John August

QandA

What an undergrad degree is worth

Education

From today’s USA Today:

Darla Horn, 26, acknowledges she didn’t give much thought to the cost of college when she enrolled at State University of New York in Purchase. […] Because she didn’t qualify for financial aid, she took out student loans, graduating in 2005 with a double major in journalism and anthropology and more than $80,000 in debt.

That’s way too much debt for an anthro-journalist. But is it too much for an engineer? Is it too much for an actuary?

When I was buying a house, the rule of thumb was that you could afford a home three to four times your annual income. It feels like there should be an equivalent rule of thumb for how much you can spend on your education versus average salary of your studied profession. Or, hell, a web calculator.

In a few minutes of Googling, the closest I could find was this:

Don’t take out more student loans than what you expect to make in the first year. This rule of thumb puts a reasonable upper limit on how much in student loans you should take out, which is a good thing, but doesn’t paint the whole picture.

There are some jobs (like screenwriting) in which starting salary is almost impossible to predict, and others (like law) in which salary goes up quickly based on experience. But rules of thumb are helpful because they simplify things, and this one seems a good start.

By this measure, an actuary could take out about $50,000 in loans, while an electrical engineer could feel okay taking on $55,000 in debt. Darla, meanwhile, should have capped her loans at $33,000. (All salary estimates from PayScale.)

What often gets lost in these discussions is that relatively few students end up paying full freight. For four-year, private American universities, the average tuition discount rate for fall 2007 was 39.1%. The price on the sticker isn’t necessarily the price you pay.

But if you’re looking to study a low-paying field, do Future You a favor by being honest about the cost.

Is it fair use to perform one scene?

Film Industry, QandA, Rights and Copyright

questionmarkLast year a much beloved directing professor passed away and some of us are working on creating a DVD of her teaching for educational purposes. Her class was filmed one semester before she passed away and we are using this material as the basis for the DVD which will eventually be for sale to teachers and film students.

In her class students used scenes from previously produced screenplays, and directed actors using those screenplays. No clips from the actual films were used.

So the question is this, in order to put a section on the educational DVD of her discussing the breakdown of a script, or actors performing a scene from the script, who do we need to get permission from? Is permission from the author of the screenplay enough? Do we need permission from the studio who owns the screenplay for the film? Is this considered fair use?

— Diane
Los Angeles

Often the most interesting questions are the ones I can’t really answer. I’m hoping some readers with experience on the vagaries of copyright and entertainment law will weigh in with opinions and guidance. Craig? Ted?

In the meantime, I can offer some framework for what we’re discussing.

Studios own copyright on the underlying screenplays behind their movies. The scripts are considered works-for-hire — even if they were originally written as specs. But the credited screenwriter(s) retain the ability to publish the script, which is why I can offer my scripts in the Library without getting a call from Sony legal. ((I’ve avoided publishing scripts that are in limbo — abandoned but still owned by somebody — since they could theoretically be made at some point. Just this week I heard rumblings about Tarzan, a movie I thought long dead.))

I recently licensed a scene from my script for Big Fish to be published in a literature textbook. The fact that the publisher went through a lot of hassle to license one fairly short scene suggests that their legal folks believe that use of even a single scene falls outside of fair use. You may disagree, and the truth is I’ve given permission a lot of times when I didn’t think it was even necessary. But my hunch is that if you went to a copyright attorney, she’d say you had to get permission.

But from whom? Here’s where I suspect there’s an important distinction between printing and performing.

If you were simply projecting a page from a script on screen while you discussed it, that feels very close to printing. In fact, studios pay screenwriters a flat fee for the option of including the screenplay on the DVD.

But since your product includes actors performing the scene, you may cross into different territory. In my experience, studios seem to have all rights to film, stage, or otherwise mount a performance of material they own. For example, if Warners wanted to make a Charlie and Chocolate Factory musical, they could use any part of my screenplay without paying or even acknowledging me. That not hypothetical; Karen Lutz and Kirsten Smith wrote the screenplay for Legally Blonde, yet their names are nowhere on the Broadway show. The author of the screenplay material is considered to be MGM.

I think fair use should cover you, but I suspect it doesn’t. I look forward to hearing other opinions.

Subtitled success stories

Film Industry, International, Words on the page

Somewhat remarkably, the top two movies in America have subtitles. Lots and lots of subtitles.

I’d estimate that Inglourious Basterds is less than 50 percent English, with the rest being a mix of German, French and hilariously inadequate Italian, almost all of it subtitled. District 9 uses subtitles for the Prawn, along with Afrikaans, native languages and some difficult-to-understand English.

Two movies is not a trend. But I’m noting these two success stories for the next time I’m told audiences won’t tolerate subtitles.

One other observation about District 9: It’s the first movie I can recall in which two groups could largely understand the each other’s language without being able to speak it. That is, Wikus speaks English to Christopher, who answers back in Prawn. The movie suggests that humans are physically incapable of speaking Prawn, and vice-versa. It’s an interesting choice, and helps keep the Prawn more alien.

Are studios open on Saturdays?

Film Industry, QandA

questionmarkWhen trying to sell a screenplay, does it have to be accompanied by a logline and/or a synopsis? Or will just handing someone a script suffice?

And I would also like to know the general work hours of movie studios. I want to maybe personally hand my work to someone at a studio since I am uncertain of whether or not they read unsolicited work; however, I have a very unflexible work schedule, and I usually get off late. Are studios open on Saturdays?

— Evelyn
New York City

These are the kinds of questions that reflect almost no understanding of the film industry — which is fine. You’re brand new to all of this, obviously. I would ask similarly uninformed questions about lawn bowling, textile manufacture or warp drives: using the lingo without really understanding what it meant.

So I want to answer your questions while simultaneously explaining why they’re awkwardly wrong questions to ask.

Written loglines and synopses aren’t included with a script, unless you’re submitting it for some competition that requires it. A screenwriter needs to be able to distill the premise and story of her script mostly so she can pitch it: “It’s a road-trip comedy about a transgendered rabbit and a zombie turtle.”

“Just handing someone a script” is doom. No one wants to read your script. No one. If you doubt me, reverse the roles. A stranger comes up to you and thrusts a 120-page document in your hands, along with a promise-slash-threat that they will call and ask you what you thought. Unless you had reason to believe that the script or the writer was genuinely worth your time — or that saying no would have a significant social cost — you’d find a way to get out of it.

When screenwriters move to Los Angeles, the first year is spent finding people willing to read their scripts, generally for an even exchange: I’ll read yours if you’ll read mine.

The Saturday issue

Movie studios aren’t what you think they are. They don’t have a front desk where scripts come in. They have fairly typical Monday-Friday schedules, but that’s irrelevant.

Producers, managers, agents and filmmakers bring projects to specific executives at the studio. Paula Producer may have good relationships with three executives at Imaginary Pictures, but for this nautical action drama, she picks the guy who sails.

Getting a movie made, and getting a script set up, relies on knowing the people involved. That’s why just landing your script somewhere physically within the halls of a studio isn’t worth much. Studios have readers — I used to be one — but they’re largely there to help executives by writing coverage and reading the least-promising material that comes in.

There’s far too much mythology about “what studio readers are looking for.” Generally, they’re looking for an exit. They have very little influence on which scripts get purchased or made.

Evelyn, your goal as an aspiring writer should be to convince producers, managers, agents and filmmakers that you’re a great writer with great material. You do this by getting read; you get read by making relationships in the industry. That’s also where you’ll pick up a better understanding of How It All Works.