Adept at adaptation?
November 3, 2014 9:07 PM Subscribe
I want to request permission to stage an adaptation of an author's work...but how?
I have adapted a short story by a living author into a radio play. A local group that I belong to performs productions of live radio dramas. I would like to request permission from the author via the author's agent for the group to perform the adaptation and to suss out any costs. Preferably no cost! (Please note, I absolutely believe authors deserve compensation for their work. However, if it possible to wrangle permission to do this for free, we would obviously prefer to take it! The group is not yet a nonprofit, but is actively working to become one - any profits get plowed into the budget of the next production. Our group is small, (think community theater, performed in church basements,) but growing in prestige.
The author is moderately well-known, but no Stephen King or JK Rowling. I have identified their agent and have an email address - but I have no idea how to phrase the request! Is there a formal template for this kind of letter? If you ever successfully received permission to stage an adaptation by a published writer, how did you go about it? If you are an agent, author, or publisher, how would you like to see such a request formatted? What information would you like to see included? What might be unnecessary or unwelcome? Sending a file of the script - bad idea, or worst idea? Any suggestions welcome about this process!
I have adapted a short story by a living author into a radio play. A local group that I belong to performs productions of live radio dramas. I would like to request permission from the author via the author's agent for the group to perform the adaptation and to suss out any costs. Preferably no cost! (Please note, I absolutely believe authors deserve compensation for their work. However, if it possible to wrangle permission to do this for free, we would obviously prefer to take it! The group is not yet a nonprofit, but is actively working to become one - any profits get plowed into the budget of the next production. Our group is small, (think community theater, performed in church basements,) but growing in prestige.
The author is moderately well-known, but no Stephen King or JK Rowling. I have identified their agent and have an email address - but I have no idea how to phrase the request! Is there a formal template for this kind of letter? If you ever successfully received permission to stage an adaptation by a published writer, how did you go about it? If you are an agent, author, or publisher, how would you like to see such a request formatted? What information would you like to see included? What might be unnecessary or unwelcome? Sending a file of the script - bad idea, or worst idea? Any suggestions welcome about this process!
Best answer: Here's a successful inquiry I once wrote -- that is to say, the agent wrote me back to say that "subsidiary rights are available." I never ended up actually producing the short play I had written, so I never got to the stage of negotiating a price.
posted by HeroZero at 5:33 AM on November 4, 2014
HeroZero's letter is good. If you don't hear back from the agent (you should, but just if you don't), you can send the same letter to the publisher of the short story. Do not under any circumstances send the script at this stage.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:22 AM on November 4, 2014
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:22 AM on November 4, 2014
Best answer: I'm an author, as well as a guy who has done something similar to what you want to do. I agree with BlahLaLa that you should absolutely NOT send the script unless the agent or writer has agreed to read it.
HeroZero's letter is excellent as a first step. If you are writing an agent to ask about rights, your first contact should be to-the-point and businesslike.
But if the rights are available, you will then have to write a second letter in which you make your case as to why you should get the rights for no money. At this point, you will need to go into a bit more detail.
Several years ago, I got permission from a well-respected indie game designer to make a short film based on one of his games, in exchange for a $1 option fee. (Unfortunately, my life got a bit crazy, and I never got farther than writing the script. This is still a big disappointment for me.)
Here are some things I did that you may be able to emulate:
• I told him I was a fan of the game and I thought it would make a cool movie.
• I was honest about the fact that I was just a guy who had made a few short films -- I didn't try to BS that I was some big-time professional.
• I offered a token amount ($1) rather than asking for the rights for free. I acknowledged that this was a token, symbolic amount.
• I was explicit that this would be a zero-budget production, with little hope of profit
• I mentioned that, in the unlikely event there was any profit, I would be happy to divide it with him on any basis he thought fair. And, of course, I was willing to have this agreed in writing from the beginning.
• I acknowledged that this was a big ask, and I made it clear that I would respect and understand any decision he made.
Some factors that helped me that you may not be able to emulate:
• I was active in the same small gaming community, and had already had some positive online interactions with him.
• I think I was the first person who had asked him for film rights to one of his games. It was a pleasantly novel experience for him.
Good luck!
posted by yankeefog at 8:34 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
HeroZero's letter is excellent as a first step. If you are writing an agent to ask about rights, your first contact should be to-the-point and businesslike.
But if the rights are available, you will then have to write a second letter in which you make your case as to why you should get the rights for no money. At this point, you will need to go into a bit more detail.
Several years ago, I got permission from a well-respected indie game designer to make a short film based on one of his games, in exchange for a $1 option fee. (Unfortunately, my life got a bit crazy, and I never got farther than writing the script. This is still a big disappointment for me.)
Here are some things I did that you may be able to emulate:
• I told him I was a fan of the game and I thought it would make a cool movie.
• I was honest about the fact that I was just a guy who had made a few short films -- I didn't try to BS that I was some big-time professional.
• I offered a token amount ($1) rather than asking for the rights for free. I acknowledged that this was a token, symbolic amount.
• I was explicit that this would be a zero-budget production, with little hope of profit
• I mentioned that, in the unlikely event there was any profit, I would be happy to divide it with him on any basis he thought fair. And, of course, I was willing to have this agreed in writing from the beginning.
• I acknowledged that this was a big ask, and I made it clear that I would respect and understand any decision he made.
Some factors that helped me that you may not be able to emulate:
• I was active in the same small gaming community, and had already had some positive online interactions with him.
• I think I was the first person who had asked him for film rights to one of his games. It was a pleasantly novel experience for him.
Good luck!
posted by yankeefog at 8:34 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you all! HeroZero, I will likely use your script as a jumping off point.
posted by prewar lemonade at 4:26 PM on November 4, 2014
posted by prewar lemonade at 4:26 PM on November 4, 2014
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