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The Founder of Firefox Wrote His Own Screenplay for HBO’s Silicon Valley
- empressplay 11y agoDirect link: http://blakeross.com/SiliconValleyS03E01.pdf http://blakeross.com/SiliconValleyS03E01.pdf
- jamiefriedrech 11y agoSurprisingly consistent and hilarious for a first ever screen play!
- hurricaneSlider 11y agoOnly part I felt was inconsistent was his treatment of Lauren. She seems a hyper-rational, albeit overly-prudent character, and doesn't strike me as wanting to be involved with the whole boys club nonsense.
- Flimm 11y agoIf he didn't get permission, that would be copyright infringement, right?
- SmellyGeekBoy 11y agoIANAL but I think fanfic is fine as long as it's clearly presented as such and no money changes hands.
- olavk 11y agoActually, it is quite a grey area. Fanfic/spec scripts could be considered derivative works and therefore infringe on the copyright on the original work, but there are provisions for fair use and parody.
- amelius 11y agoThis could be entertaining. They should write a script about the lawsuit.
- amorphid 11y agoHow does one parody a parody? By being serious?
- njloof 11y agoBy founding a startup.
- Bahamut 11y agoIn practice, companies do not tend to go after these people since there is the risk of an uproar and it does no harm to the company typically. In addition, the risk of an expensive lawsuit is usually not worthwhile on the companies' end, especially given the pros/cons
- MichaelGG 11y agoAnd poorly understood! George Martin of Game of Thrones writes that he's against fanfic. Because if he allows it, he can lose his copyright. Then he goes on about Tarzan, and how since people made unauthorized movies on the theme, the author of Tarzan dies poor. Plus the standard "I made them no one else can touch", which is a valid personal feeling, but little basis for law.
- gdulli 11y agoWriting unsolicited spec scripts is a standard way to break into television writing. It's a pretty low rung on the ladder because it doesn't take much creativity. The tone and the characters are already established; you're actually doing it wrong if you have them speak or behave in a manner other than what the audience is used to. It sounds like it would be fun but if you want to get hired you have to suppress the urge to be clever.
- DonHopkins 11y agoWell he was certainly true to the established characters' personalities and ways of speaking: DINESH Isn't it weird how fun it sounds to get laid off? Like, everyone wants to get laid. And everyone wants to get off. But nobody wants to get laid off. GILFOYLE I wouldn't mind your mom's pink slip.
- gamblor956 11y agoWriting a spec script is legally permissible, and is not a violation of copyright. Distributing a spec script gets into fair use issues--submitting it to the show producers, or using it a sample to get a screenwriting gig are generally acceptable. Distributing it online generally crosses the boundary into non-permissible uses. (Meaning that it is an actionable copyright violation which the copyright owners could choose to pursue and would likely prevail in court.)
- jrockway 11y ago> Meaning that it is an actionable copyright violation which the copyright owners could choose to pursue and would likely prevail in court. Care to cite some case law?
- gamblor956 11y agoGoogle is your friend. This is quite literally the first result that pops up: http://www.lacba.org/Files/LAL/Vol36No3/3040.pdf http://www.lacba.org/Files/LAL/Vol36No3/3040.pdf
- mikecb 11y agoThey're going to have to work hard to top this. I'm an inside counsel guy, but I'd love a clock that counts in dollars.
- iriche 11y agoSo awesome - please film this one ;P
- jacobolus 11y agoPrevious discussion, which unfortunately didn’t get much traction: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10168930 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10168930
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- lugus35 11y agoI thought HBO called jwz to the rescue...
- gozo 11y agoWhile I'm a fan of exposing the absurdity of SV, I also think we have reached the point where any such attempt will, similar to war and business movies, also have the opposite effect.
- jrockway 11y agoSuspension of disbelief fail at "His name's on the door and they shat all over him anyway, just to hire some suit." When would Erlich care about someone other than himself? Also, one sentence in and he hasn't mentioned Aviato yet?
- blakeross 11y agoI think there's plenty of support for Erlich caring about Richard. For example, when he spots Richard crying and then immediately goes and beats up the kids who scammed him out of Adderall :)
- blakeross 11y agoThanks guys. This is my first stab at writing a tv script, and I'm open to feedback or ideas for future 'episodes'.
- mentos 11y agoI've been waiting for a show to embrace the crowd sourcing of writing. I imagine a reddit thread with hundreds of ideas/plot lines/debate drawn out for an official writer to "pull" into the show. What are your thoughts on that?
- blakeross 11y agoIt's a great idea. To be fair, there's plenty of this happening already for most shows (check their subreddits, etc). I think what's a little different here is actually writing it out as a script. I'm intrigued by the idea of writing a full season of Silicon Valley, but I'd also like the challenge of writing for different kinds of shows. I may write a Rick and Morty script next to see what that's like.
- blakeross 11y agoOh, I misread your comment, I think. You're talking about the showrunners themselves incorporating ideas from the community, right? That would be great, although unfortunately Hollywood is so concerned about lawsuits that show staffs aren't even allowed to read scripts for their own shows. For example, the Silicon Valley staff isn't allowed to read this script; if I wanted to apply for a job there, I'd have to write a script for a different show and send that in.
- mentos 11y agoYea, are there any examples of a show like SV crowd sourcing content for it? I know that MythBusters has crowd sourced episode ideas: https://www.reddit.com/r/mythbusters/comments/3cfn7r/suggest_a_myth_or_item_to_blow_up_for_the/ https://www.reddit.com/r/mythbusters/comments/3cfn7r/suggest... Top comment from Adam Savage: "You guys are submitting great ideas. We should have done this a long time ago! Keep your ideas of things to blow up coming too!" But I don't know of any shows with a narrative doing this? Would love to see SV do the same for 1 episode (they could get really meta with it) Sad to hear there are legal barriers preventing this. I imagine that a simple "sign this release before submitting your work" still leaves room for lawsuits?
- insertnickname 11y agoWhy did Richard live in Erlich's "incubator" anyway? I thought he had a job at Hooli. He couldn't afford an apartment?
- larrykubin 11y agoI have a tech job too and don't feel like the rent in SF or Palo Alto fits in my budget.
- insertnickname 11y agoStill, he gave up 10 % of his company just for a place to stay.
- cyphunk 11y agoI'm really confused... when they say Captain Crunch are they talking about the cereal character or the "hacker" John Draper? Based on the content it could, ironically, be either
- Apocryphon 11y agoTwo quick thoughts: 1. Monica's completely absent from this episode- she should appear in future ones. Would be nice to get Carla back, as well. 2. Can Charles be British and played by Paterson Joseph, who played Alan Johnson on BBC comedy Peep Show?