Movies – Are You Worried That Hollywood Will Steal Your “Great Film Idea”?
A reader asked me what she should do if someone tries to steal “her idea” for this great Hollywood movie.
This is the e-mail I’ve sent to her:
“Dear Reader,
Here is my PERSONAL OPINION on this matter:
You cannot copyright an idea. But if you write a 20-page treatment and then register it with Writers Guild of America you can perhaps claim credit for it. The registration is good for 5 years. The best is of course to copyright it with U.S. Copyright Office.
But even better is to write a full screenplay. Then the idea becomes a PRODUCT and you can copyright it to make it your INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
An idea is not property. However, I’m not an attorney and you should not take anything in this e-mail as valid legal advice. Please consult a licensed attorney.
But after all is said and done, you can’t worry too much in Hollywood about someone stealing “your idea” for a number of reasons.
According to my personal experience:
1) Most people in Hollywood won’t steal your idea. They are professionals and they do this for a living. Their reputation is important to them. Also, when an average film costs anywhere from $50 to $100 million, it makes more sense to pay and buy an idea or script (for $1 mil max) rather than get sued and perhaps pay ten times as much. Stealing an idea does not make any economic sense in the larger scheme of things. Most Hollywood producers do not need to steal anything. If they like your idea (should you be so lucky!) they can just buy it, easily.
2) Most people want a lot more than just ideas from you. They want screenplays (plural). Not one but dozens of them. Even one screenplay is treated only as a calling card, as an indication of your talent. One professional screenwriter I know who sold 19 scripts says you need to have A DOZEN GREAT scripts ready at all times in order to sell ONE.
3) Even if someone steals your idea, it is not easy to fight it. That’s the ugly truth. The studios have more lawyers and money than you do. If you have the tens of thousands of dollars (and even perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars) to successfully sue a studio you perhaps wouldn’t try to sell a script in the first place? Think about it.
4) To get credit for your idea when collaborating with another writer you can sign a Nondisclosure Agreement and have it legally signed and sealed to commit the other writer to secrecy. But what if the other party does not keep his or her promise? See 3 above.
In sum, I’d say, if the idea that someone might steal your idea keeps you awake at night, screenwriting might not be a good vocational choice for you. After all there are people who are giving their movie ideas for FREE on the Internet!
Movies – Hollywood Pop Quiz 1
1) In which film does Sir Anthony Hopkins call his male co-lead a “bitch,” not once but twice?
a. Red Dragon
b. Joe Black
c. Bad Company
d. Howard’s End
2) The films in which Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr made love?
a. Gypsy Moths, and, From Here To Eternity
b. 1900, and, Criss Cross
c. Criss Cross, and, Leopard
d. Sweet Smell of Success, and Gypsy Moths
3) Which two great actors starred in “An Affair to Remember,” “Grass is Greener,”and “Dream Wife”?
a. Charles Heston and Audrey Hepburn
b. Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn
c. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr
d. Robert Mitchum and Elizabeth Taylor
4) Who is the actor that played a rotten character in both “The Departed” and “Talented Mr. Ripley”?
a. Jack Nicholson
b. Matt Damon
c. Ben Affleck
d. Al Pacino
5) Which famous screenwriter said “Nobody knows anything!” to summarize the state of affairs in Hollywood?
a. William Goldman
b. Joe Eszterhas
c. Paul Haggis
d. Paddy Chayefsky
6) Who wrote “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “The Untouchables,” and “The Verdict”?
a. Joe Eszterhas
b. Paul Haggis
c. David Mamet
d. Robert Towne
7) What is the name of the famous European trilogy written and directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski?
a. North-South-East
b. Me-You-Others
c. Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow
d. Blue-White-Red
Which European director shot the trilogy L’Eclisse, L’Avventura, and La Notte?
a. Krzysztof Kieslowski
b. Michelangelo Antonioni
c. Federico Fellini
d. Jean-Luc Godard
9) Which actor has the maximum number of Oscar nominations (as of March 2007)?
a. Jack Nicholson – 15
b. Al Pacino – 12
c. Meryl Streep – 14
d. Katherine Hepburn – 17
10) Which director passed on the offer to direct The Godfather?
a. Costa-Gavras
b. David Lean
c. William Wyler
d. George Stevens
ANSWERS:
1c, 2a, 3c, 4b, 5a, 6c, 7d, 8b, 9c, 10a
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Movies – The Shadow
The “Butcher of Lhasa” is also known as Yinko, played by Alec Baldwin, is a ruthless opium drug dealer who made a practice of taking other’s opium fields and killing anyone who crosses his path. One night, Yinko is kidnapped from his estate and taken to a Chinese temple. Once there, he meets a priest who know Yinko’s true name, Lamont Crankston. This priest teaches Lamont to overcome the evil in his own heart and to combat crime and to cloud men’s minds, thus becoming “The Shadow”.
New York City, early 1900s. Lamont Crankston aka “The Shadow” just rescued a professor at NYU from a group of thugs who were about to throw him over the New York City bridge. The Shadow and Professor Tam are both riding a cab and The Shadow recruits Professor Tam as one of his fellow “contacts”. Professor Tam is let out of the cab at his home. The cab driver, played by Peter Boyle, is actually another of Lamont/The Shadow’s fellow contact and loyal friend. The Shadow tells the cab driver to take him to the Cobalt Club as he transforms back into Lamont Crankston.
Once at the Cobalt Club, Lamont meets his uncle, played by Jonathan Winter, who is also the head of police. As they talk, Margo Lane, played by Penelope Ann Miller, enters the club. Lamont is easily attracted to her and invite her to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. She accepts. As they both enjoy their dinner, Lamont notices that Margo has the gift of reading people’s thoughts, for the simple reason that she read his. Lamont takes Margo home.
At a museum, Shiwan Khan, the last descendant of Genghis Khan, is hidden in his ancestor’s crypt. He escapes the museum and recruits Mongolon warriors as his followers. He visits Lamont and Shiwan tells him that he also was lectured by the Chinese priest. Shiwan asks Lamont to join him in his worldwide takeover as Yinko, his former self. Lamont refuses.
Shiwan hypnotizes Margo Lane’s father, who is a leading scientist, played by Ian McKellen, to build and atomic bomb. Tim Curry, who played father Lane’s assistant, also helped in the task of his own free will. Knowing that Lamont is the shadow, Shiwan hypnotizes Margo into killing him. Margo arrives at Lamont’s home and with a failed murder attempt, Lamont breaks the spell over Margo. She realizes that Lamont is The Shadow as well, but she promises to keep his secret between the two of them. Margo asks for Lamont’s help because her father has disappeared. Together they find the whereabouts of Margo’s father and Shiwan Khan at a Hotel Monolith. This hotel was hidden in plain site because Shiwan cast a spell over the whole city NOT to see it. The Shadow strikes at the Hotel Monolith, defeating Shiwan’s warriors until only Shiwan remained. Meanwhile, Margo and her father are trying to stop the time sequence on the atomic bomb; they succeed. The Shadow and Shiwan have a battle of the mind in a room full of mirrors. The Shadow had a piece of the mirror strike Shiwan’s brain, therefore defeating him. Shiwan ends up in an insane asylum, where one of the doctors is a friend of The Shadow. The doctor tells Shiwan that a part of his brain had to be removed, the part that is used for telepathy. Shiwan is left in a room at the asylum outraged. Lamont and Margo kiss each other and then parted ways.