Finding and Acquiring a Property

The producer is almost always the first person on the project, even before the writer. It is very likely that the producer does not come up with the original idea for the screenplay, but they may see a play or read a book and believe that it would make a wonderful film. The first decision of a producer (and probably the most crucial) is to get involved. Once a commitment is made, a screenwriter needs to be found. Ideally, a producer would find a ready-to-shoot script that could be taken directly to the studio, but this rarely occurs. Normally (if the screenplay is prewritten), the ideas will be there and the elements will be good, the script just needs a little work to become outstanding. In any case, the producer must obtain the rights of the material before they can proceed with making a film. 

Rights are obtained by purchasing the material or by an option agreement (which provides the producer the exclusive right to purchase the material). The reason for this is that most published material is copyrighted and any use of the material without the author's consent could bring about major lawsuits. There are exceptions however, such as the works of Shakespeare or Charles Dickens. These works exist in the public domain and may be used to make a motion picture without having to acquire any rights to them. These days, at the time of publication most novels are automatically offered for production. Although this is the case, very few are actually optioned or purchased by a studio.  If a producer wants to find out where the picture rights currently stand for a piece of material, they can easily have a copyright search performed. Such firms as Thompson and Thompson Copyright Research Group (located in Washington DC) specialize in such searches. Performing such a search would reveal the entire chain of title of the material in question.

If a producer is serious about optioning or purchasing the material, this type of search is crucial. Once a producer has determined what material he would like to pursue and the rights status has been ascertained, the next step is to try and option those rights. By optioning the material, the producer is gaining the right to acquire something by the subsequent payment of additional money. In most cases, a purchase agreement is negotiated at the same time as the material is optioned. At this time, numerous rights (including publication, television, videocassette, dramatic and merchandising) are discussed which all pertain to the future prospects of the material.

The producer will find out quickly that to option and purchase a script, a lot of legal matters will be involved. Option and purchase agreements are far from casual documents, and a lawyer's involvement may prove very helpful. Lawyers are obviously not cheap, but in the long run having a lawyer negotiate the contracts for you will save the producer a lot of time, confusion and frustration. An experienced entertainment lawyer will know exactly how to state things on paper and will be able to offer the producer many business guidelines to follow. To protect the film and its supporters from claims of copyright infringement that may result after the film is made, an insurance policy known as an errors and omissions policy (E and O policy) is normally drawn up by an attorney and carried by the picture. In most cases, if a claim of infringement is brought forth, it can be successfully defended without ever going to trial. The leading firm involved in reviews of such material is de Forest Research, Inc, based out of Hollywood California. Not only do they review your work, but also they have an extensive library that can prove useful to the writer during the initial scriptwriting.

For the producer, protection of their work can be provided by several different means. One way is to copyright the material the producer himself is working on. Another option is to join the Writer's Guild of America, which allows for registration of written material. Either way, the date that the material was within the control of the producer will be established and may prove crucial later if a claim is brought about. One last way to protect one's own material is to mail your material to yourself by registered mail that establishes a date that the material was controlled.

One important thing for a producer to remember when optioning material is the date in which the option expires. Because it normally takes a long time for the motion picture process to get underway, it is crucial to either have the option renewed or the option exercised. If the option expires, all rights to the material will be lost. 

Because the term "producer" is so vague in the industry today, an option agreement is crucial in demonstrating the producer's drive, determination and belief in the project at hand. The most important first step is, once again, to find material that is believed in, gain a hold of the rights to that material, and start the process of development.