Reader Question: What should I do with a script after a falling out with my manager?
From Jack:
I recently had a falling out with my manager. I have a script he’d developed with me, and he tells me now that he will demand a producer credit if I ever sell it (he is partner in a management/production company, but my contract with him was only for management services). My lawyer tells me he has no claim on chain of title and that copyright law is clear. Other writers tell me that he can make a big enough stink that other prod-co’s and studios will not want to touch it. Am I screwed with this script? What are your thoughts?
Let me frame my answer to you with this Hollywood anecdote:
There was a certain tyro screenwriter [who shall remain nameless] whose spec script was all over town generating a lot of buzz. It would officially go on the market at noon. At 11:45M, the writer entered the office of the producer on the project only to hear the producer screaming at someone on the phone. That person was the writer’s agent.
You must understand every other word in their… ahem… conversation was “motherf*cker” this and “cocks*cker” that.
The writer could hear the agent on the phone from across the room… even though the call was not on speakerphone. That is how loud their argument was.
Turns out the battle was over what the agent’s percentage would be on the producer’s deal: 5 or 10%.
The writer, listening to this conflagration, was concerned. He turned to an associate of the producer and asked plaintively, “Could this wreck the whole deal?”
And as producer and agent continued to hurl F-bombs at each other, the associate told the writer, “Don’t worry. They’re best friends.”
That is Hollywood. Whether you like them or loathe them, most often people will choose to work together. Because working on a project with someone you may not like is — 9 times out of 10 — better than not working on a project at all.
So I have tipped my hand considerably with regard to your question. Unless by “falling out” you mean you and your soon-to-be ex-manager have set up a duel to the death, I would advise you to consider trying to find a way to make the deal work. My rationale:
* Obviously I don’t know what your manager agreement stipulates, but since one of the reasons managers become managers [and not agents] is the ability to be producers on projects, it’s quite possible there is some contractual language to that effect. Besides how would the manager lay claim to be attached as producer unless there is some agreement in writing specifying that? So even if you may believe your agreement to be for “manager services” only, make sure to have your lawyer double-check that.
* Even if there is no legal stipulation, it not only sounds possible your manager would raise a stink about you going out with your script without him attached as a producer, it looks likely he would do so. The problem here, it seems to me, is a potential attachment transforming into an encumberance, an impediment to you being able to make a deal on your script, a legally “clear” title or not.
* When I worked at The Guitar Center as a salesman for seven months, the manager had a saying about deals: “50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.” In this case, by going forward with the manager as a producer, in the event a deal does happen, you’re looking at… what… 10%? You really want to go to war over 10% of potential income?
* Finally the tsouris factor: In Yiddish, it means [as I understand it] the heartburn from a stressful situation. Hollywood is a small town. Word gets around. Depending upon how you handle this situation, you will have a manager either bad-mouthing you or not. If you feel like the tsouris is worth it, so be it. But perhaps you’d prefer not to lay in a lifetime supply of Rolaids.
Now I don’t know what the basis of your “falling out” is. If what the manager did is the equivalent in your eyes of a ‘mortal’ sin, then you have your principles and you must decide if this is a situation where you must live in strict accordance with them.
But pragmatically speaking, and working only with the bare details you’ve given me, my advice would be to see if you can work out an amicable arrangement: he stays attached to the script in exchange for which he agrees (A) not to bad-mouth you, (B) to work aggressively on behalf of the project, and © not to begrudge you seeking new representation.
I’m not a lawyer. I’m not a manger. I’m not an agent. I’m just me. So whatever advice I’m giving you is just my take. Feel free to use or lose.
And most of all, good luck.
GITS readers, what’s your advice to Jack?
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