Film Rights: How Much Leverage Do I Really Have?

[Audie80]

I am a debut author, and my manuscript has just received an offer from a highly regarded independent press with multiple Pulitzer Prize–winning authors and a strong track record of bringing its books to the screen. This is my first offer, and I’m still waiting to hear back from a couple of other publishing houses, though it’s unclear whether they’ll respond with counteroffers—or at all. The offer currently on the table seeks 50% of my film rights and asserts a strong intention to pursue a screen adaptation. Bringing this story to film is ultimately my goal as well, and at the moment I don’t have other offers actively competing. My agent and I absolutely plan to counter (aggressively), but in the meantime, I'd love to know if anyone else has had a similar experience and how it played out. I believe that my novel is less likely to get lost in the crowd with this particular publisher, and there's a lot to like about their process, but that 50% request is obviously not sitting well with me—I really don't like that at all.

 

[Putputt]

I see that this question was posted two weeks ago, so I hope I'm not too late...but my advice would be to get a film agent. Film and literary rights are very, very different. My literary agent is wonderful and so incredibly smart and I trust her 100% with my writing career, but even she admits she doesn't know much when it comes to film rights, so she's handed that side over to a film agent. Now, both my lit agent and I stand aside and watch in awe at how my film agent negotiates for my film rights.

So I hope this isn't too late and that you still have time to look for a film agent!

And of course, a huge congratulations on the book offer!!

 

[Janine R]

Congratulations on finding an agent and now a publishing offer!

 

[Brigid Barry]

I see that this question was posted two weeks ago, so I hope I'm not too late...but my advice would be to get a film agent. Film and literary rights are very, very different. My literary agent is wonderful and so incredibly smart and I trust her 100% with my writing career, but even she admits she doesn't know much when it comes to film rights, so she's handed that side over to a film agent. Now, both my lit agent and I stand aside and watch in awe at how my film agent negotiates for my film rights.

So I hope this isn't too late and that you still have time to look for a film agent!

And of course, a huge congratulations on the book offer!!

I would love to know how one goes about this.

 

[Audie80]

I see that this question was posted two weeks ago, so I hope I'm not too late...but my advice would be to get a film agent. Film and literary rights are very, very different. My literary agent is wonderful and so incredibly smart and I trust her 100% with my writing career, but even she admits she doesn't know much when it comes to film rights, so she's handed that side over to a film agent. Now, both my lit agent and I stand aside and watch in awe at how my film agent negotiates for my film rights.

So I hope this isn't too late and that you still have time to look for a film agent!

And of course, a huge congratulations on the book offer!!

Thank you for this thoughtful answer! Actually, it's not too late at all—we're still hammering out the details. I know what it takes to find a great literary agent, but I'm curious about the process of finding a film agent. Would you mind sharing some insight into that? Is your film agent someone your lit. agent already knew and connected you with?

 

[Putputt]

Yes, it comes down to your lit agent and her contacts in the film industry, which works in...really weird and mysterious ways. How I met mine was my lit agent submitted my MS to a list of editors, and somehow it was picked up by these magical entities called literary scouts. Literary scouts read a gazillion MSs--nobody knows how they get material, but presumably it's from their contacts within the publishing industry--and they nudge producers and film agents and studios when they find something worthwhile.

These scouts got the word out about my MS and my literary agent was contacted by several film agents, all of whom, to her immense shock, had somehow gotten hold of the MS and read it. We were rly shocked because at the time, we were on submissions to publishers, so the MS is unpublished and didn't even have a home yet. Also...I'm pretty sure it's not 100% legit to be sharing MSs outside of your publishing house, hence the fierceness with which literary scouts protect their sources. To this day, we do not know who in publishing leaked the MS, but we're definitely not complaining.

We then had phone calls with the offering film agents and I picked the one I liked best and--this is important--the contract regarding the commission is signed between your lit agent and your film agent. Not you and your film agent. The film agent and lit agent need to come to an agreement separately about their commission split. You do NOT pay your film agent an extra 15% if you sell your film rights; the film agent's cut comes from the lit agent's cut.

So for example, if your option sells for 100K, your cut (before taxes) is 85K and your film agent and lit agent split the 15K commission according to their own private agreement.

So definitely ask your lit agent if they have any contacts within the film industry who can help with your negotiations!

 

[Audie80]

Yes, it comes down to your lit agent and her contacts in the film industry, which works in...really weird and mysterious ways. How I met mine was my lit agent submitted my MS to a list of editors, and somehow it was picked up by these magical entities called literary scouts. Literary scouts read a gazillion MSs--nobody knows how they get material, but presumably it's from their contacts within the publishing industry--and they nudge producers and film agents and studios when they find something worthwhile.

