Attachments

[RainbowDragon]

OK, so you get Robin Williams interested in your spec (congratulations!), what now? Is there a contract that needs to be signed or is it an informal phone-call/e-mail agreement that you include his name in your queries to producers until the script is optioned, then the producer's people call Robin's people to see if they can agree on a paycheck. ???
Anyone been through this before and/or know for sure how it works best?
Thanks!!

[xhouseboy]

There's not normally an actor's contract until the finance is in place and the film's been green lit. Robin won't legally commit himself to your unfinanced spec project, no matter how much he likes it. If he likes it a lot, he may talk it up everywhere he goes, and that could result in it being optioned. But having verbally agreed to attach himself if you ever do raise the finance, what's the odds that when everything comes together after a year of two of hard graft, Robin's not available. And then it all starts to unravel, and it's back to square one.

If Robin really wants to do it, he's in a much stronger position to make things happen.

[RainbowDragon]

Thanks, XHouse. . .

Just to paraphrase what you're saying (correct me if I'm wrong) - So then there's no paperwork involved and it's more of an informal buzz you hope will attract funding and more talent. . .and if Robin lets you, you can mention his interest on your own query letters too, yes? Although like you say, realistically his connections would be more likely to get a script moving toward production, unless you're a million-dollar screenwriter already, in which case you don't have to query talent since they're probably calling you asking what you've got down the pipeline. . .

[wordmonkey]

You gotta watch some of those attachments though. Not all are kosher and some have some pretty bad viruses in them.

I mean, get an ex-Saturday Night Live attachment and you could have a real stinker on your hands.

[xhouseboy]

Yeah, that's about the size of it, Rainbow.

And in the TV industry, indie producers sometimes attach a name to their proposals in order to sway the commissioners. X is available between then and then, and he really likes this. Or X has been such a success in his last thing, and he's read these scripts and is willing to commit to this as his next project. X is the Network's golden boy at the time, they don't want to lose him, so the indies know they've got an ace card in the negotiations.

Some Exec-producers in TV spend as much time lunching with actors while planning their next project, as they do overseeing their current production. An attached name makes their job a lot easier.

Film's a bit different. The attachment can often attract finance by the fact thats s/he is willing to commit. But i wouldn't build my hopes up too high until the ink's dry. Some years ago there was a Scottish writer splashed all over the papers because an A list hollywood star had read his first screenplay and expressed an interest. The writer genuinely thought he was on his way. It sunk without trace.

ETA: just noticed W/monkey's post. Good advice. Very few are kosher. And as mentioned, the ones that are are normally willing to bat for the writer by using their own connections.

[Celia Cyanide]

One bit of advice I can give you, speaking as an actor, is that you need to watch out for agents. Where I live, you can do anything you want, and you can go through your agency, or not. But out in Hollywood, actors sign exclusive contracts with their agents, and everything is negotiated through them. You could have an actor who is VERY interested in your project and sincerely wants to be in it, but his/her agent won't allow it. I've met a few screenwriters who had famous actors tell them personally that they really wanted to be in their movies, but the agencies didn't think they should do it.

[Goodwriterguy]

One bit of advice I can give you, speaking as an actor, is that you need to watch out for agents. Where I live, you can do anything you want, and you can go through your agency, or not. But out in Hollywood, actors sign exclusive contracts with their agents, and everything is negotiated through them. You could have an actor who is VERY interested in your project and sincerely wants to be in it, but his/her agent won't allow it. I've met a few screenwriters who had famous actors tell them personally that they really wanted to be in their movies, but the agencies didn't think they should do it.
Indeed and this differentiates beetween "interest" and "attachment."

Interest can help sell a script; it can get you reads through a recommendation by the interested party, it can inspire a producer to move forward with getting a project packaged, it can help affirm the quality of your work. Attachments usually come after a sale when a producer is packaging, he's looking for a director who will commit, an actor who will commit, a composer/arranger who will commit, and so on. He gets enough commitments he can then approach the money guys with more than just a script, he's got the core components of a whole deal.

But commitments always have a back door exit, a clause that let's the committed out if they're offered something better. But they are hooked also to events, and the closer a picture moves toward a greenlight, the harder it is for a commmitted person to back out, until eventually a point is reached where they cannot back out. Packaging is one of the industry's higher art forms.

A deal to produce a picture is like the most complex meal you've ever prepared, and for those of you who cook, you know that timing is everything and may well involve cascades of events in which one ill-prepared ingredient or ill-timed event can ruin everything and cause a cascade to blow up and become completely unglued.

[English Dave]

O.P try talking to Robin Williams about signing a contract with no guaranteed money and you'll be blown off like the High School Quarterback and the geeky girl with glasses.

[RainbowDragon]

So generally no one will "attach" themselves to an as-yet-unfunded script, but they may express interest and shop it around to their connections. . .

Thanks everyone, that makes sense and is quite helpful.

[Goodwriterguy]

So generally no one will "attach" themselves to an as-yet-unfunded script, but they may express interest and shop it around to their connections. . .
While generally true, this isn't entirely true. An actor may sign on as attached talent before financing is in place, knowing full well their attachment will bring the financing in. A subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless. Often, this is done on an "if-come basis." I sign on and IF you get the financing in 60 days, we're a go. But if you dont, I'm out.

One part of the definition of an "A" list actor is that they are "bankable," which means the money will come to them and finance their projects.

Packaging is tricky business and a high art in the movie industry. Still, it happens all the time and pictures do get produced, as we all know.

[clockwork]

Packaging is tricky business and a high art in the movie industry. Still, it happens all the time and pictures do get produced, as we all know.

One bit of advice I can give you, speaking as an actor, is that you need to watch out for agents. Where I live, you can do anything you want, and you can go through your agency, or not. But out in Hollywood, actors sign exclusive contracts with their agents, and everything is negotiated through them. You could have an actor who is VERY interested in your project and sincerely wants to be in it, but his/her agent won't allow it. I've met a few screenwriters who had famous actors tell them personally that they really wanted to be in their movies, but the agencies didn't think they should do it.

Of course, a lot of the packaging happens 'in-house' at big agencies that not only represent the screenwriter but also the interested actor and a director. The big four (or is it five?) agencies will almost certainly look to their own client list when developing that hot script to see which directors they have that are available and interested and which actors they can add into the deal. It doesn't make the process particularly smoother - there's still a lot of in-fighting that goes on even though they're under the same roof but a package deal is more likely to happen when an agency can put it together with talent from their own deck of cards.