptive purchase is when, say, an agent convinces a studio this is a hot script, and they offer the $250,000 (and it's accepted) before anyone else has a chance to bid for it.

-Derek
My wittle web page - hack stories, failed novels, dud screenplays, terminal writer's block.
The fool, the meddling idiot. As though his ape's brain could contain the secrets of the Krell.

Oh, that scenario is absolutely possible, dpaterso. However, most of the agents I've met tell more than ONE studio about the property to try to get them hot for it. The better the spin, the more studios interested and, hence, a bidding war. At least in books, a pre-empt is more the result of multiple interest than single interest. But I don't follow scripts as closely as books. I only note the ones that pop up on Publisher's Marketplace as "selling at auction by XXX agent, in a pre-empt to XXX."