Amazon.com and the New Hollywood 2

I think the best comparison to this deal is actually YouTube.

If you put something up, don't do it for the money, the odds are electron-microscope small. You should only be looking for recognition; and even those odds are micro. That said, some people have gotten six or seven figure deals from YouTube... Hence the allure.

However, what you post, will no doubt be rehashed and used by thousands of other people -- much like YouTube -- and your "credit" will be lost in that mix, and your chances for money are almost non-existent.

In my mind what Amazon Studios will become (or wants to become) is a searchable library of scripts, that writers -- maybe teams of writers hired by, or in cahoots with Amazon Studios -- use to find templates of script to rewrite. Or maybe even a diamond in the rough, with the right polish could be sellable.

Because the whole thing cost Amazon nothing, and they only (imagine to / might) pay out money when the real prospect of money is in sight -- i.e. when a studio or other party has actual interest in a project -- so the real coup for them is the library of material they will accumulate, and the traffic to the site / publicity. In essence, they have already won.

I can totally see Amazon hiring a writer, or rather a group of writers, to rewrite the best of the scripts on the site, also for pennies, and thus they have totally reduced to cost of getting a (strong?) piece of material for their studio at rock bottom cost. They are even looking to foster mass comment/contribution by the masses via a thread like this, giving notes/ideas for free, and who would thus likely go see the film even though they will get no credit or money...

-- See how this is all working? --

If they can get one feature film off the ground to make at least $50 million. It will be a massive profit for them, where as for a normal studio, it likely would not be.

"New Hollywood"

Amazon.com and the New Hollywood

Amazon is getting into the movie biz...

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Amazon-Amazon-Studios-Warner-Bros,news-8920.html

You can upload your script for free, but they lock you into an 18 month option...

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Did somebody say "New Hollywood"?

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I finally got my script optioned! I'm like a professional screenwriter!

All I had to do was upload onto the website!

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I'm joking. BTW

I would never accept such a contract. But I think it's funny how people in this thread are so surprised by it being offered.

If you are Amazon, it cost you virtually nothing. You do no work, and just *like that* you have a vast library of material at your disposal. All of it in contract, for up to three years. AND chances are people -- from anywhere in the world, likely not LA -- will rewrite it or make suggestions on it that could be helpful. So then Amazon -- or a studio they team up with -- can make content based on the script without paying the writer a cent.

It's genius, in many ways. Evil genius, but that's show biz!

Fast forward five years when Amazon has millions of scripts (no doubt the contract terms have changed to be more beneficial to Amazon) and is making them into content which it shows/sells on it's site.

Looks like someone just got into show biz in a big way!

I could even see them teaming up with major Hollywood studios to make films that they have locked in, acting as a sort of Agent/Manager of scripts/projects... It's very interesting, and how it will all unfold remains to be seen.

I see the potential for a Facebook, to this Myspace.

But these sort of "they're just using us!" deals are commonplace throughout all of show biz, so why people are so shocked is strange to me.

For instance, if you go onto a reality TV show, they pay you ONCE -- or for many they don't even pay you EVER -- and they have the right to air it as much as they want, re-edit and air it elsewhere, throughout all media, in perpetuity without paying you another cent. Don't like it?

Bye then! NEXT!

Look at the MTV 'Real World' cast members. MTV has made billions from reruns and reedits of those shows and they don't to pay any of the 'actors/people' another cent. It's simple supply and demand. Huge supply of people -- WRITERS -- with very low demands.

I don't have all facts, but I do know that many actors never specifically negotiated residuals from old shows like 'The Brady Bunch' and so they get nothing (or next to it) while the studios rake in money from these old shows still to this day. Same goes for the writers I am sure.

The point is, the Amazon Studio is just a new model based on an old system.

It's actually quite brilliant in it's Devilish sort of way.

On the flip side it could very well help people, like YouTube, it could launch people into the big time, at which point they could make sweet deals for themselves moving forward...

I do feel, however, the savvy writer should just avoid the Amazon model as well. If you are skilled writer with real talent (and especially if you can get yourself to LA) you can use the web to "crowd source" your work and refine it to perfection, while still holding onto all the rights. It's just a matter of tapping and find the right "crowd" of people.

Maybe you give up a few plot secrets in the process (never all if you are smart), but at least you retain power and control. And in the "New Hollywood" it's all about power and control.

Once you have something truly great, it's just a matter of getting it into the right hands.

That's my thoughts any who.

Postmodernism?