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Life Story Rights - When you're pitching a true story based on a person's life, or specific event (s) in their life, it’s important to have their permission. This can be done with a simple letter of agreement that outlines your exclusive right to develop, pitch and sell a movie around their life story. Ultimately it will be the production ...
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- How Do You Know When Your Idea for a TV Show Or Movie is Ready to Pitch
- Overview
- Developing Your Pitch
- Protecting Your Rights
- Selling Your Story
- Selling an Option
Whether you experienced a single exciting or traumatic event, had an amazing adventure, or simply lived a long and rich life, you believe you have a story to tell. Maybe you've watched television movies or feature films based on true stories and thought "My story is more interesting than that." But there's a lot of work that goes into getting your ...
Even if you have no plans to write a full screenplay, a basic outline of your story not only allows you to develop an effective pitch but gives you written material that you can protect through copyright.
Your outline can be as detailed or as skeletal as you like. Keep in mind that just because you include a particular fact or detail doesn't necessarily mean it will make it into a feature or television movie, if you end up selling your story.
While your life is chronological, it may not follow the same lines a story would. Think about a story you've heard or a movie you've seen that had a good story line, and map your life story out along similar lines.
A standard movie is broken into three acts, with the characters in the story following a similar trajectory. You may not think of the people in your life as characters, but in the movie of your life story they would be.
Consider consulting an intellectual property attorney.
Even if you're not going to be doing a lot of writing or other creative work yourself, an intellectual property attorney can help you protect your rights and maximize your profits when selling your life story.
Particularly if some event in your life has garnered local – or even national – media attention, you may have already received calls from people interested in buying your life rights.
Under no circumstances should you so much as contemplate making a deal with someone to produce your life story without at least talking to an attorney.
Not only can a good copyright attorney help you protect your rights before you start trying to sell your life story to a producer, they can review contracts and make sure you're going to get what you want and be fairly represented in any deal you sign.
If you don't know any copyright or intellectual property attorneys, start your search on the website of your state or local bar association. There should be a searchable directory of attorneys licensed to practice in your area.
Nearly everyone thinks something has happened in their life that would make a good movie or television show, and yet relatively few life stories are actually purchased by producers. Those that are typically already have demonstrated interest and popular appeal.
Many movies or television specials based on true life stories happen because the producers optioned the film rights for a biography or autobiography that was already a bestseller.
For this reason, it's almost always a good bet if you want to sell your life story to a producer to get it out in print first.
A bestselling book may seem out of your reach, but you may be able to hire a ghost writer and put out a self-published book for a few thousand dollars.
If a book seems out of your reach, you might want to look to local or regional interest publications to start garnering media attention for your story.
Build a presence on social media and attract friends and followers with tales from your life that you'd ultimately like to see made into a movie.
Determine if an option is right for you.
Most producers will purchase an option on your work instead of buying the product outright. When a producer purchases an option, they are purchasing the exclusive right to your life story for a specified period of time. During this "rental" period the producer will work to develop the product (e.g., creating a budget, getting actors lines up, getting a screenplay). Also, during this period, you will not be able to sell or option the rights to your life story to anyone else.
Option contracts can be a great way to earn money without having to give up all the rights in your life story (unless the option is exercised).
However, option contracts take your ability to advertise and sell your product elsewhere for a specific period of time. Some producers will purchase options on works to simply take them off the market so it can't be made by someone else.
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Feb 14, 2024 · Try to make your verbal pitch as compelling as your written one. 7. Be confident but conversational. If you’re invited to the room where it happens, now you need to keep your audience interested ...
Oct 18, 2023 · The Ensemble: Gathering Your Elements. First Draft & Screenplay: Start by grounding your idea with a first draft, honing the script to reflect the essence of your movie. Short Synopsis: Craft a succinct, engaging summary of your story. Visual Aids: Create visual supplements to your pitch, harmonizing with your idea and enhancing the overall ...
- A Captivating Logline. First and foremost, you’ll need to nail your logline. This is the front and centre way in which you convey your movie idea. It will need to be pithy, capture the main narrative engine of your story, demonstrate the protagonist and lure the reader in.
- Make the Key Moments Stand Out. As you move away from your logline and into your synopsis, you’ll need to give a sense of what the big cinematic moments will be throughout.
- Keep Your Synopsis Short. Whilst you’re focusing on only conveying the essential, important parts of your story and creating a comprehensive overview of the plot, remember to keep it as brief as you can.
- Make Your Characters Stand Out and Create a Familiarity. Your pitch is where you’re introducing the producers, executives or screenplay readers to your characters.
Mar 1, 2024 · The executives usually engage in a back and forth, asking more details about the plot or clarifications about the characters or tone. The most important part of this is that I try to keep the main pitch under 20 minutes, ideally aorund 15 minutes. And then spend the lionshare of the time doing questions at the end.
People also ask
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Jul 1, 2023 · Standard Pitch. A standard pitch typically takes between 8-18 minutes and allows you to delve into the details of your story. You can discuss the main characters, the plot, and the unique elements that set your film apart. This could be in-person meetings or via video call.
