Option contract - final buyout question

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.

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!

Consult an entertainmnet lawyer.

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.

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

Thanks for all the advice - a follow-up question

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.