Quote: Winterlight @ March 28, 2008, 9:11 PM

James Williams: Don't be an arse

Seefacts: Thanks for the tip

That's some online dialogue which will make me laugh for many years.

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Wow, you're all so smart...

Handbags away guys.
 

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"He used to poke me in English lessons"
Robyn - BSG.
 

They are not actually arguing. Just reminiscing ABOUT arguing.
 

Quote: wayne lewis @ March 30, 2008, 7:03 PM

They are not actually arguing. Just reminiscing ABOUT arguing.

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Ellie told me to look and post something... blame her!

(if it helps)

She's a witch!!
 

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"He used to poke me in English lessons"
Robyn - BSG.
 

Ahem.
 

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Fuck it, it's Christmas.

"Every joke is a tiny revolution," thought George Orwell. "Whatever destroys dignity, and brings down the mighty from their seats, preferably with a bump, is funny."
 

 

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"He used to poke me in English lessons"
Robyn - BSG.
 

Quote: Antrax @ March 30, 2008, 10:37 AM

Well, I do sort of represent myself as it is.

Equally, it can cause problems. A couple of years back my sitcom script got optioned by a production company. Well I say optioned - they basically did what we'd refer to as optioning, but without giving me the fee..... Annoyingly, of course, when I've written to agents since I can't say 'I've had a sitcom optioned by X', because it's not technically true!'

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Isn't the fee (or not) negotiable? Surely if both parties have signed an option agreement then you're within your rights to say it was optioned, even if they didn't pay up? I would!
 

You know, I've been thinking Seefacts, and I reckon turning up with no trousers and a beautiful woman on each arm will show them you're the kind of guy they need to get behind.
 

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www.davidbussell.com
 

Quote: steve by any other name @ March 31, 2008, 6:59 AM

Isn't the fee (or not) negotiable? Surely if both parties have signed an option agreement then you're within your rights to say it was optioned, even if they didn't pay up? I would!

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That's the problem - no agreement was signed. I was a young rookie and they phoned me up and said 'we'd like to make this, can we send it to the Beeb' and I said. Naive, I now realise. The word 'option' was never mentioned, although as far as I'm aware that's basically what they got.
 

Quote: Antrax @ March 31, 2008, 10:14 AM

That's the problem - no agreement was signed. I was a young rookie and they phoned me up and said 'we'd like to make this, can we send it to the Beeb' and I said. Naive, I now realise. The word 'option' was never mentioned, although as far as I'm aware that's basically what they got.

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From what I've read in your posts, it doesn't look like it was optioned at all they just took an interest.

Did the BBC like it? Maybe they didn't so it died there and then?
 

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Daleks are shit.
 

Quote: Antrax @ March 31, 2008, 10:14 AM

That's the problem - no agreement was signed. I was a young rookie and they phoned me up and said 'we'd like to make this, can we send it to the Beeb' and I said. Naive, I now realise. The word 'option' was never mentioned, although as far as I'm aware that's basically what they got.

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If it makes you feel any better, I had the offer of a movie screenplay option about 15 years ago. I was sent the contract and I thought, don't get screwed, so I forked out about £400 to have it checked out by about the only firm in the country I could find with the expertese. They said it was a standard contract and there was no problem with signing it.

Trouble was, by the time I'd gone through all this, the producer had retracted his offer of £1000 and offered a nominal £1 instead, just to make it binding.

So I was down £399.
 

1 pound?
That could've got you the tastiest double cheeseburger you'd ever had in your life!
 

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I went to the loo, and Katie came too (it was a public loo!)...I...shouted "Argh! It's too big for the hole!" - Robyn, BSG

A forum for novelists, short story writers, poets, playwrights etc. Feel free to join in!
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Quote: Seefacts @ March 31, 2008, 4:48 PM

From what I've read in your posts, it doesn't look like it was optioned at all they just took an interest.

Did the BBC like it? Maybe they didn't so it died there and then?

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Well, as I said, they didn't option it, that was the point. They got the equivalent of an option without literally doing it, or at least that's what I think happened. Basically, because I was young and naive and new to the business without an agent, they got for free what they'd have had to pay for if I'd had one. Or at least I assume so - still haven't got an agent so don't know for a fact, it's just the impression I've got from speaking to other people after the time. If that's not the case, guess I'm ok with it. But I suspect that had I gone to them through an agent, they'd have had to have paid an option. (what's the difference between an option and 'taking an interest'?)

As far as I'm aware it was at the BBC for quite a while and apparently generated quite a bit of interest.
 

Quote: ian_w @ March 31, 2008, 6:24 PM

1 pound?
That could've got you the tastiest double cheeseburger you'd ever had in your life!

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Even at the time £2.85 was the price of a Summer Burger with bacon and cheese from the Midwest Burger joint on the Wellingborough Road in Northampton.

Best burger I've ever had!
 

Quote: steve by any other name @ March 31, 2008, 6:34 PM

Midwest Burger joint on the Wellingborough Road in Northampton.

Best burger I've ever had!

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Liar! It's not possible to have a best anything in Northampton. Apart from perhaps a best exit.

 

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I'm just an ant wading through mud.
 

Quote: Antrax @ March 31, 2008, 6:33 PM

Well, as I said, they didn't option it, that was the point. They got the equivalent of an option without literally doing it, or at least that's what I think happened. Basically, because I was young and naive and new to the business without an agent, they got for free what they'd have had to pay for if I'd had one. Or at least I assume so - still haven't got an agent so don't know for a fact, it's just the impression I've got from speaking to other people after the time. If that's not the case, guess I'm ok with it. But I suspect that had I gone to them through an agent, they'd have had to have paid an option. (what's the difference between an option and 'taking an interest'?)

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Some production companies have a habit of doing that - i.e. sending a script off to the channels without buying an option on it first. It's not really the way it should be done (after all, if it's good enough to be sent off with their name attached, it should be worth *something*, right?). For the writer, though, it's a question of balance - particularly when it's one of your first irons in the comedy fire. You want it to be seen by the Beeb (or whoever), but you also want some dosh for it. Do you tell them they can't send it without optioning it first, and risk them passing on it altogether? Well, the answer ought to be "yes", but it's not always that simple when you're in the situation. In practice these days, my writing partner and I tend to hold firm for an option, but annoyingly we do have a few things kicking around from the past couple of years that have been seen by the channels without us getting a bean for them. And once the channels have seen them and passed on them (if they do, that is!), they're suddenly not worth much. Hey ho... hold out for an option - that's what I say.
 

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www.blakewillandharris.com