First drafts

Well, I guess I've made myself into a bit of a diva, bitching and moaning about how people should pay me for a first draft, rather than pushing me to pursue a development draft with the NZ Film Commission in place of payment for a first draft. And that's only for my trannie drama, not my 2030 script, which all the pros sincerely wish that I would jettison. Too bad, though: it's my IP and APRA has my back regarding those songs, so you're not very likely to persuade me to license them for Just Like Yesterday. I chose the folk songs. You're stuck with them, or you can hire people to write their own material... my songs are spoken for, however. If you dig my songs, fund my 2030 musical. - Frankly, that's total and utter bullshit: If I was a writer in the States that had a track record (which I do), the studio would actually pay out for a 1st draft. If the notes were tolerable, I would have agreed, but the notes were all about killing my other musical - ie the one that I'm advertising - so I said no. That was a fair, reasonable decision. - That's basic courtesy. People should expect that a draft can become a sale, and then god knows how many other writers might be foisted on that project, but ultimately they'll have that sale document (which might entitle them to points or a story by credit). That's how it's done in pro industries. Crew people in NZ might be semi-pro, but writers are basically amateurs that occasionally get the rub of the green. It's not fair, and it might be why our movies suck.