Exploring your Options

Apologies for the hiatus, had a bit of a bother getting into Wix when Chrome went pear shaped. Anyway, to cut a long story short, for this blog I decided that I would write a little bit about what happened when my script was first optioned and how things developed from there.

To start the ball rolling, I networked. Networking meant chipping away at; twitter, linkedin and social media. It's not the easiest thing to go on-line and sell your personality but as you start to chat to people, you meet like-minded kinds, especially if you follow other writers, producers and creatives.

On-line, I met such a producer and we got talking about my short zombie script 'Somebody for Everybody', he liked it and hoped to get it made. As we spoke I happened to mention that I had a one page short, chanced my luck and asked if he'd take a look. Funding fell through on the other script but he thought the one page comedy had legs and decided to take it on to produce as a 'labour of love'. It was so short it was hard to get backers to fund, so he invested himself.

This led to my first option. I'd never seen one before and it was basically a contract that I had to sign saying that his production company had the rights to my script for a year. If in that time he couldn't use it, the script reverted back to me. It explained that I had full writer credit which is good as you'll notice on IMDB some people are credited as writer and some as scriptwriter. If you are credited as writer, as far as I can tell, it means you have created the story and script. If you only get the scriptwriter credit it means you wrote the script but the concept was by someone else.

After the contract was signed, this led to a series of Skype/Facetime calls. My producer introduced me to the director and we all chatted about what our vision was for the script. From there, I received director's notes on what he thought worked and what could be made more visual to set the tone of the piece. After a few sets of notes back and forth, we discussed props that worked and things that were too expensive to do. (One of the things I wanted was a car sticker and it was costly to order but we came up with a way of doing it within budget.) So, think visually and within budget.

Once all the director's notes were applied, the script was then locked. Basically, under copyright so no one could duplicate it.

The next step in the process was for casting and crew to be selected and scripts to go out to the cast. We have three of a cast and crew; including an Assistant Producer, DP, sound guy, composer, music, runners and someone to do make up. After that, we needed a location to shoot. From there, it was down to getting all the set dressing and props required to set up the scenario.

As I'm lucky, my producer has invited me to have a day on set to watch filming. I've just booked my ticket and am now waiting on the Call Sheet and e-mails that go along with filming. I've also signed the indemnity for insurance. With equipment on set, insurance is always required as no one can afford accidents with expensive kit.

From being a total newbie, it's given me an insight into pre-production of a script and all the time and work it takes to set up even just a small script. (My one pager became two and half but whether it stays longer, or shorter will all depend on the edit after the shoot.)

Well, hope that helps for an inside look at what goes on. We film 'The Cliché' in July and it's given me my first writer credit on IMDB! So, keep a look out for us on twitter and next year at festival. It may be small but it's perfectly formed!