5 ms·

So they'll pay you $200,000 for a theatrical release (but regardless of if your movie is chosen, you can't sell your work anywhere else for 18 months because th

by ashleyw 15y ago

So they'll pay you $200,000 for a theatrical release (but regardless of if your movie is chosen, you can't sell your work anywhere else for 18 months because they've got exclusive rights to buy it…all without giving you a penny), and you only get an extra $400,000 if it makes $60,000,000 at the box office? It sounds like a cool concept, but sounds like a very lousy deal. Or am I missing something?

zacharycohn 15y ago
No, it's a pretty lousy deal. The upside is there's at least a chance your script will get picked, versus Hollywood where there is virtually no chance. So it's a "shitty deal vs no deal" situation.
- jonnathanson 15y ago
  It's basically a tradeoff. You have a higher chance of getting picked, but a much lousier payday if you do. Nevertheless, it might actually be a decent bet for newbies to the screenwriting trade. As you've mentioned, and as I concur, your odds of getting discovered in Hollywood are somewhere just shy of your odds of getting beamed aboard the Enterprise. So Amazon's system represents a slightly better way to get a calling-card film made out of your script. Nevertheless, it's a much shittier deal for anyone who's had a script sold or made. So this seems like a one-and-done sort of deal. Get discovered on Amazon, then go get an agent in Hollywood, and eventually, make lots more money than through this system. Amazon's system needs some way to scale up as the writer's career does. Or else it's always going to be stuck as a AAA farm team for Hollywood. That might not be a bad thing; at least it's a toehold in the business. But it's not going to bring down the system anytime soon. Unless, of course, the entire cost structure of the film industry changes, and Hollywood stops being able to afford higher-end writers' paydays. Which may indeed happen, sooner or later. Hollywood has a cost-side crash on its hands eventually. It's anyone's guess as to when, but it will happen. Revenues can't keep declining, year over year, while talent costs and budgets keep climbing.
  - zacharycohn 15y ago
    Actually, I just realized I have no idea how much a scriptwriter makes if they sell a script. Does anyone know the average payday for a script writer for large-scale Hollywood productions?
    - rdouble 15y ago
      During the writer's strike of 2007, there were a few interesting articles about this. This NYTimes article is pretty good: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/business/media/05writers.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/business/media/05writers.h...
  - FreakLegion 15y ago
    Your odds are astronomically worse with Amazon, actually, because by submitting to them you grant them an exclusive option on your work. Hollywood works in the opposite way, with studios competing (and, thus, cutting bigger checks) for good scripts. There are hundreds of ways to sell a script in Hollywood. There's only one way to sell a script on Amazon. So, if your script's been floating around for a year or two and hasn't gotten any traction -- no agent, no options, hasn't made The Black List, hasn't placed in any notable competitions, etc. -- then sure, submit it to Amazon. But the hard truth in that case is that the script is likely just crap. On a side note: the point of writing a spec isn't necessarily to sell it. Specs are to screenwriters as GitHub is to coders. That said, 2011 was actually a banner year for specs, with at least 109 sold.
    - jonnathanson 15y ago
      All good points, but as you've said -- and as I agree -- it's not like you're expecting your first screenplay to get made, one way or the other. So the exclusive option being granted to Amazon, functionally speaking, would be no different than having your debut spec bought and sent into development hell with a studio. After that point, the spec becomes your calling card and resume. You might earn more money selling the spec in a Hollywood bidding war, but only a small handful of all spec sales inspire that kind of frenzy. (I do agree, however, that if you have even the slightest suspicion that you've written a killer script, you should try Hollywood agencies first). To your other point, I do fear that Amazon has basically engineered a system whereby the good catches swim the Hollywood, and the flotsam floats into Amazon's net. Time will tell.

by ashleyw 15y ago

zacharycohn 15y ago

No, it's a pretty lousy deal. The upside is there's at least a chance your script will get picked, versus Hollywood where there is virtually no chance. So it's a "shitty deal vs no deal" situation.

jonnathanson 15y ago
It's basically a tradeoff. You have a higher chance of getting picked, but a much lousier payday if you do. Nevertheless, it might actually be a decent bet for newbies to the screenwriting trade. As you've mentioned, and as I concur, your odds of getting discovered in Hollywood are somewhere just shy of your odds of getting beamed aboard the Enterprise. So Amazon's system represents a slightly better way to get a calling-card film made out of your script. Nevertheless, it's a much shittier deal for anyone who's had a script sold or made. So this seems like a one-and-done sort of deal. Get discovered on Amazon, then go get an agent in Hollywood, and eventually, make lots more money than through this system. Amazon's system needs some way to scale up as the writer's career does. Or else it's always going to be stuck as a AAA farm team for Hollywood. That might not be a bad thing; at least it's a toehold in the business. But it's not going to bring down the system anytime soon. Unless, of course, the entire cost structure of the film industry changes, and Hollywood stops being able to afford higher-end writers' paydays. Which may indeed happen, sooner or later. Hollywood has a cost-side crash on its hands eventually. It's anyone's guess as to when, but it will happen. Revenues can't keep declining, year over year, while talent costs and budgets keep climbing.
- zacharycohn 15y ago
  Actually, I just realized I have no idea how much a scriptwriter makes if they sell a script. Does anyone know the average payday for a script writer for large-scale Hollywood productions?
  - rdouble 15y ago
    During the writer's strike of 2007, there were a few interesting articles about this. This NYTimes article is pretty good: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/business/media/05writers.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/business/media/05writers.h...
- FreakLegion 15y ago
  Your odds are astronomically worse with Amazon, actually, because by submitting to them you grant them an exclusive option on your work. Hollywood works in the opposite way, with studios competing (and, thus, cutting bigger checks) for good scripts. There are hundreds of ways to sell a script in Hollywood. There's only one way to sell a script on Amazon. So, if your script's been floating around for a year or two and hasn't gotten any traction -- no agent, no options, hasn't made The Black List, hasn't placed in any notable competitions, etc. -- then sure, submit it to Amazon. But the hard truth in that case is that the script is likely just crap. On a side note: the point of writing a spec isn't necessarily to sell it. Specs are to screenwriters as GitHub is to coders. That said, 2011 was actually a banner year for specs, with at least 109 sold.
  - jonnathanson 15y ago
    All good points, but as you've said -- and as I agree -- it's not like you're expecting your first screenplay to get made, one way or the other. So the exclusive option being granted to Amazon, functionally speaking, would be no different than having your debut spec bought and sent into development hell with a studio. After that point, the spec becomes your calling card and resume. You might earn more money selling the spec in a Hollywood bidding war, but only a small handful of all spec sales inspire that kind of frenzy. (I do agree, however, that if you have even the slightest suspicion that you've written a killer script, you should try Hollywood agencies first). To your other point, I do fear that Amazon has basically engineered a system whereby the good catches swim the Hollywood, and the flotsam floats into Amazon's net. Time will tell.