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Hello all, and I hope you have a lovely Christmas weekend!
I have a bit of a dilemma. Here it is:
Hoping to get your views on this situation.
Back in April 2021, somebody approached me out of the blue and asked to purchase the option on one of my novels. She said she worked as al lawyer at Paramount Pictures, had contacts in the industry, but no experience in producing. And yes, I did check her out and she is a Paranount lawyer.
She read the book some time ago and would love to see it on screen and be instrumental in doing so. Background: the book was published in 1999 and has already been optioned once, without success, several years ago. The problem being it is very long. I actually wrote a script at the time, which ended up being almost 180 pages long.
So now, this new producer, I'll call her Farrah, said she wants to adapt it for a streaming service like Netflix, which could easily accommodate the length. As I saw no other future for the book I agreed. I asked if she'd let me write the script and she said yes. I agree that it would be great for streaming in about four seasons. I told her that I have some experience in script writing, had written a script for the whole book, and would like to write the pilot and in fact all the episodes. She agreed. I sold the option and also got a contract to write the TV script.
I finished the pilot in about a month. She said she was working on the pitch deck, and would not read my script till she had finished the deck.
Many months passed. Now and then I gave her a nudge, and every time, she said she was still working on the deck. She has no details for me, except that she still has not read my pilot. I assume she still has not read it, almost two years later. I found this very annoying and very strange, as when you've written something, what you want most is feedback from someone who counts. But she refused to read it, and told me to get a professional assessment. This I did. She still did not read it.
The option expires on April 14th 2023. The contract says that she can renew for a further two years! I absolutely do not want to renew. I am hoping against hope that she has given up and simply does not want to let me know.
So, what are your views? Is this normal behaviour, for a producer who has contracted for you to write a pilot, not to even read it? How far along should a producer be by now, considering we are just four months short of the two years for the first option? Surely if she'd made progress, she'd have let me know, and read the pilot by now, and given feedback?
I realise that this is all conjecture, and you guys won't know any more that I do. I just want to know if you also think it is strange. And maybe a bit of sympathy at my frustration! I don't want to nudge her so close to the option's expiry date, as she might just start getting new ideas. However, renewing the option will cost her $1500, whereas the first option was only $500.
It's especially frustrating as a few months ago I was approached by another producer/director, this time someone with bone fides, someone on IMDb with movie credits. He also sees it working best as a series, and when I told him the option had been sold, he said he'd be happy to work with Farrah. But she said no; and still won't tell me how far along she is, and no clue as to when she'll be ready to pitch to Netflix (which is her aim). I can only say, working with her is absolutely awful.
If she were an editor or an agent I'd have cut my losses ages ago, but I guess in scriptwriting I'm just the lowly writer and not worthy of feedback.
Edited to add: no, I don't have an agent. I suggested to her that I look for an agent or manager, and she said she'd only let me send out the script if whoever it was signed an extremely detailed Release Form -- one I just know nobody would ever sign before agreeing to rep me. So I can't even do that. I am a member of WGGB, btw, which entitles me to free membership in WGA West.
I have a bit of a dilemma. Here it is:
Hoping to get your views on this situation.
Back in April 2021, somebody approached me out of the blue and asked to purchase the option on one of my novels. She said she worked as al lawyer at Paramount Pictures, had contacts in the industry, but no experience in producing. And yes, I did check her out and she is a Paranount lawyer.
She read the book some time ago and would love to see it on screen and be instrumental in doing so. Background: the book was published in 1999 and has already been optioned once, without success, several years ago. The problem being it is very long. I actually wrote a script at the time, which ended up being almost 180 pages long.
So now, this new producer, I'll call her Farrah, said she wants to adapt it for a streaming service like Netflix, which could easily accommodate the length. As I saw no other future for the book I agreed. I asked if she'd let me write the script and she said yes. I agree that it would be great for streaming in about four seasons. I told her that I have some experience in script writing, had written a script for the whole book, and would like to write the pilot and in fact all the episodes. She agreed. I sold the option and also got a contract to write the TV script.
I finished the pilot in about a month. She said she was working on the pitch deck, and would not read my script till she had finished the deck.
Many months passed. Now and then I gave her a nudge, and every time, she said she was still working on the deck. She has no details for me, except that she still has not read my pilot. I assume she still has not read it, almost two years later. I found this very annoying and very strange, as when you've written something, what you want most is feedback from someone who counts. But she refused to read it, and told me to get a professional assessment. This I did. She still did not read it.
The option expires on April 14th 2023. The contract says that she can renew for a further two years! I absolutely do not want to renew. I am hoping against hope that she has given up and simply does not want to let me know.
So, what are your views? Is this normal behaviour, for a producer who has contracted for you to write a pilot, not to even read it? How far along should a producer be by now, considering we are just four months short of the two years for the first option? Surely if she'd made progress, she'd have let me know, and read the pilot by now, and given feedback?
I realise that this is all conjecture, and you guys won't know any more that I do. I just want to know if you also think it is strange. And maybe a bit of sympathy at my frustration! I don't want to nudge her so close to the option's expiry date, as she might just start getting new ideas. However, renewing the option will cost her $1500, whereas the first option was only $500.
It's especially frustrating as a few months ago I was approached by another producer/director, this time someone with bone fides, someone on IMDb with movie credits. He also sees it working best as a series, and when I told him the option had been sold, he said he'd be happy to work with Farrah. But she said no; and still won't tell me how far along she is, and no clue as to when she'll be ready to pitch to Netflix (which is her aim). I can only say, working with her is absolutely awful.
If she were an editor or an agent I'd have cut my losses ages ago, but I guess in scriptwriting I'm just the lowly writer and not worthy of feedback.
Edited to add: no, I don't have an agent. I suggested to her that I look for an agent or manager, and she said she'd only let me send out the script if whoever it was signed an extremely detailed Release Form -- one I just know nobody would ever sign before agreeing to rep me. So I can't even do that. I am a member of WGGB, btw, which entitles me to free membership in WGA West.
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