Please forgive me if this isn't the right lounge to ask this in -but I'm kind of at a loss as to where to post my questions.
I know the film & tv industry is probably flooded with ideas daily. How do you pick what you want to work on next? Do you, as a producer or director, go with what's hot in the projected market? Do you look for ideas in your slush pile? Is it preferred to have the script written already or is taking a novel from scratch, let's say, easier to develop?
I've always been fascinated to learn how things work in different industries. Entertainment - film/tv on the business side is very new to me. I don't want to send ideas that people aren't interested in but I have no clue where to start to reach those that are looking for material to adapt.
Any answers, advice, assistance is appreciated.
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We had a very informative conversation with the development executive from Jordan Peele's production company about just such a subject last week in the Writer's Room. It's not an easy question to answer, nor is it the same for every company, but diversifying your bets is a good first step. Your slate of projects should reflect the mission of your company, but also consider its audience - at all times, consider your audience.
A good producer gets ideas from anywhere and everywhere. A couple examples: This weekend's top film "Nobody" features an ordinary guy, an underdog, who overcomes obstacles to survive. Makes you think immediately of other possible underdog stories. A distributor on Youtube says that her top-earning films target "underserved audiences", a euphemism for black and Latino film lovers. And right away you start thinking "How can my new project appeal more to that market? And how can I change content/casting to accomplish that?"
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If you are sending ideas to prospective producers, you should just send what you want to sell. You can't guess what they are looking for. If it's hot on TV or film today - savvy producer's are not buying it unless it's literally ready to go right now - because what's hot today will be passe tomorrow. And what might be in the minds of development execs is none of your business since you cannot figure it out and they likely won't ever tell you. So stop worrying about it. Your best strategy, IMO, is to go with what you like to write and keep on that until you get a match with a producer
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I should have added to my post that I'm a literary agent. I represent over 50 authors and their works. Many have requested looking into film for their books. I'm wanting to get a feel for the industry and see how we can possibly get our foot in the door. The majority of our clients are self-published so they're not backed by big publishing houses that the film/tv industry, I'm guessing, looks to on a regular basis.
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Stephanie Phillips Well kind of the same principle applies. As an agent, you should be able to get to talk to producers and development people and ask them directly, or pitch to them directly. Self-published might be a hard sell depending on the producer, though the publishing industry has changed so much it's not really considered vanity press any longer. So it's a matter of numbers - how many have they sold, etc. for that one.
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Stephanie, adaptations from books are hot right now. Your authors actually have an advantage over screenwriters, in our view, based on two reasons. First, book selections are often viewed as presold franchises with built-in platforms and base audiences. Often times they are already proven. Secondly, reading a book instead of a screenplay for a producer or Head of Development at a studio is a break from their usual and many screenplay reads... no doubt a pure joy and welcomed experience. Additionally, since book prose rules are out of their field and repertoire, they won't be as critical. You've just raked all the screenplay formatting and structure rules right out of their hands. Consider submitting the raw book as your sales tool, rather than adapting it to a screenplay and then submitting. As Shadow mentions, it's about numbers, so push the close-to-Bestsellers, while encouraging your authors to shoot for the 1oo,ooo+ SOLD mark. 10,ooo copies sold may attract a publisher in your world, while 1-million sold will certainly raise a Hollywood brow.
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Dan MaxXx Secondary rights for self-published authors is how I make money. That includes audiobook, foreign, gaming, licensing, and anything for film/tv. Anything you can sell an IP for that's how to you do it. Which makes it easier because there's no red tape like you mentioned in the traditional market.