Amazon Studios: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Amazon Studios has been making a lot of noise around the blogosphere. Because there is so much information out there about it, I originally was not going to comment about it. But given that this is an indie film blog, I now feel I have to give my two cents.

If you haven't heard already, Amazon decided to launch an indie crowdsourcing venture called Amazon Studios. Writers can upload scripts in order to win cash prizes and possibly receive a deal through Amazon and Warner Bros. I'll just touch on the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good: Uploading to Amazon Studios is free. Contests usually cost an entry fee. This option might be attractive to a struggling filmmaker or writer. Also, the contest is a monthly one, with cash as a prize. Who doesn't love that? Also, Amazon Studios seems serious about democratizing the filmmaking process. Amazon Studios forms a community and encourages collaboration. Also, scripts do not have to be in English, which is usually a requirement for many other screenwriting contests. Now for the caveat.

The Bad: I think this speaks for itself:

You grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-terminable, sub-licensable, transferable right, during the License Period, as defined below, to copy, use, edit, add to, modify and otherwise alter any Original Property you contribute to Amazon Studios and to create, develop and produce derivative works based on the Original Property on and off of Amazon Studios in the form of treatments, screenplays, writer 's pitches, trailers, videos and other written, audio or audiovisual works (each a "DerivativeWork" and these rights, our "New Content Creation Rights"). Our New Content Creation Rights are exclusive during the License Period and you will not grant similar rights in your Original Property to anyone else during the License Period. After the License Period, if we don' t exercise the Option, our New Content Creation Rights will expire and you may grant similar rights to others. --Amazon Studios Development Agreement

In order words: a free option. For 18 months, you cannot shop around the same script to others for a better deal. For free. Usually, when given an option, you would receive some cash incentive not to shop around the script, per WGA rules. I do not know about you, but to me this is a major deal-breaker. Working as a writer, unless you have an exclusive personal relationship with a producer AND you are receiving a co-producer credit, I would avoid the so-called "free option." Even if you do not have a free option, you would at least want a negotiable term option. At Amazon Studios, you would receive neither. In addition, when your screenplay is optioned, you will be eligible for the WGA. Submitting your script to Amazon Studios will not qualify.

If you are a filmmaker, you have to create a "test movie" in order to test the script's validity. The test movie does not need to be a full scale production. However, Amazon expects you to test the entire script. Here, Amazon should have just asked for a trailer or a scene from the movie instead. It seems pointless to make a "test movie" for a potential production. You would be making the movie twice. If I were to create a feature-length test movie, I might as well produce the film myself and call it a day. Plus, Amazon seems to forget that the internet crowd has a short attention span. Who is gonna sit at their computer and watch a semi-produced movie?

The Ugly: John August already pointed this out, but I would make another point. We writers are a paranoid bunch. Many of us are too paranoid. I'm not as worried about others "stealing" my ideas, because if a writer was truly afraid of that, he or she would be afraid to pitch ideas to others. You have to let that go in order to market your work. You must learn to protect your work in a legal way. That being said, losing your rights to your work by uploading to Amazon Studios is not the worst part of Amazon's terms. Amazon is very vague about its procedure facing copyright and attribution issues. Further murking that up, other users can add revisions to your original work, without your permission. And if Amazon agrees to the changes, you have to recognize Goompykid94 as a co-writer.

Whenever I send a script to someone, I send it as a .pdf. Amazon Studios likes the obsolete file format .rtf instead. Not .doc or .docx. Not any Movie Magic or Final Draft format. Not even Celtix. But the same file format used in Wordpad. If you are like me, you predict major formatting issues. Last time I used this file format for a major project, I was wearing butterfly clips and waiting for my dial-up internet to connect via CompuServe. It was also the same time I was allowed to turn in a paper written in Comic Sans.

Last ugly point: Amazon expects the winning script to make $60 million in the box office before they pay you any more money. You might as well bend over. I'm assuming that's Domestic Box Office. This is assuming your script is any good and the resulting film is worthy of a theatrical distribution and release. Also, what about ancillary markets? Foreign release? Digital distribution. Not only does this deal overpromises, the deal is bad for you regardless of how well the film does. Amazon comes out on top. Either way, you will be underpaid and screwed out of your true compensation.

