Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Here's a pretty good, basic Screenwriting Collaboration Agreement. If you're considering co-writing with someone, you probably ought to sign one of these.

Or, if you have something else in mind, alter it accordingly. For example, we could draw up an agreement where you have a 50% stake, but I have control over the rights, and can decide to sell or option or not sell it as I choose. You could have a financial stake but I could retain final say over the creative form of the screenplay. And so on.

There are fewer things more frustrating for a writer than to have a good script tied up because your ex-partner no longer agrees with you about a screenplay. Get the main points in writing, even if you're writing with a friend. It will never be easier to make a fair deal than when neither of you has put any work into the project. Later on, people start to feel a sense of ownership, and things get sticky.

Labels: copyright, rights

1:33 PM

4 Comments:

Getting a dead link here Alex...

By  Patrick, at 4:53 PM  

Useful link! Thanks!

By  Eleanor, at 4:11 AM  

What's the best way to find a writing partner? I live an hour from Boston, and pickings are pretty slim here.
I'm fairly experienced - having been a reader for several years at HBO, graduated from film program at Wesleyan.
Thanks in advance.
Dan

By  Daniel McGuire, at 2:28 PM  

I think I've covered this a bit in my book, and in other posts in my blog. Have you checked those out?

You might start with a writing group, which is also in my book.

By  Alex Epstein, at 2:51 PM  

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