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Showbiz chatter

Writer: Amanda RiddellAmanda Riddell

I know that everyone is sick to death of me defending myself, but let's continue on... Don't criticise me for using LA-style chatter when trying to strike a deal. I don't care that it's not LA: we should also respect the rights of writers to refuse notes, and to still get paid decently for a draft that some producer wants to take further.

That is just baseline courtesy. That is how it is done in Aussie, the UK and the States.

That is just the nature of showbusiness. -

Isn't the NZ film industry supposed to be a multi-billion dollar industry annually?

In a multi-billion dollar industry that relies upon IP, then it is obviously in the best interest of the writer to emphasise the legal truth of initial copyright ownership, and that is exactly what I have done. -

$3.5 billion total screen sector spend.

$37 million just involving the NZFC investments. And they still lost $3 million (rebates included). They're clearly incompetent. The fact that local film investment is roughly 1/100th of the entire screen industry doesn't make it seem like it's a fair playing field.

Knowing that they control that much money means that I get to say to pay me fairly. $50,000 is fair. That's usually what they give out for a draft, but I'm saying that they should simply pay me for the first draft, regardless of whether I address their notes. That's my decision: I'm writing the book, but the movie people can do what they like.



 
 
 

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