I expected more from the company that owns IMDb. Maybe I expected too much. But I guess it'll be useful for some script you care less about. I would not recommend Amazon Studios for your really good stuff, regardless of the promise of a first look from Warner Bros. Just use Vimeo or YouTube instead.

Happy Filmmaking.

Script-a-Thon Winners!

So, I didn't win. But it was a great ride while it lasted. Just remember, we all get better with each mile.

http://www.thescriptathon.com/finalists.html

Happy Filmmaking!

A Quik Lesssun.: Part 2

As much as it kills me to know I have grammatical mistakes in a script I just turned in for a contest, it apparently didn't kill the story. I'm happy to announce that I am one of three drama finalists for the Script-a-Thon contest! My screenplay Niecy was selected out of what was probably a hard decision. The winners will be announced on 20 October. The rest of the finalists are here.

Happy Filmmaking!

A Quik Lesssun.

So I participated in Script-a-thon, the month-long script marathon. Writing a script from scratch was challenging and fun, especially when you have a little over a month to complete it. Finalists have not been announced yet, but going over my script today I realized two things:

1. 30-day scripts are hard.

2. I needed an extra pair of eyeballs.

Not that I didn't try. My expected reader wasn't available and there was a deadline to meet. But never again will I turn in a script that has a handful of grammatical errors. At least I went light on the parentheticals, but I could have cut them much more. Lesson learned. I apologize, Script-a-thon, but hey, 30 days. Give credit where credit is due!

Happy Filmmaking.

Blacklisted? A Good Thing!

Used to be if you were blacklisted, you were branded a commie and shamed from "ever working in this town again!" Those days are long gone. Today, it is an honor to be blacklisted. This new Black List is just shy of five years old, but what a tot it is!

The mysterious and exclusive Black List is an annual list of unproduced screenplays that are making waves in development departments across Hollywood. Think of it as the slush pile from Heaven. Last December, LA Times revealed the history behind the name and its founder. The "Black" in "Black List" is to counter the connotation associated with the word (is that a little of Malcolm X I hear?). I agree that Black is Beautiful, although it's clear I have a bias.

If on the list, there is a high probably you might receive an option. Although, not everyone likes the idea of the Black List. Here is an blog article slightly critical towards it, as well as the commenters.

Films created from the Black List include:

Juno

Charlie Wilson's War

The Kiterunner

The Queen

Million Little Pieces

Black Snake Moan

Babel

Dan in Real Life

We Are Marshall

..and many many others.

Happy Filmmaking.

Why so silent...Writer's block.

Yeah. Time for an unedited post. I have writer's block. Thus, the purpose of this particular blog is to alleviate that writer's block. I am supposed to be working on the script I promised to be finished with by the end of the year. Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen. I've been thinking about ideas for it for the past four days but am unable to convert thoughts into written word.

I remember something about a writer who had writer's block for decades. Hold on, I think I can find the link. There we go. Poor devil. I doubt this writer's block will last that long for me.

I'm not even writing that much of a magnum opus. Just a small project I plan on selling once I'm finished. In the meantime, I don't mind sharing just a little bit of my thought and writing process. Wow, I feel like Kafka right now, minus the Jewishness and the German. Of course he is a far more superior writer than I am. Sometimes I sound overly educated. No matter.

Writer's block sucks, but it's a necessary part of the writing process. My brain feels clearer just by rambling on here. Ahhhh. Freshness.

Who knows? Maybe I'll be inspired tonight...or tomorrow...next week.

Happy Filmmaking.

Shameless self-promotion plug!

Because I have no shame, please feel free to vote for me in the link below for the Canadian Festival WILDsound. You know I deserve it. Also, check out my competition. There are some pretty talented people here.


http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/encounter.html

Happy Filmmaking!

Speaking of your career...

I came across this article titled, "Why Are So Many People Interested in Pursuing a Film Career?" on the Film-and-TV Career blog. In the article, Darren Alff addresses a good point: what exactly is your OWN motivation for pursuing such a competitive and stressful career?

Alff asked film students nationwide why they wanted in. The answers varied, but he pointed out it was rarely for the sake of art itself. Just like I wrote in a previous blog, money and fame can cloud the mind when choosing this career--or any career for that matter.

I have a friend who graduated with me who wants to be an actor-producer. He's really good and even made a short that his folks help fund. He apparently feels like a failure right now, since the reality of post-college life has sunk in. I reminded him that he just needs to be patient; it will come. Maybe he had visions of fame and fortune, like many film students. Once he gets past this, I think he will be more successful.

