Having An Idea Ripped Off... ever happen to you?

I was thinking about all this, this morning and I was just wondering what you guys thought and wanted to know if there's any horror stories out there...

So, I've been reading "The Writer Got Screwed (but didn't have to)" by Brooke A. Wharton... I just started it, really. The first chapter is called "Why Do My Ideas Always End Up In Someone Elses Script?" - it's all about copyright and protecting yourself. After reading it, it's pretty amazing when you realize the myths that persist around copyright, such as registering your idea with the WGA is an effective copyright (it's not), mailing your script to yourself can prove ownership through the postage dates (it doesn't) or that you can sue someone if they steal your idea (you can't). Truth is, there is absolutely nothing stopping anyone from stealing your idea. This is why you always see movies with similar premises, this is why The Asylum is allowed to make films like "Snakes on a Train", "Pirates of Treasure Island" and "AVH: Alien vs Hunter". You can copyright an original piece of work, but an idea? A premise? A thought? No. There are ways to protect yourself, but an idea is just an idea. Now, having said that...

I was listening to a podcast from The Advertising Show this morning, where they were interviewing a guy named Scott Belsky. He authored a book called "Making Ideas Happen" and founded a company called Behance, which develops products and services for the creative industries. He was talking about how a lot, if not most, of the creative ideas in the world either just die or fizzle out because they're never executed properly. The reason being is that most creative types don't thrive in corporate environments and they hate to actually share their ideas. He says that we need to share, we need to discuss and we need to write these things down and create action steps around them. We need to create an infrastructure that nurtures and develops creativity, not hinders it. So, talk about your ideas, put them out there and find people who want to discuss them. The more you do that, the better your ideas become and the better chance there is that they'll actually be executed.

So, it would seem that these two things are a bit contradictory, right? Well, yeah... one is the left brained, legal thing and the other is the right brained, creative thing. So, what to do? Here's the thing... I've talked with SO many people who won't disclose their ideas and they hold them tight. "This idea is so great, I just can't tell anyone about it". I can't think of the last time that any one of those people actually made anything... The truth is, most people won't steal your idea. The studios only steal successful ideas and if your idea is successful, you're already sipping mai-tai's on the beach, so don't worry about it. However, let's go worst case scenario, you're pitching an idea and you get turned down, only to see your idea on the screen a few years later and the guy you pitched to is involved. Well, there are ways to prevent that from happening (you'll have to read "The Writer Got Screwed"), but it does happen. But, is that a reason to continue to hold your ideas tight? I mean, if you just hold on to all your ideas, they may never get out. If you look at risk vs reward... Personally, I would risk having an idea stolen for the potential reward of furthering my career and having one of my concepts come to fruition. Maybe I haven't been screwed over enough, maybe I think that most people are honest and trustworthy, I don't know. At the end of the day, I'm going to keep throwing my ideas out there in the hopes that one of them catches. If it gets stolen in the meantime, at least I tried.

What do you think? Are there any horror stories out there? Just interested to hear what other think about this...

What I Learned From "ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction"

Well, I thought I was going to have an interview for you today... I sent out a whole bunch of them a couple days ago and I thought I'd get at least one back to share. Nope. But that's cool... because I got an email from the After Dark Film Festival, announcing that they've picked up their fourth film for Horrorfest 4, "ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction". I guess the film would be best described as a political zomedy and it's probably the first entry into that very specific sub-genre. However, at the end of the day, it's a zombie movie. Probably the oldest and most tired horror genre out there, right? Before we judge, let's check out the plot... ZMD is about a conservative island community that's under attack by the living dead and the rag-tag band of rebels, led by Frida, an Iranian college student, suspected of being an Iraqi terrorist, and Tom, a gay businessman who has returned to town with his partner to come out to his mother, that try to turn the tide and push the invading hoards of the undead back. Hmmm... interesting characters. Could make for a good story. Now, I'm intrigued...

You see, when I read the title of the press release, "After Dark Films Eats Up The New Horror Comedy, "ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction", I thought... Man alive, when's the zombie genre going to slow down? Isn't this getting a little old? But, when you watch the trailer and read about the characters, you realize that the movie is fresh. From a political and social perspective, it's extremely fresh. So, really, here's a formula for you: tired genre + fresh story = something new and exciting. Now, I want to juxtapose that with a film that I watched yesterday, which will remain nameless... we'll call it "Film X". The logline and premise for "Film X" were both exciting. It seemed very new, it was a great idea and extremely intriguing. Long and short, I was pumped to check it out. However, a few minutes into the film, I realized that they just wrapped that idea around a very tired and old storyline. The characters were basic cardboard cutouts and I've seen them a million times. So, in this case: fresh genre + tired story = something old and boring.

I don't know why, but I think this is a concept that a lot of filmmakers forget. I don't care how new your core idea is... I don't even care if you've created a new genre. Your characters need to interact, they need to have a story and they can't just be a rehash of something that we've seen before. If it is, your audience is going to lose interest in a hurry. Think about it, why have there been new entries into the zombie genre, year after year, that continue to entertain? The backdrop never changes! The dead come back to life to eat the living... I got news for you, that's not fresh! However, the storylines are. The genre and/or concept will always be the backdrop and the characters and story needs to be equally, if not more intriguing. A lot of films have such great core ideas, but they flop like a dead carp when it comes to the actual plotline and characters. So, please, if you've got a good idea, put as much time and effort into creating interesting characters and plotlines as you put into that backdrop. At the end of the day, the concept is just that - the backdrop. The characters, and how they interact, need to drive the story.

