Creative
It takes the same amount of time to write a 90 to 120 page screenplay if it is a drama, romance comedy or action superhero genre. At one page a day you could have a first draft in three to four months. Unless you binge write and finish one faster.
However, most writers don’t realize that the creative stage of a spec screenplay is about 25 % of the work. The marketing/selling of the product takes up 75 % of your total effort. Finding a producer, production company to sell to or an agency to shop your script for you, can eat up a lot of precious writing time.
Consider the following:
For every dollar made in box office or television revenue, there are almost five dollars made in the DVD sales.
If your screenplay has toy, clothing line and major merchandising potential, then you may have an easier time convincing the accountants who are running Hollywood right now, to purchase your script. For every dollar made at the box office there are approximately ten to twenty dollars made from licensed merchandising and ancillary brand related products. Yes, that is way more than the entire film earns and the reason so many comics are being turned into movies lately. So if you write a screenplay with merchandising capability, you might be able to fund your writing career for the rest of your life. How?
If your entertainment lawyer is good, he/she will ensure you get a healthy advance and no less than five percent of the back-end costs of production with a portion of the royalties from the products associated to your intellectual property.
It worked for Stan Lee, George Lucas and J.K. Rowling - it can work for you!
After selling one of these action adventure ninety minute toy commercials, you will be able to write what ever you want on any beach in the world. Some say this is a form of selling out, I disagree and if you contact me, I will explain why and how this strategy can give you a whole new perspective on the film and television industries.
Sandford Tuey
info@Playdigm.com
PS: Starting September 14, 2009 I will be breaking down a Licensing Agreement clause-by-clause for creators of intellectual property so they know what needs to be in a contract of this nature. Check out http://www.Playdigm.com Home page.
