Saturday, February 27, 2010

Protecting Your Ideas

In my years working in television programming, I received literally thousands of program pitches, from everyone from my neighbors to my personal hero in programming, Brandon Tartikoff. I always tried to listen respectfully, and treat the people pitching the idea as I would want to be treated. I would remind myself that even though I might have heard this idea a hundred times, the person pitching it didn't know that.

One question would irritate me to a point where I couldn't help but show it. That was, "How do I know you won't steal my idea?" Usually I would respond, "if you're that worried about it, don't tell me the idea." Occasionally, that would stop the pitch in its tracks, and I would get a half hour of my life back.

Sometimes it's hard to tell what's a stolen idea, and what's just popular imitation. For example, I might think it's a good idea to launch a series about an adolescent with magical powers. That describes both the Harry Potter series and the Percy Jackson series. Were these stolen ideas? Of course not. While they both can be described broadly the same way, they differ in thousands of different details.

That's the best way to protect your idea. Write it down and make it as detailed as possible. Don't wait for someone at a television company to buy it before you create it. For example, you can copyright your novel about a magical boy in Brooklyn who saves the city; you have no protection if you're just walking into someone's office telling them you'd like to write a movie about that topic.

Of course, if you already have a track record in the business, you don't have to finish a piece before you sell your idea. Executives want to do business with you if you have a history or writing hit films or novels. If you're like most of us, trying to get our ideas a hearing, you have more to prove.

Protect yourself by turning your idea into a property. JK Rowling didn't sell the idea of writing a book about a young wizard named Harry Potter, she wrote the book first and sold that. So get busy.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Fish Where the Fish Are

What's the best way to catch a fish? Fish where the fish are.

True, this is a famous cliche. It gets repeated, though, because it's good advice. You have a much better chance to catch a fish if you go looking for them where they're swimming. You still have work to do, of course, but your odds are better.

That advice holds even in today's internet-dominated world. If you want to increase your odds of getting your progam idea considered, meet people in television. You can glean some information from on-line forums about programs, or through groups on Facebook and Linked In. But that still is no substitute for meeting decision makers in person and getting their input face to face.

The best way to do that is through an industry organization. If you're a writer, join the writer's guild. If you're a director, the director's union. The National Association of Television Programming Executives (NATPE) sponsors an annual convention and learning opportunities throughout the year, but you have to travel to where they are. (you can look for more information at www.natpe.org

Don't want to travel to New York or Los Angeles? Look for the film festival closest to where you live. Most of them will invite working producers and directors in for a talk. Join a group of aspiring producers in your own town. If you don't have a group, start your own.

Will Rogers said, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." So make time in your week to meet people who can help you in person. You will be glad you did.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Nobody Knows Anything

William Goldman, the great screenwriter, wrote two books about working in the movie business: "Adventures in the Screen Trade" was the first and "Which Lie Did I Tell" is the other. I recommend reading both of them, especially if you're interested in screenwriting.

On page 39 of "Adventures in the Screen Trade" Goldman introduces his key concept:

Nobody Knows Anything

What he means by that is that no one -- no studio executive, no star, no screenwriter, no director -- knows for sure what movies are going to become popular. At best, studio executives are making educated guesses based on their experience, research and what has worked before. But they don't know.

What does that mean for you? It means that your idea might actually work as well as an idea from an established producer. So if you believe in your idea don't give up. Develop it in detail. Keep trying to get the attention of network or film executives. The best executives know what they don't know. They're always looking for the next big thing. You just might have it.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

2% of Something

Some years ago I took a workshop about how to produce shows on Broadway. On the very first day we were given the following advice:

"2% of something is better than 100% of nothing."

Keep that in mind for your own idea. It doesn't matter if you own 100% of a bad idea: you'll never realize any money from it. However, you can make a lot of money on 2% of a good idea. Think how much you'd make if you owned 2% of the merchandise rights for Star Wars, or 2% of the gross box office receipts of Avatar.

How is your idea going to generate money for the network or publisher? Is it marketed to a specific demographic? Have they demonstrated in the past they will pay for ideas like this? All of the gatekeepers you pitch your idea to will be much more receptive if you can show they will receive 2% of something instead of 100% of nothing.