These scouts got the word out about my MS and my literary agent was contacted by several film agents, all of whom, to her immense shock, had somehow gotten hold of the MS and read it. We were rly shocked because at the time, we were on submissions to publishers, so the MS is unpublished and didn't even have a home yet. Also...I'm pretty sure it's not 100% legit to be sharing MSs outside of your publishing house, hence the fierceness with which literary scouts protect their sources. To this day, we do not know who in publishing leaked the MS, but we're definitely not complaining.

We then had phone calls with the offering film agents and I picked the one I liked best and--this is important--the contract regarding the commission is signed between your lit agent and your film agent. Not you and your film agent. The film agent and lit agent need to come to an agreement separately about their commission split. You do NOT pay your film agent an extra 15% if you sell your film rights; the film agent's cut comes from the lit agent's cut.

So for example, if your option sells for 100K, your cut (before taxes) is 85K and your film agent and lit agent split the 15K commission according to their own private agreement.

So definitely ask your lit agent if they have any contacts within the film industry who can help with your negotiations!

Oh interesting! This is all really useful. When I wrote my original post my manuscript had just received an offer from a well-known publisher, but they wanted an unusually large chunk of film rights—their primary interest was getting the manuscript to screen. We were pushing back on that, when a better offer came through from a better-fit publisher. We ended up going with the 2nd offers, and we now have control of the film rights, which is a huge relief. My agent and I will go back into the trenches together again to try to get it to screen, so, this is all good to know. Thank you for telling me about your experience (and congratulations)! According to Jordon Moblo at Universal Studio Group (jordys.book.club), market trends indicate that we're now in the middle of an unprecedented fantastic time to be pitching a manuscript for film.

 

[Putputt]

Ahh that's such wonderful news! Congratulations, and I'm so glad it worked out so well in the end!!

 

[Audie80]

Ahh that's such wonderful news! Congratulations, and I'm so glad it worked out so well in the end!!

Thank you so much! I'm on cloud nine—it's very surreal to have made it this far!!

 

[Maryn]

Those writers still toiling in the mud like to know some of us eventually see the stars...

 

[Audie80]

Those writers still toiling in the mud like to know some of us eventually see the stars...

Well, we were closing in on our one yr. mark in the query trenches before the offers came in, and I'd become somewhat despondent. It was hard for me to enjoy reading (one of the great loves of my life) because I kept thinking..."why not my book?" I was starting to lay the groundwork for a plan to self-publish—I was determined not to give up under any circumstances. When I think about what brought me to this point, I truly believe it was a mix of factors;

- My agent is amazing. He's a new agent, and I'm one of his inaugural clients. It's clear to me that he's a rising star, and I picked up on that energy when I was in the process of selecting agents. I trusted my gut, and my instincts about him turned out to be very good.
- My novel has a very strong hook. I know because I pitched it to everyone with a pulse while I was working on it. Stranger riding in an elevator with me—I pitched the book. Neighbor walking their dog past my house—I pitched the book. Literally, everyone. I just would not stop talking about it, and because of that, I gathered hundreds of reactions to the hook which were all in the realm of "wow, I want to read that!" By the time I was querying agents, I was very confident that I had something special to sell. My agent's energy for my book matched mine equally—I think that was important. The two of us entered the query trenches with a shared belief that we would win. We made it to several editorial boards before we got our offer. He held steady and never got nervous...I started to slip there at the end, and his stoicism helped me. I borrowed some courage from him.
- I asked the Universe every day to hear my wish. I told everyone I knew what my wish was—I wanted to speak it into being. Every day I spent a moment focusing on this wish, and I always had a vision of Bernie Sanders in my head. The one where he's in a parka, and he's walking and talking to the camera about donations. He says, "I am again asking for your support." This is what I visualized every day when I spoke to the Universe. It made me chuckle, and gave me hope. Bernie always makes me feel hopeful.
- I hung out with a coven of witches. I'm not joking about this—I love witches and all things witchy. We performed spells and continued to plea our case for this book to the Universe. I've always unapologetically hoped that magic is real, and now I believe in it just a little bit more, which has been lovely for my psyche. We're living in such dark, shit times right now—if even one tiny corner of my brain can still believe in magic, this is a good thing. With that said, I remember you clearly from my early days in this space, and you're always kind. This community is blessed by your presence. I'm going to focus very hard on that, while channeling visions of Bernie, and send all the good energy and magic I have into the Universe for your wish to come true. As the witches say—so mote it be.

 

[CMBright]

Congrats on the happy outcome. My only thought was that your main leverage (depending on contract, of course) was a willingness to walk away. Which was why I didn't reply until it was over.