There’s a new producer deal in town that’s making screenwriters’ pens tingle with screenwriting excitement. It’s called a producer only deal.
The main types of deals film & TV producers win in the current studio system are:
BLIND DEAL – When a film or TV producer is so popular and bankable, they have access to a fund to develop and produce film and TV material without extensive studio pre-approval .
FIRST LOOK DEAL – Also known as the right of first refusal. This is when a studio gets first dibs at a new project before anybody else.
[NUMBER] PICTURE DEAL – This is when a studio agrees to finance a predetermined number of projects. For instance, a one, two or three picture deal. They rarely extend beyond that.
Back to the topic of this post.
PRODUCER ONLY DEAL – This is a relatively new kind of non-writing deal that means that producers will not be writing or directing the project. It’s especially significant for TV producers who land a TV series deal they won’t be writing. Not even the occasional episode. This means they will be hiring more freelance writers to staff the shows.
These deals are typically inked by former agents, managers, production managers, junior producers etc. Given the explosion of streaming TV platforms, producer only deals are expected to increase. This is especially true of prolific producers who can’t possible handle simultaneous TV showrunner and writing duties.
Keep your eyes peeled and your keyboards on standby.
For comprehensive Film & TV script analysis visit Script Firm.
STORYBOARD SCREENPLAY DEVELOPMENT GROUP – If you’re in the Los Angeles area, we meet at Fox Studio in Los Angeles on the second Monday of each month to comprehensively discuss scripts of soon to be released films.
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