Hi, I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. I'm looking for a screenwriter/person who is looking to break into the movie industry? I have an idea for a movie and would like to talk with someone about it to see if it has any possibility/potential. Or if its just crazy!! I have an idea for a movie like Money Ball. Let me know your thoughts... Thanks!! Fast Eddie
Most here are writers. I'm just guessing, but it sounds like you want someone with experience in the film industry to take your idea to their contacts and promote it, with you eventually profiting from the idea. That's extremely unlikely to happen. A very wise man once said, "Ideas are a dime a dozen, looking for change.". The idea is the easy part, especially since you've admitted that your idea is based on someone else's. Better you should consider writing a novel based on your idea.
So how do I share more of my idea without giving it away? Am I supposed to post, in detail, my idea for this movie and let everyone see it??
Nope. My point was that what I think you want to happen here probably isn't going to. In case I'm wrong, why don't you post a more complete explanation of what you're asking for? Let's say there's a writer here who is interested in working with you. What exactly do you expect him or her to bring to the project, and what do you see as your contribution aside from the idea?
Next question...how do I know someone wont take my idea and go off on there own. I'm sure this has happened before.
Preferably, you need a treatment before you go to anyone to try to pitch your idea. Anything before that stage, and you're not bringing anything to the table other than a concept, which isn't a lot to work with. If you have a treatment or screenplay, you can register that work with the U.S. Copyright Office. You could also ask the person you are pitching to to sign a Confidentiality Agreement, though often people won't sign them.
Ideas are common. So you might want to take a step back and consider that. I have a great idea for a book. So I've spent the last three years teaching myself how to write because that is where the actual skill comes in, not just from the idea. @stevesh has noted how you can explain more of what you are looking for without giving the idea away. I have some friends that have been trying to pitch more intelligent TV programs for quite a while. They did a lot of work and developed a pilot before actually pitching it to TV producers. Phil Plait's Bad Universe A few episodes aired but it has since been shelved. Michael Shermer Exploring the Unknown Shermer's program ran for a short stint. Anyway, the point is, these guys worked on their ideas for years, finally had successful pitches, but the programs were well developed before being pitched to broadcasters. You don't even have a screenplay from the sounds of it. An idea is not much until it is more developed. I suggest you decide, do you want to hire a writer, partner with a writer (not likely unless you are famous and your name sells), or learn to write screenplays? Maybe forget the pitch and write the novel. It's a very rewarding pathway.
Here is what I have...if you think it has legs...we go 50/50. It has to do with Fantasy Football. Right now there are 41.1 million people playing the FF game. It grossed over 1.71 Billion dollars last year. These numbers are expected to explode over the next few years!! There is a HUGE interest in this FF thing right now!!! We have a washed-out high school football coach. Since he feels like a loser he starts to hang out with his college buddies who are REALLY into the FF. After 9-18 months of playing FF he starts to make some really good pics and moves to the number one spot of FF in the world. This catches the eye of several NFL owners and it somehow leads him to a professional NFL team (front office) and they use him to pick and draft players to build a championship team. Or another twist would be for him to become an NFL coach because of his FF pics and success.
@Fast Eddie it will be difficult to find an experienced screen writer to go in with you on that kind of arrangement. You might be able to interest someone who is just starting out, I don't know. Normally, the idea in and of itself isn't worth a lot of money (if any). The value comes in the form of a well-written screenplay that can be sold to a production company. If you want a screen writer to go in with you, without payment, based solely on an idea, you have to look at what other value you're bringing to the partnership. If you've just got the idea, and the screen writer is doing the work, then the screen writer is far and away bringing the bulk of the value to the project. Value that you bring might be in the form of industry contacts, if you already have experience in the film industry, and that can tip the scales. Otherwise, I think at the very least you'd want to have a treatment prepared. I've represented screen writers, and also the "idea person" in relation to scripts, including those that were eventually optioned by a production company, but I've never seen an experienced screen writer with the kind of contacts to sell the screenplay go into something like this without payment and with a 50/50 split. I think that's an unrealistic expectation, unless again you are going with a complete newbie screenwriter, in which case you both have an uphill battle ahead of you (though I won't say an impossible one).
I don't know. I think it's a natural sentiment. I know I don't like to share too much about my novel. I don't think the idea is that original, (sorry @ Fast Eddie), so yes, that makes it unlikely the idea will be stolen. But 'prideful'? Nah.
I don't think winning in FF translates to winning the real game. If that were true you'd have FF champions (do they have world or national contests?) already being noticed by the NFL. You might have some credibility issues with the story. I still say, you are better off teaching yourself to write. It seems to me you are interested in that, be it novels or screenplay. I can tell you from experience ideas take work to flesh out. Having ideas is sometimes your brain telling you that you have a desire to create stories.
Whoopie Goldberg was in a movie where she was a cab driver and avid basketball fan and ends up getting hired as an NBA coach. I think the idea could work if implemented well, but I don't think trying to sell the idea, in basically abstract form, is going to get you anywhere.
