movie rights question

At this moment I have Mr. U in the hands of a producer/director who is looking for good material for his next film. The thing is - I don't have an agent or any idea what to do in making my own deal concerning selling the rights to the book. Are there any hard and fast rules that need to be followed?

I don't want to sell myself short in the deal, but I realize that in the book world I am literally nobody. Maybe I should just be happy if it gets made into a movie. A decent movie should at least help me sell some more copies and maybe open a few more doors for future books. I wonder if I could maybe sell it cheap initially and make up the money on the back end of the release? Box office, DVD sales, stuff like that.

Of course, if he passes on it then the point is moot. For now.

Any help would be appreciated.
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"We went together like Kennedys and head wounds."--Lenny Kapowski

I obviously have no experience with anything like this, BUT ... if it were me I would definitely involve an agent. If you had someone ready to purchase your movie rights, I can't imagine getting an agent to handle that transaction could be that hard.

There are way too many ways you could get screwed, so why chance it?
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p.s. VERY exciting! Good luck and keep us posted.
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If he offers to option the book then you might want to call an agent, as Nikki suggests. The short option form is pretty simple, but not if you've never seen one. Basically they rent the movie rights to see if they can put a script and financing together. It would take too long to go into whole thing, and you would need to negotiate it, but basically it's a "rent to own" kind of thing. An option can run anywhere from one to two-hundred thousand dollars (that's one dollar, not one-hundred thousand), against a purchase price, which will run from say $75,000 to $1,000,000. Terms are usually one year, with an option to extend for a second year for the same amount. Everything is negotiable, but there are standards that you go by.

You can let a producer "shop" the book to studios without paying you anything, but if he sets anything up, you'll be wanting money, for an option or a buyout. Other stuff has to be defined and negotiated. Bottom line, until the guy makes an offer, it's not real. Don't fret.

An author that I know of that has had trouble with the film business and could probably give you some pointers is Alan Weisbecker. He is the author of Cosmic Banitos and a few other novels, most of which were optioned for films and had problems. The link is to site and contact information.

http://www.banditobooks.com/ezine/contact-bandito-books
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I feel the same way about disco as I do about herpes. -HST

Thanks. I'm in over my head. Again. Of course, sink or swim has worked so far, so why stop now?

It sounds like there's a lot of leeway for the ways these things go. If something does come through I'll try to get an agent to look at it. Agents have, to this point, shied away from anything to do with Mr. U, but if there is an actual offer on the table I think their objections might miraculously evaporate.

The guy looking at it produces his own films (he owns the production company), but he's looking for something good to direct, since he recently got a taste for that part of it. Like the last time I was talking to movie people - we can talk, but we'll have to see if something comes of it. I've had smoke blown up my ass in the music business for years, so it can't be all that different.

There's just too much to know to deal with the publishing world alone, much less adding the film world on top of it.
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"We went together like Kennedys and head wounds."--Lenny Kapowski

Whoa! Son!!! That's great news. It might not pan out, but it's at least good practice. Best of luck!
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