Update: Amazon Studios: Their official response
I’ve covered Amazon Studios — here, here, here, and here.
I’ve linked to Craig Maizin and John August who offered strong critiques of the initiative.
As a member of the WGA for over two decades, I have serious misgivings about any corporate sponsored effort that uses a financial approach which could be seen by the studios as a basis for rewriting existing payment models, essentially giving them ideas of new ways to squeeze more dollars away from working writers. And the deal Amazon Studios offers contest winners does not match up to existing WGA standards as noted in detail in Maizin’s posts.
However I know most GITS readers fall into the category of aspiring screenwriter and each of you is looking for any way possible to break into the entertainment business. Having been a total Hollywood outsider myself until I sold a spec script, I understand where you are coming from.
I decided it was my responsibility on your behalf to find out as much additional information as I could about Amazon Studios.
So I did something I don’t think anyone else has done: I submitted a list of questions directly to them. And Roy Price who is the director of Amazon Studios responded.
The questions were mostly drawn from comments on this blog, a couple of other blogs, and a few of my own.
Price amalgamated some of the questions.
Here is Price’s response in toto:
Dear Scott,
Thank you for your questions about Amazon Studios. We grouped our answers by topic:
About length of our option, and other rights issues:
With respect to the length of the option agreement, it’s important to be clear about what Amazon Studios is. It’s not just a contest. It is a unique, open movie-development process. Therefore, our goal is not just to find the best script in the world, celebrate it and leave it at that; our goal is to get movies made. These are related but different goals that require slightly different processes. Our process is that (a) scripts are uploaded, then (b) people upload table reads, storyboards and other pre-visualizations and then © a global audience gets the opportunity to weigh in on whether the story is working, or how it is working. The writer may use that feedback to evolve his or her work and we can use that information along with our own evaluations to make production decisions. We expect the Amazon Studios development process to take more than a month, perhaps more than a year, and the option is 18 months to accommodate this process.
What can we do with material when it’s under option? In theory we could develop it, but we couldn’t release a movie without exercising our option and paying the writer.
What is to keep us from ripping off scripts? First, the writer is legally protected by copyright; second, customer trust is extremely important to us and that’s just not something we would do.
WGA issues:
Our intention is to make movies with Warner Bros. and other major studios and they are WGA signatories. So we expect those movies to come under the WGA when they are produced. This should address issues related to residuals and credits. Separately, the issue of non-Guild work becoming source material if it is re-written by a Guild writer also has come up. This can be an issue for any non-Guild spec script and if it arises, it can be addressed (you hire the original writer to do the first Guild re-write).
I can’t comment on whether we have or have not had meetings with any particular person or organization.
Likewise, I can’t give legal advice on WGA matters since I am not a labor attorney; however, I have never heard of someone being excluded from the guild based on previous association with a contest.
Money issues:
We feel very strongly that $200,000, plus $400,000 if the movie makes $60 million at the box office, is a great across-the-board deal especially where most writers will have no prior credits.
The influence of reviews:
We value sincere feedback and it may be helpful to the writer or filmmaker, but reviews on the Amazon Studios website do not determine contest winners. Some of our finalists had zero or maybe one download when they became finalists. We have many well-qualified story analysts who are quite representative of studio and agency readers (some are studio and agency readers). They do the first rounds of identifying good material. Then the script and test movie panels, whose members vary month to month, pick winners.
Script formatting:
The RTF format helps people work together no matter what software they may have. It has been somewhat frustrating, though, and if we can improve that, we will, just as we will continue to look for ways to improve the overall Amazon Studios experience.
You didn’t ask about this, but I think it’s important to note that Amazon Studios is focused on original screenplays with original stories. More and more studio movies are sequels or remakes or are based on a book or toy. It’s understandable that studios want evidence that people will respond to the movie concept before they put $100 million into it. But this trend reduces opportunities for people who want to write original works for the screen. By exposing the idea to an audience in advance and getting feedback, Amazon Studios can help generate excitement and thereby enhance opportunities for original stories.
Let me make a couple of predictions. First, there will be a shift in the way movies are developed. It is becoming cheaper and easier for people around the world to shoot a simple movie and edit it on their laptops. Pre-visualizations and open public feedback will become a commonly accepted part of development in the next few years. The second, related, prediction is that the movie development process will become both more global and more public. A world of film fans is out there and accustomed to sharing opinions online. Those opinions are valuable. Amazon Studios wants to be a part of that.
Our goal is to get great movies made and create opportunities for screenwriters and movie-makers that may have otherwise been overlooked. Many participants will get a lot out of it, and our success will come from doing right by them.
Roy Price
Amazon Studios
Price is the son of Frank Price. Frank Price had stints as the head of Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures, so Roy is someone with an insider’s view of the film business.
One thing to note: Amazon Studios is not resistant to change. Responding to criticism over the ability of anybody to rewrite anybody else’s script, Price recently announced this:
Also today, Amazon Studios launched a new feature that allows writers to control the level of collaboration on their original scripts. Writers, upon upload or thereafter, will be able to designate their projects as open (anyone can add a revised script to your project), closed (only you can add revised scripts to your project) or revisable by permission (only participants who obtain your permission can add a revised script to your project). This feature has been a top request of Amazon Studios participants.
“We make our products better by listening to customers,” Price said. “We’re happy to give writers the option to collaborate with the world, go solo or work with friends as they choose.”
Based on Price’s answers, are you satisfied with Amazon Studios? Do you still have concerns? Are there other aspects you feel should be changed to make it better? Will you consider submitting a script to the Amazon Studios competition? If not, why not?
And WGA members: You’ve read what Craig Maizin and John August has to say. Do you have any other thoughts to add to the discussion about Amazon Studios?
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