Anyhow, here's the trailer for "ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction". Check it out and see what I mean.

Got a finished script? Lucky for you, the 2008 PAGE Awards extended their deadline!

I've already discussed The 2008 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards competition a little while back (here's the link), but I just got a note from them and I thought I'd pass it on to you because if anyone's got a finished script laying around that they don't know what to do with, it's you. Also, since I wrote my last post, I had a chance to speak with Jennifer Berg, the Administrative Director and she did tell me that horror scripts tend to do alright and there's definitely a demand for them. So, dust off that finished script that you've got laying around and throw it in the mail, what have you got to lose? Also, I'm thinking that if you wrote a script, then went out and shot it yourself and you're either self-distributing it or you have a very limited DVD release, there's no reason you can't enter the script. I don't know if there's a rule against entering scripts that have been produced and, to be honest, I didn't really read the fine print on there, but... are the guys who read these really the type of guys who would go out and rent low-budget, shot of DV horror? I kinda doubt it... so, chances are they'd have no idea that it's actually been shot already.

Anyhow, here's the note they sent me...

Just in case you haven’t already entered this year’s contest, I wanted to remind you that the Late Entry Deadline for the 2008 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards competition is just a few days away -- Tuesday, April 15th. Don’t miss it! This year our judges will once again be presenting a total of 31 awards in ten different genre categories. The winning screenwriters will receive over $30,000 in cash and prizes, including a $10,000 Grand Prize, along with Gold, Silver and Bronze Prizes in all ten categories.

Over the past four years the PAGE Awards competition has become one of the most important sources for new screenwriting talent within the Hollywood community and worldwide. Since receiving their Awards, many of our past winners have gone on to land script assignments, secure representation, and sign option agreements on their work, and several now have movies in various stages of production and release. You can read the latest news from our winners on our website: www.internationalscreenwritingawards.com/news.shtml

Due to the success of our winning screenwriters, the PAGE Awards competition has become extremely popular, and we receive many entries each year. However, the way the PAGE Awards is structured, it actually operates as ten small, highly-focused contests, so in the First Round of competition your screenplay is only competing with a few hundred others in the exact same genre category. And because we want to give full consideration to as many scripts as possible, each year the judges advance the top 25% of all entries to the Quarter-Final Round, where your screenplay will be given a second read by another judge. Next we announce the top 25 Semi-Finalists in each category. Then the top ten Finalists in each category. Then this September all of our Finalists in all ten categories will be competing for the Grand Prize. It's all designed to give your script the maximum possible attention and the best possible shot at an Award.

But now let me tell you the real reason to enter the PAGE Awards contest. It’s not just about the winners. Ultimately, this is a wonderful opportunity for everyone who participates.

First and foremost, at each level of competition your work is reviewed by industry professionals – people who have the connections and the ability to represent, promote and/or produce your script. So, win or lose, just by getting your material into the hands of these Hollywood insiders you have the chance to launch your career. In fact, several of our past Finalists and Semi-Finalists have gained representation or sold options to the judges who read their scripts during the contest. And our judges and staff have been instrumental in promoting many of our contestants’ screenplays to other industry contacts, as well.

Also, when you enter the contest, you will have the opportunity to request Feedback from your First Round judge. If you order Feedback, your judge will write you 3-5 pages of notes specifically designed to help you develop your screenplay: explaining how he/she scored your script, describing your script's strengths and weaknesses, and offering any suggestions for improvement. It's a great way to see how an industry professional evaluates your script.

You want know the best part of my job? It’s getting all the wonderful emails from past contestants who, whether they won a prize or not, are making huge progress in their careers. Here’s a sample of one message I received a few weeks ago. (And as I’m sure you can imagine, this one really made my day!)

“I was a Quarter-Finalist last year with my script CLYDE THE GLIDE, THE BOY WHO TRIED, a family comedy. That was nice, but what was great was the input I got from my judge. He gave me pages of help on formatting (most of which I did not know) and lots of encouragement about the good points of the screenplay. How if it was cleaned up format-wise and otherwise fine-tuned it would be marketable and memorable. It was well worth the little bit of money I paid to get some advice and pats on the back from a savvy industry veteran.

“I did all that he advised, and also did some reading about screenplays in recommended books, and then started sending inquiry letters to various independent film companies in L.A., to which I got no response. Not even an acknowledgment that they had received my inquiry and they weren’t interested thank you very much. Finally I started going out of Hollywood with my inquiries, and a production company in Canada agreed to look at the script (it was the first one that did). They loved it. We have exchanged letters of intent and plan to produce it in spring/summer 2009. Funding looks good and we are already looking for a director, a star, etc. So there you go.

“Your contest is the classiest, best organized, and deserves the great rep it has. You all have been a tremendous help to me and I will forever be grateful for that.”
Bret Kofford
Imperial, California

All of us here at PAGE H.Q. are very proud that so many of our past contestants are now realizing their dreams, and we’re very happy that we’ve been able to encourage and assist in their success. And of course, we’re very excited about this year’s fifth anniversary competition. I hope you plan to participate!

If you’ve already submitted your script, thank you very much! And if you haven’t yet entered this year’s contest, please make sure to get your entry postmarked or submitted online by midnight on April 15th.

For more information and access to our easy new online entry forms, please visit us at:
http://www.internationalscreenwritingawards.com/

We look forward to reading your script!

Best regards,
Jennifer Berg
Administrative Director
The 2008 PAGE International
Screenwriting Awards