As much as there is a love for the medium, creators need to start amending the contracts they sign, not just taking any deal that gets them published. There need to be legal backstops from any bullsht of a publisher walking away with option money or any other such nonsense.
This industry doesn't exist without creators. We are 10+ years into film adaptations making over $1B, and creators TO THIS DAY don't have clauses about adaptations.
I've said this before - anybody signing a deal with ANY publisher should include the following:
1) a guaranteed payout if their work is optioned or adapted - you might need to figure out an appropriate number per project, or set a flat rate per company, completely up to you.
2) a guaranteed speaking/performing cameo appearance in any adaptation of your work, whether animated, audio, film, tv, streaming, gaming, whatever - this ensures you get royalties after the fact for further success of the adaptation
3) script/design credits on the adaptation, depending on the work done - this is to expand the name awareness and ensure that nobody's confused. if you wrote a story that got turned into a movie, the credits in the movie should say "Based on a story by (YOU)"
It's cute to see people "advocating" for "fair treatment" of xyz creator, but in today's day and age, the contract being signed is a choice. Especially since a good artist and a good writer can make money through crowdfunding. DTC is an exceptional business model. Since Avengers crossed $1B - which is to most people an incomprehensibly large amount of money - every creator should have been signing contracts with adaptation clauses.
People have argued with me about this about how that's not practical, but they forget that the corporations stay in business because of the workers, not the CEOs. Creators should be dictating their pay rates, not some jerk in an office trying to squeeze out maximum profit for a bunch of rich investors. I bet you that pay structures would get reconsidered quick if everyone started doing this. Watch a Scott Snyder or a Tom King walk away from a project for lack of these clauses, and then every writer DC calls afterwards does the same. You think they just cancel Detective Comics? Shelve Action Comics? Nah. That's the kind of shit that starts negotiations.
Completely agree with a lot of this, Dalibor. I understand that a publisher who put in work to get a Film/TV deal should get a cut, but no way should it be more than the creators. A good agent or manager will take between 10-20%, and that seems more appropriate.
And, let's face it, all these comic book movies are adaptations and they should be credited as such. I understand it's a minefield, especially when you've been cribbing from 50 years or more of stories by a wide variety of teams, but the original creators should get more than a thank you at the end.
As much as there is a love for the medium, creators need to start amending the contracts they sign, not just taking any deal that gets them published. There need to be legal backstops from any bullsht of a publisher walking away with option money or any other such nonsense.
This industry doesn't exist without creators. We are 10+ years into film adaptations making over $1B, and creators TO THIS DAY don't have clauses about adaptations.
I've said this before - anybody signing a deal with ANY publisher should include the following:
1) a guaranteed payout if their work is optioned or adapted - you might need to figure out an appropriate number per project, or set a flat rate per company, completely up to you.
2) a guaranteed speaking/performing cameo appearance in any adaptation of your work, whether animated, audio, film, tv, streaming, gaming, whatever - this ensures you get royalties after the fact for further success of the adaptation
3) script/design credits on the adaptation, depending on the work done - this is to expand the name awareness and ensure that nobody's confused. if you wrote a story that got turned into a movie, the credits in the movie should say "Based on a story by (YOU)"
It's cute to see people "advocating" for "fair treatment" of xyz creator, but in today's day and age, the contract being signed is a choice. Especially since a good artist and a good writer can make money through crowdfunding. DTC is an exceptional business model. Since Avengers crossed $1B - which is to most people an incomprehensibly large amount of money - every creator should have been signing contracts with adaptation clauses.
People have argued with me about this about how that's not practical, but they forget that the corporations stay in business because of the workers, not the CEOs. Creators should be dictating their pay rates, not some jerk in an office trying to squeeze out maximum profit for a bunch of rich investors. I bet you that pay structures would get reconsidered quick if everyone started doing this. Watch a Scott Snyder or a Tom King walk away from a project for lack of these clauses, and then every writer DC calls afterwards does the same. You think they just cancel Detective Comics? Shelve Action Comics? Nah. That's the kind of shit that starts negotiations.
Completely agree with a lot of this, Dalibor. I understand that a publisher who put in work to get a Film/TV deal should get a cut, but no way should it be more than the creators. A good agent or manager will take between 10-20%, and that seems more appropriate.
And, let's face it, all these comic book movies are adaptations and they should be credited as such. I understand it's a minefield, especially when you've been cribbing from 50 years or more of stories by a wide variety of teams, but the original creators should get more than a thank you at the end.
Good advice. Now only if I could take it.
That's the trouble, isn't it?
Thanks for this, Clay.
Thanks for reading, Tom.