This isn't a real life story movie...but, if done right ....it could feel like its a real life story. You guys don't know this market...if this movie is done right....those 41.1 million players of FF...they will show up in GROVES to see a movie about them!!!! And they will DRAG there wife and kids with them to see it...more people=more ticket sales. This is their ULTIMATE DREAM!!!! These guys eat, sleep, drink and live FF 24/7!!!! To think that somehow this could be possible for them (even if its not reality) they will appreciate it and show it at the box office....to me, this is a no brainer block buster. And you guys who DON'T see what I see...you just missed a GOLDEN opportunity to help you get, to where you want to go. I'm confident there will be ONE person who will see what I have written and a light will go off...an a-haaa moment. I just need ONE person who has the courage to take a chance and likes a challenge!!!
I've always seen fantasy football as "Dungeons and Dragons for people who move their lips when they read."
I'm not saying the idea couldn't be turned into something that works, just that the screenwriter is going to be doing all the work to turn it into something of value. A 50/50 split isn't going to make sense from their point of view. Also, since you can't protect ideas, per se, there's not much motivation for someone to go in on it at this stage. If you're going to co-write it, it might be a different story. In any event, I don't write screenplays.
I knew once I "let the cat out of the bag" it was over for me. I'll be looking for it on the big screen in the coming year(s). I know there's a writer out there who's reading our posts and his heart is pumping real fast right now. I hope you make it!! Thanks for all the comments....I no longer have a need for Writing Forums. I wish you all well and much success.
Uhh, @Fast Eddie, no. We're trying to honestly help you. A great movie idea is not like winning the lottery. @Steerpike is giving you some very good information and advice. You didn't win the lottery. But so what? Just keep chasing those dreams of yours.
Here's your story, @Fast Eddie, let me pitch it to you: This weekend, 500 fantasy football devotees’ dreams came true. What does the boom in imaginary sports mean for the real thing? You are correct, there is a large fan base. The question is, are they readers? If yes, take the novel route, if no, go for the screen play. You don't need the cringe worthy 'NFL hires the guy', people will balk unless you can show the real world connection between being a fan, being good at computer games, and being a real team manager. Instead what you have here is backstory that is ripe for human drama. No one cares that John Doe fails then makes it big with some natural talent as a football manager. What an author does is write the character the reader cares about. The plot is no more than a platform to tell the story about a person. In this case, if the audience or readers care about the character, that is what makes the story. It's the author that creates the piece, that turns some little framework (I'll be blunt, that's all you have, the thinnest of frames) into something of interest to people. The frame is not what makes a story.
I read somewhere recently that screen writing is the new macrame. There are classes just about everywhere and some good how to books on the subject. Take a class, read some books, write a screenplay.
Because too many people have too many ideas of their own. If there is a single writer here without their own ideas and in need of yours, they are not the writer you need. The idea is the easy part. What do we need that for?
If I were a professional script writer/ editor.... which I have been.... then I would laugh at your 50/50. The idea is such a small and easy component of the success of the screenplay, you'd thank me for 10% and a 'story by' credit. If it's such a golden idea you should have no troubles. But I'm not liking your chances. FF is about participation. That's the appeal. Guys who take the stock market seriously don't care for movies about it, because they don't care for movies. The FF community would probably get angry at someone highjacking their passion, rather than their ultimate dream being some movie about some guy who gets a job. Also, that's not how the film industry works. It simply isn't. There are still fantastic ideas with brilliant scripts unsold, unproduced, or never released. Then it's simply getting the script read. You can't just send in a spec script, no matter how good it is. You have to get an agent. Getting an agent is tough. If it is good enough for an agent, a first time screen-writer will not get much of a cut, let alone the 'idea man.' Sure, it will help with a foot in the door, and in getting an agent, so that may be the only real benefit for the years of hard work involved in producing a top level screenplay. I'm not going into all the details as to why the story makes no sense, other than the fact that teams rely on more than stats to create winning line-ups. It's not like the Moneyball story but it's the closest example. Now, if FF is owned by someone, you have to get their permission to use the branding. That's costly. You can't sell the script without that permission. The film would probably be a $40m production with an ok cast. Let's add another 20 to 30 for marketing. We're sitting on $60m costs to get it to screen. Moneyball was produced for $50 million and then made $75m domestic US and it won an Oscar. Hardly a box office smash. FF fans love FF, not movies about a character who likes FF. I doubt a movie about a guy who plays FF 'making it' is their ultimate dream. Maybe for a few hundred sad sacks, but the other 41.1 million players? It's an ok premise, perhaps for a mildly amusing comedy, but the FF aspect is a gimmick, not a drawcard. Oh for fuck's sake. You think that with 41.1 million players you're the ONLY one to ever have this idea?
Listen, You guys got more important things to worry about than some guy who thought he had a great movie idea. So I was wrong, no biggie and no worries here. Can we move on with life now?? God bless
