An IP of Your Own

An IP of Your Own

If you're a member of my Screenwriters World Facebook group, you probably already know how difficult it is to even get someone in the industry to agree to read your screenplay. Getting someone interested enough to actually consider pushing it up to an individual who can make a buying decision is even more difficult.

If you're not living in an area with a significant film industry, the chances of actually selling a screenplay is significantly reduced. It can and has been done, but if you don't live in Los Angeles or somewhere like that, you are battling steep odds.

One way to reduce those odds is to own your own IP. Intellectual Property is something the film industry drools over. The idea that the homework has been done for them is too tempting to pass on if the IP has a fairly significant following. They already know there is an audience, and they can multiply that interest to project potential film success.

So how does someone get ownership of an IP?

If you're looking for an automatic pot of gold, you're out of luck. You won't be able to buy the rights to the next comic book superhero franchise because the studios can outbid everyone for those rights. The best way to increase your chance of breaking into the industry is to give the industry what it wants:

An existing product with a following.

And the best way to provide that at the least cost is to write a novel. Take one of those screenplays you wrote and labored so long and hard over and turn it into a novel. You'll enjoy the freedom to get inside the character's heads and to be able to explain backstory and everything that the rules of screenwriting prohibit. You can fully flesh out your characters and story world.

You'll have a finished product that you can market on Amazon or elsewhere. An e-Book and paperback that you can actually hold in your hands. Your work showcased before the entire world. I'm not saying that obtaining a large audience will be easy, but at least your story will have been realized in print. It won't forever stay only in your head.

Better still, you'll also still have that original screenplay. Not only will the novel open up new ideas to improve your script, but you'll also have that completed screenplay if and when studios come-a-calling. You can negotiate to get at least the first crack at writing the script and get paid a nice sum to do so. You can, if it's your desire, try to negotiate a deal that allows you to direct the film, too. If you can't, you can try to get more money to salve that wounded pride.

How would it feel to actually be in the driver's seat for a change?

If your novel becomes successful, the industry will come to you with offers. That would be a nice change from having to beg to have some assistant just agree to read your script before dumping it on the pile of “passes.”

Writing my first novel has already helped me. My work has been exposed to people who never would have known it existed. It is slowly gaining momentum and I'm hoping that word-of-mouth will generate more interest over time. You have to be patient. But knowing your story is out there in front of the entire world is very satisfying indeed.

It's a win-win situation. You get to explore the wider latitude that a novel allows and you if you self-publish you get your story out there to start building interest and gaining fans. I think every screenwriter should give a lot of serious thought to writing a novel. It might just be your best path to becoming a paid screenwriter.

My first novel, “The Last Angel To Fall,” began as a screenplay. The book launch was July 9, 2019 and it briefly ranked #1 in one category before succumbing to the promotional power of those with more financial backing. The novel is available in Kindle e-Book and paperback editions.

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Angel-Fall-Jubal-Stone-ebook/dp/B07TYZXLV2/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+last+angel+to+fall&qid=1563458960&s=books&sr=1-1