The Disappearing Reappearing Producer or Trust But Verify

In "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" a character, Marvin Acme, writes with his famous disappearing, reappearing ink. Though perhaps a bit obscure, that little snatch of dialogue could be applied to a producer with whom the Sages have been acquainted since he first expressed interest in producing a project we were repping in the summer of '05. He was supposed to be working with a financier to produce a low-budget independent film. At the time, the screenplay we were repping seemed to be an ideal fit. Things were moving along nicely until the producer said his "financier" abruptly decided he no longer wanted to invest in films. That was the end of that...so it seemed.

Two years later, having just returned from LA, we remember getting a call from the same producer saying he had moved to the west coast and was now putting together a slate of films with an investment group that would total in the tens -if not hundreds- of millions of dollars. It seemed so wildly ridiculous a claim that we thought no one could make this stuff up. We decided to keep going and play along --not commiting ourselves in any way but not burning a bridge to something remarkable, in the unlikely event the windy talk was true-- but, alas, eventually the producer disappeared again...

Only to reappear this past month after another MIA period of about two years. The first on the big slate of films is ready to go so he says, and he wants to include a Sages script in the queue. Of course, very few details and no names or terms have been forthcoming, and when pressed for these or any kind of a paper trail...guess what? Disappears again.

In our view, in the end, things are never as good as they seem. There are many pied pipers in the script game who come calling with brassy talk but don't have the chops to back it up. Many writers put aside common sense and bite on big talk and bold claims. The lessons remain: always do your due diligence and always ask for a contract (if necessary, get an entertainment attorney involved). Get as much money as you can up front. Eschew working on spec, because, as we've detailed elsewhere, more often than not, nothing ever comes of back end payments for the small fish screenwriter. Be polite and lead with your enthusiasm, but also be skeptical and verify any claim.

We'd like to hear from you about any similar stories.

-Randy and Joe