Options (Re: [UA] The Screenplay (was Re: [UA] Dream)

[Kevin Mowery]

    I'm not saying I want to buy an option right now (actually, I'm looking
forward to being able to buy myself dinner again sometime soon), but what do
you think the cost would be?

Kevin Mowery________________profbobo at io.com
"'Jaws' is the warmest, tenderest, lovingest movie of
the year.  I give it four coconuts."               --Idi Amin
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Nephew" <john at atlas-games.com>
To: <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 11:26 AM
Subject: Options (Re: [UA] The Screenplay (was Re: [UA] Dream)


> > Lastly, in a backwards-from-the-norm step, if someone were to write a
> really
> > >cool UA screenplay, what would it take to get the Atlas stamp of
> approval?
> > >(Obviously, this last is a question for people who actually work for
> Atlas.)
>
> Sorry, I hadn't been following the thread closely...
>
> If you are completely serious and you want to have an official Stamp of
> Approval(tm), what you need to do is actually buy a movie option, which
> gives you an exclusive right to develop and shop a script based on the UA
> property over a specified period of time.  Most properties that are
optioned
> never become movies (or TV shows or whatever), but that's the way it
works.
>
> The problem about NOT getting an option is that you're even more on spec
> than you are normally when you write a script on spec -- not only might a
> studio not like your work, but they won't even consider it unless you have
> an option sewn up...and if you didn't get the option nailed down before
> writing the script, you might find that the intellectual property holder
has
> already sold an option to somebody else.
>
> Then again, if you're not in a position where you already know all this
and
> are making some kind of living doing screenwriting...you probably don't
want
> to throw money or time into getting an option anyhow.  But there would be
> nothing to stop you from working on a script for fun, and if it turned out
> to be fantabulous and you wanted to be able to shop it to studios, then
you
> could see if the option was available (or when it would be, if some other
> option had been purchased but looked likely to expire unused).
>
> Does this make any sense?  My brain feels a little addled today so I hope
> I'm making sense...
>
> If someone IS interested in optioning the UA property for motion picture
> adaptation, they should contact me directly.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------
> John Nephew    voice (651) 638-0077 fax (651) 638-0084
> President, Atlas Games             www.atlas-games.com
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> UA mailing list
> UA at lists.uchicago.edu
> http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua
>


_______________________________________________
UA mailing list
UA at lists.uchicago.edu
http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua