Separate Countries: A Screenplay

Official script

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For you money, you will receive a letter with the date your script was received long with a serial number to assist in file retrieval. Keep this number confidential. Other writers register their scripts with the United States Copyright Office. You can check the current fees from www. Now you can promote and market you script to you hearts content knowing that you are able to prove the date of creation. However, there is an additional piece of administrative detail, which you must attend to in order to back up the birth certificate. Should you ever go to court in a copyright dispute with another writer, or with a producer who you suspect of using your script with permission, you need to prove that you are the one who registered the screenplay.

In property transaction, this is called chain of title, where your solicitor will looks at the deeds of the house you are buying and trace all the previous owners back in time to make sure that the title has no unpaid mortgages, liens for city taxes and so on. Screenplays are classed as intellectual property, and the laws governing the trading of intellectual property are similar to those governing real estate transaction.

Screenwriters also need to prove chain of title, although it is less formal than in property dealing. You have to keep a formal record of everyone you speak to about your screenplay. For more details on how to manage and maintain Chain of Title. There they found six islands, on which lived a unique species of monkey, totalling ten thousand.

One fifth of the island grew sweet potatoes; a very good food for monkeys — but none of the monkeys ate sweet potatoes.

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Approximately six hundred monkeys lived on the sixth island- the one without sweet potatoes. The scientists introduced sweet potatoes, trained few monkeys to dig up the potatoes, take them to the ocean and wash them, and then eat them. A very strange thing happened when approximately a hundred of the six hundred monkeys were digging up the sweet potatoes, taking them to the ocean and washing then and eating them. Suddenly, the monkeys on the other islands started to dig up sweet potatoes, take them to the ocean to wash them and eat them.

But when I moved to London, not fully appreciating the difference in size, and the broad depth of this cosmopolitan and multi-cultural city, I suddenly felt at one with a huge number of unseen friends. And whenever I have an idea I would read about it in the newspaper the very next day — pretty scary for a writer. Remember that whatever you idea for a movie is, I can guarantee you that at least a dozen other people in the world right now have exactly the same idea. The only difference is that you are reading this book and attempting to better way to get it out onto paper.

Remember that all ideas are basically sound. What makes an ordinary idea exciting is the way you bend, reshape and state the idea. The expression of the idea is yours, and yours alone. The bolder and fresher you can be, the more valuable your idea will be in the market place. What would you do?

Misfortune is a weird and dangerous thing. Consider this true story of a writing friend of mine in London.

She came up with a concept for a television show based on the true-life experiences of people living alone, but sharing accommodation. She prepared a questionnaire for potential participants, which she returned to each person who responded to the ad. This process took place over an extensive period of time. Just as she was approaching her goal of getting the right mix of people for her series of shows, she was summoned to New York on an urgent family matter.

Script direction and languages

While there she picked up a Village Voice, where to her amazement saw an ad that was worded identically to hers. She responded and received a questionnaire exactly like the one she had prepared in London, some eighteen months earlier. Back in London, she conferred with an entertainment attorney, another good friend of mine. He told her that she had a cases for copyright infringement, which he was willing to pursue for nothing, as a favour. Even if she won her case she would still have to prove that she had suffered financial damages.

As it was difficult to see how a classified ad in New York could possibly infringe on a television show destined for the United Kingdom, she decided to let go. A few months later, the trades announced the production start of a movie I cannot name for legal reasons, but roughly the story of single Caucasian females. My friend had a great attitude to this misfortune. She shrugged her shoulders and simply said that it proved that her ideas were commercially viable, and she moved on. Sometimes when you submit a script to a production company, they will send your script back with a letter that they want you to sign.

The letter basically states that they want you to cast aside you legal right to sue then for copyright infringement if they ever make a film resembling in any way your screenplay.

My advice is simple. The film company will not read your script. Go find someone else. Of course, I believe that astute writers understand that these waivers are designed by film companies, not to make it easier to plunder screenplays, but to defend then from dishonest screenwriters. How to draft a submission release:. Pitching ideas blind to a film company can be considered a form of an open invitation to thieve your ideas. A non-discloure agreement is a binding contract where each party agrees not to discuss their ideas with anyone else unless certain pre-agreed conditions are met.

Get tooled up on non-disclosure agreements here. Writers will often become aware if a true-life story based on a newspaper account or television news piece. Probably the easiest way to contact this person is through the journalist who originally created the story. Through this contact, approach the individual directly, and see if you can persuade them to allow you to write the story of their life.