I even had those thoughts myself, knowing I should know better. I want to be a writer-director, and it is fun to imagine myself having dinner at a country club with Oprah and the Smiths, or collaborating with P.T. Anderson. Taking my mother shopping for a Hermes bag (and getting on that list in one week), or going on a shoot in Europe. And just like every other film student, I have imagined giving my acceptance speech at BAFTA, SAG, and the Oscars, in a beautiful Oscar de la Renta red dress. But I do not allow these fantasies to distract me from my ultimate goal, which is to make something meaningful and memorable. You could argue that in itself is a fantasy, but I believe it's a far more reachable one than an invitation to the White House to showcase your film.

The article is worth a read. And use it to reflect on yourself. Where are your ambitions taking you?

Happy filmmaking!

Why I rejected your script

When I read scripts, there are certain elements I look for that will tell me whether or not a particular spec script should be optioned. I hate to say it, but 90% of the scripts I read are recycled junk. Nothing personal, just business. I usually know if I would pass on a script within the first ten pages, and any serious script reader knows the same. Why would I reject your labor of love?

The fastest PASS would have:

• Grammatical errors. I overlook one or two, but when becomes obvious you did not proofread your script before submitting it to production companies and agents, why should I care as well? NEVER turn in your first draft as a spec.
• A copy of a story recently released. Audiences do not need another copy of an already popular movie. Let the studios fight among themselves.
• Complicated, hard-to-follow plot. Plot holes, new characters not introduced earlier, unanswered questions, and illogical obstacles all scream pass. If I, a cinephile with a degree in film studies, cannot follow your plot, a lay audience sure as hell won’t.
• One-dimensional and boring characters. No one wants to see a blasé character on screen for 90 minutes. Your main characters should follow some type of character arc. See my earlier blog on characterization for examples of boring characters.
• The director’s job done for him/her. One of my largest pet peeves. Do not expect to direct your spec script. If you want to direct, produce it yourself. When writers write in long montages, camera angles, and invisible actor motivations (eg, “he doesn’t know how attracted he is to her”), you are doing the director’s job. Stick to the bare storytelling bones.
• Flowery and overly-descriptive actions. A script is not a novel. A screenwriter should not go into too much detail about a scene or what a character is wearing, but rather the action itself. Too much description clogs the script, stops the story, and does the job of the director, the cinematographer, and the art director.
• A story that goes nowhere. A script has to progress to some climax and conclusion. Open conclusions are in vogue, but they are still conclusions to a story. Nothing is worse than a story that runs out of steam halfway through the script.

Things that would stop a RECOMMEND but not necessarily grant a PASS:

• An unoriginal story. Why should I care about this particular story? What is unique about it? If you believe everything has been done, I can accept this philosophy as well. Some formulas just work. However, what do you have to bring to the table?
• Clichéd characters. This is dangerous ground. We all are comfortable with the hard-drinking, crusty detective and the love-sick, 30-something career woman, but a writer starts treading on thin ice when stereotypes form. For example, I read a script that took place in 19th-century New Orleans that had every stereotype imaginable. The story took place during Mardi Gras and involved an out-of-touch Northerner, Afro-Creole dock workers eating hot sauce, a morally ambiguous Cajun man, prostitutes in Storyville, zombies, a trip to Jackson Square and Bourbon Street, and a Creole voodoo priestess who lives a bohemian lifestyle. As a native of the Creole Gulf Coast, I was offended to say the least.
• Elements in the script that would unnecessarily inflate the budget. Do you have to have one of your characters meet Will Smith? Can’t you just make-up an A-list celebrity in the universe you create for your character? Also, having a character bungee off of Victoria Falls may look cool, but may not add anything to the story. Neither would blowing up a Ferrari Enzo.
• Script does not follow genre rules. I am more flexible on this than others I know, but the audiences expect certain rules when it comes to genres. For example, you expect a thriller to be fast-paced, action-driven, and full of twists and obstacles. But there is a thin line between being original and poking fun at your audience for following the formula.

I want your script to do well; you will up the odds for the rest of us. Please only use my advice as a guide. Some script readers will have different standards. It may sound like a crapshoot, but I know that—at least in my case—I try to be as objective as possible.

Happy Filmmaking!