Sunday I got an idea to adapt a prose fantasy work set in my Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting guide's fictional continuity that was just lying around into a script so I could do a kind of dramatic reading with actors doing the dialogue.
Tuesday I finished a draft of it.
By Wednesday two editors returned it with notes, I'd cast five actors, two of whom are actual, like, names, one of which turned in his lines the same day.
Today I have the whole thing cast, all of whom donating their time and labor as a favor, a production schedule locked in and a release date lined up.
Wow. I thought "I should have been doing this years ago," but now I'm just thinking about starting the next one.
Hey, Hannibal Tabu. I’m a Stage 32 Lounge Moderator. I wanted to let you know I moved your post from the Screenwriting Lounge to the Your Stage Lounge. The Your Stage Lounge is a space where members can share updates on projects. If your update includes a service that you used on Stage 32, your post can go in the Screenwriting Lounge. Let me know if you have any questions. Looking forward to checking out your dramatic reading!
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A production schedule to hold a dramatic reading? Or shoot a film?
If you’re making a recording or film and have any intention of making money from it, make sure to excise any lifted D&D material from the script. Place names, specific spells, creatures original to D&D. Especially the term “Dungeons and Dragons.”
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Maurice Vaughan That sounds fair. I'm new and still trying to figure out how things work. Thanks!
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@Mike Boas It's basically a mix between a dramatic reading and an audio book -- I'll be narrating everything that isn't dialogue, basically.
As our legal team pushed us when we did the actual campaign setting guide The Sundering: The Nation Beneath Our Feet, I don't use literally anything that's not covered under the Creative Commons license SRD, which allows for commercial exploitation of any non-WOTC specific elements (i.e. I use "arcane engineers" because I can't say "artificers" but "detect thoughts" is fine to use). For D&D creators, it's been quite a busy year of brushing up on the legal ramifications and we made quite a lot of original stuff for ourselves. We don't visit any places they made, we made all the places. They can't claim to own "elf" or "dwarf" or even "drow" so that's fine. As long as we say "fifth edition setting," without claiming to be official, we're fine and dandy.
You're welcome, Hannibal Tabu.
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Great job researching what’s in the clear to use! I was only responding with caution because you used the name Dungeons and Dragons in your original post.
There’s a lot of interest in these campaign performances. You could release it on YouTube or as a podcast. Not sure if you can make money, but can be a portfolio piece to show your writing and production abilities.
I was editor on an audiobook dramatization several years ago. It was as much work as doing the sound effects editing and mixing on a feature film! Very rewarding though.