Screenwriting : Adapting an IP by Edward Veltre

Hire a lawyer and get your own paperwork in order first (I would form a LLC solely for film project), then contact Business Affairs Dept of company who owns IP

If it is a book. A good place to start may be the publisher. It is going to be a little bit of investigation work.

Definitely hire a lawyer to cover yourself.

Good question Edward Veltre. I recommend checking out this course to help with this project:

https://www.stage32.com/webinars/The-Adaptation-Journey-Adapting-an-exis...

As someone who used to have to dig around to find rights holders, start with the publisher (books/magazines/comics) or studio (film/TV)

Based how? Loosely? I mean you have a spy trying to save the world, just label it 008 or something...

It's a spin-off of Buffy The Vampire Slayer that focuses on two potential slayers who died in S7 and get brought back to life; Chloe and Amanda who now must go on a journey to form a slayer squad while trying to survive in a changed world.

Does it need to be linked to Buffy though? Wouldn't it stand up on its own merits if you wrote it outside of the Buffy story world? In my view, that's how you should approach it.

Buffy? Hard pass.

You're writing fan fiction.

I agree with Phil. The angle sounds fantastic. Change the names/backstory and make it your own.

I agree, forget the whole buffy connection, create a whole new reason why these two exist in this world to fight vampires. make it your own. trying to connect it to property that you legally have no ownership to is an uphill battle.

I have read your comments. Thanks for sharing your opinions. To answer one of you, this won't be connected to Buffy since I plan to make it stand on its own like Agents of Shield. Also, I plan to introduce new supernatural threats in this world for Chloe and Amanda to face.

If it is a book you want to know the IP holder of, contact the publisher as they may have a deal with the author regarding multi-media adaptations.

Edward Veltre I am confused. Is it based on someone else’s IP or not? If it is you need their permission. If it is not based on their IP I don’t know why you are asking the question.

Hi Dan, Edward mentioned the story would be a spinoff of the Buffy world. Edward, that means you would need to get permission from Joss Whedon/20th Century Fox to move forward.

Erin Leigh You are right.

Hey Erin, could I contact 20th Century Fox about this through their website?

Edward Veltre Big studios don't talk to unrepresented writers. At least they didn't used to. Years ago, I sent a query to Warner Bros about an idea I had for a property they owned. They sent the letter back with a note stating that they only read my material enough to see why I had sent the letter.

Hi Edward, so I'm still pretty green compared to some of the writers here, and, while I am an eternal optimist, my understanding is that you would need to have some pretty MAJOR connections in L.A. to make something like this happen. My advice from earlier still stands: change the names and backstory, get it all on paper, and then this becomes YOUR world and YOUR IP. You're the Joss Whedon, then. ;)

A studio like Warner Bros will only accept material submitted through a WGA Agent a manager they know or someone they have a working relationship with. I had one deal with them and it died because the author who wrote the book we tried to negotiate for more money when he found out Warner Bros was involved. If you try it anyway I wish you luck but it is a longshot at best.

Claude Gagne I don't believe the script is already written and writing it would be a waste of time. If he did have one he would probably receive a nasty letter from Warner Bros attorney. I had a deal with them once and it fell apart because it was an adaptation and the author got greedy so working with a big studio can be not as fun as one might think. However, if you want to make money in this business you have to take the good with the bad.

If it was a local company or story, sure, you could ask and make it happen. If it's a big brand / company, you are wasting your time and resources.