Making an Offer to Option Flim Rights to a Book

[KGB]

I've recently come into an opportunity to make an offer to option the film rights for a book. The book is called "When the Rivers Run Dry," by Fred Pearce. It's a book that presents the argument that lack or water (not oil), will be the defining crisis of the 21st century.
I'm totally new at this so I'm looking for as much advice as I can get.
She (I'm dealing with the agent) want us to make an offer on the option. So here are basically my questions:
1) My understanding of this whole process is that as a small production company, the best way would be to start w/ a lowball offer for the option and then pay out the back end with a percentage of the total gross. So we might purchase the option, produce the film and enter it into a bunch of film fests and hope it gets picked up by a distributor, at which point they will recieve a percentage of the gross...Does that sound right???
2) My second question is what would lowball offer be? I've tried to get some sales numbers from the agent, but she said the publishers are tight with those numbers. All she would tell me is that the publisher also published The Divinci Code, so it's a big name. So I really have no idea what to start with for an offer?
So any help (maybe there's some questions that I didn't even know to ask) would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[Kim Welch]

not much help

not much help

I might not be much help on these things but I want you to know that I have some very nice books that I have read that I am sure would make great movies and I asked Roy H. Wagner, ASC about it and he said that I need to find out who owns the rights to the book and then tell them that I am a small potatoe and that I don't have much money but would like to make an offer and then offer them $5,000.00. But, I am not sure if this will work in your case.

 

[pdisante]

Re: not much help

Re: not much help

I might not be much help on these things but I want you to know that I have some very nice books that I have read that I am sure would make great movies and I asked Roy H. Wagner, ASC about it and he said that I need to find out who owns the rights to the book and then tell them that I am a small potatoe and that I don't have much money but would like to make an offer and then offer them $5,000.00. But, I am not sure if this will work in your case.

What do you want to get for that $5,000? An option? Or do you want to purchase the film rights? Five grand is a lot for an option for a book that does not have a famous or semi-famous author attached to it (or is itself a famous or semi-famous title.) But if the book is fairly well known, it would be reasonable. Still, I'd ask for 18 months on the option, with an option for an additional 18 months (you'll have to pay more money for exercising the second option, too, should you choose to do that.) It's going to take a while to write the screenplay once the option is in place, so make sure you have enough time to do both that and market the project. It takes a long time to get things going in Hollywood--if LaLaLand is the route you're going. Indie films are a different animal.

Remember that when you option a book, it is customary to include what the purchase price of the book's film rights would be right in the option agreement/contract, should the screenplay be purchased. The tricky thing is how much to promise for the purchase. If it's too high, a production company or studio might shy away completely from the project, because they have to buy not only the film rights from the book's author, but the script from you, the screenwriter. So be mindful of that.

If the book's author asks too much, you, as the screenwriter, may end up with nothing! Of course, why would you agree to nothing? You wouldn't, and shouldn't. But then when you include your price in the deal, the total amount could be a deal breaker. It's a fine line to walk. Just don't over-promise the book author!

If you could purchase the film rights outright for $5,000, I'd say that's a pretty good deal--depending on the book. That's money you don't get back if you can't sell the screenplay, however, so make sure the risk is worth it to you if you take the plunge.