Do you think your book has film potential? If so, it may be possible to turn it into a film. There are several ways to make this happen, and some traps to avoid. Here are the main points to consider and steps to take.
– Does your book really have good film potential?. A first consideration is whether your book really has the potential to be a film. The mediums are very different, so remember that a film is all about action and dialog. It depends on what can be shown on the screen, and a film loves conflict and drama, so if your book has a lot of interior thinking by a character, a lot of philosophical reflection, or a lot of social commentary, it may not make a good film; or at least much of that will have to go out. While some films have a voice-over narration expressing a character’s thoughts or tying the story together, that has to be done sparely so the film doesn’t become too talky and cerebral, which doesn’t work well in a film. So before you put a lot of effort into trying to turn your book into a film, consider whether it really will work in this medium, or what you have to drop from the book to make a viable film.
– Has your book been published, and if so, is it by a mainstream publisher or does it have a strong sales record? Another big consideration for any film producer, agent, manager, investor, or director in deciding whether your book might make a good film is how well it has done in the market place. It is rare for a company to buy the film rights to an unpublished manuscript, unless it is written by an author who already has a successful track record or comes from a publisher who feels the book will have great sales potential once released. So normally, if you have an unpublished manuscript or a self-published book with limited sales, you may find it difficult to sell the film rights now and you may need to develop the script from your book, and then sell that. It can help if you have taken an unpublished manuscript to the next level by publishing it yourself under your own imprint. But then a film professional will want to know what success you have had in promoting and selling the book. So your track record will be very important. Thus, the more you can up the sales figures or get publicity for the book in the print, broadcast, or Internet media, the more that exposure can help you sell the film rights to a self-published book, assuming this meets the first criteria of having good film potential
– If you have a book published by a mainstream publisher, do you have the film rights to sell? When you sell your book to a mainstream publisher, the contract will include all kinds of subsidiary rights that the publisher is acquiring along with the book. Typically these will include the film, video, and dramatic rights, where you split 50-50 with the publisher unless stated otherwise. So commonly, in entering into a contract, you have to request to exclude those rights to own the right to sell your film, or the publisher will have that right. When you work out the contract details, talk to your publisher about whether you have the right to initiate a deal with a film producer, agent, or manager for the film rights, after which they can finalize it to comply with your contract. Or sometimes before or after you have signed the contract, you can work out an agreement, which might be added to the contract, to give you a greater percentage of any deal if you find it, such as giving you 60-75% of any income derived the sale of the film rights. A still better solution unless your publisher is in a position to aggressively pursue film or video rights to your book (such if your deal is with big company like Random House, which has its own film licensing division) is to get those rights deleted from the contract. And commonly a publisher will be glad to do that if they have no plans to aggressively seek out a film licensing deal – which is the cast for most small or medium sized publishers. Then, once you clarify your ownership and ability to sell film rights, you can attempt to do so.
– Should you attempt to sell film rights or write a script based on your book and seek to sell that, or do both? Another big consideration is whether you should pitch the film rights to your book, write the script and pitch that, or pitch either or both to prospective buyers. While there are no firm rules, here are some general guidelines.
– If your book is by a well-established mainstream publisher or you have a good sales record as an independent publisher, you are in a good position to pitch the film rights; then if you find an interested producer, agents, or manager, they might assign a tried and proven screenwriter to adapt the script, or you may be given a chance to first do this yourself.
– If your book is still in a manuscript form or has been published by yourself or by a small publisher with limited success, writing the script yourself – or hire a screenwriter to adapt the book into a script for you. Then, you can pitch the script based on your book.
– If you have a script to pitch, you might try doing both – pitching the film rights and/or the script in order to up your chances of getting a film deal. In this case, you offer the producer the option of getting the film rights or the script or both. This way, if a film pro likes the book but not your script, he or she might option the film rights or perhaps draw on your script but bring in an established screenwriter to pump it up.
So exactly how do you pitch the film rights or adapt the script from a book? The next series of blogs will deal with those issues.
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Gini Graham Scott, PhD, is the author of over 50 books with major publishers, including two on the film industry: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WRITING, PRODUCING, AND DIRECTING A LOW-BUDGET SHORT FILM and FINDING FUNDS FOR YOUR FILM OR TV PROJECT, both published by Hal Leonard. She has written and produced over 50 short films, has written 15 scripts for features, has three other films in preproduction, and has one feature film she wrote and executive produced in post-production for release in November 2014. She also writes scripts for clients, and has several film industry Meetup groups which have meetings to discuss members films.