There are certain laws governing the stories of criminals. If you are contacting a criminal, make sure you engage the service of an entertainment attorney who can offer expert advice. Your powerful and unique story touched me greatly and feels deeply that your story should be shared with others. I would appreciate it if you could contact me at your earliest convenience at [telephone number]. Please feel free to reverse the charges.

About Chad Gervich

You need to give your script to a registered third party. Take your time to understand the structure of copyright. Never tell anyone an idea until you have written it down as completely as possible and registered it. Keep track, by letter, of everyone you have discussed your screenplay with. Make absolutely certain that you have necessary permission before you start writing.

Elliot has written three books which have become industry standards: Is a certificate of registration from a local solicitor ok? Or does it have to be an industry lead organisation issuing these? I suppose a disconnected third party like a solicitor would suffice if you were certain that they would be able to attend court in the event of a dispute. This is late but here is my thought.

If it is anything like the Notary http: If someone were to contest the notary date, i. How much earlier than your registration would be the subjective area but this would be true for any such registrations. If you want to option or sell, no. You do not need to live in LA. It is all virtual submissions and query letters. Creativity gets stunted in LA from working so hard to pay bills, and to succeed.

Thanks for the response but I was making two points in my comment that you completely glossed over. Your advice after all your years in the showbiz industry is to tell people to work hard? Who exactly was planning on sitting on their ass all day and becoming a great tv writer? As for the back up for my argument in my original comment I refer you to introductory economics, more specifically the section on supply and demand.

The gist of the exchange was about his column that discussed how the industry has changed over the last ten years. Some of the tenets of his discussion included how electronic communications has become that standard for submitting and collaborating on scripts, and that other states are building up their own film industry presence by offering amazing tax incentives that are responsible for many films being shot outside of California.

Massachusetts is one of them: Furthermore, a brand new studio just opened up here, Quixote Studios—which is a satellite of an LA based studio by the same name! And more are being built here in The Bay State. My thoughts on the discussion focused on how Hollywood has to change because the Internet and less expensive professional-quality filmmaking equipment and software are making it easier to make good movies anywhere!

Many states are supporting the film industry and building studios, production companies, and network affiliates or networks themselves. CNN is based out of Atlanta. Mark Whalhberg and Ben Affleck come back time and again to shoot films here in Massachusetts: But thanks to the Internet the playing field is becoming more level. YouTube, Fancast, Hulu, Crackle and a host of other sites are starting to offer original content that filmmakers and writers can produce and distribute from anywhere in the world.

You may snicker at this as just a bunch of amateurs pretending to be Hollywood wannabes but I have just one word for that: Sean Parker changed the music industry by allowing everyone to trade and share music from all over the world. Soon movies will be distributed in a variety of formats concurrently: Writers and filmmakers are already creating content and getting it out there, and getting paid for it, from all over the world.

And there are a lot of people who are disregarding Hollywood altogether. An entirely produced comedy in Rhode Island that is winning at festivals all over the country and is generating tons of buzz—just a season away from full distribution. The eBook edition is now outselling the print!

And my own screenwriting projects are gaining traction while I live just outside of Boston. I have no intention of moving to LA, nor do I need to. And if you think that contests and pitchfests are huge waste of time, then you better read my blog about my experience at 6th Annual Great American PitchFest:.

The contacts I made and the film industry experience I got from that event changed my life and put me in control of my own destiny in this business. What was once true for you twelve years ago when you first started out in this business may not be true for neophytes today. The old entertainment industry institutions are starting to crumble. As is always the case when progress comes. So writer must live in LA to be successful?

How often do you seen a really good piece of writing? Maybe two or three films a year?

10 Rules Of Copyright For Screenwriters

Maybe a snippet of an hour long TV program? How many times have we seen basically the same scenes over and over. It may be the current reality but surely Hollywood is shooting itself in the foot by being so insular. Thanks for the response Chad. That said, a large portion of films suck, so that may be criteria. I have a few contacts and with e-mail, social media, etc. Feel free to disagree. Sadly, the true purpose behind most of the screenwriting contests is to generate revenue for the company that puts on the contest.

The companies that put on these contests have based their business model on the hope and optimism of thousands of aspiring writers around the country. What is the purpose of the many, many contests for writers if not for studios to explore every crevace of this earth to find the best possible talent? The best possible talent is already working and living in LA. Being an assistant is the college of Hollywood. A lot of people think a script should only be written to be someday produced.

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