Publishers Weekly article on Amazon Studios

Just thought there might be some people interested in checking it out: http://bit.ly/MNkkKQ

I'm ok with that - I get a mention ;)

Nothing against Marty, but I have to wonder what it is about him that AS has selected two of his projects out over over 4,000 to turn into comicbooks. I suspect it's a combination of his experience and the fact that he's a known industry player.

It also appears to me that AS has decided to disband the community that was building around last year's forums and just go with an open announcement seeking bids for projects they want to work on.

The commissary forum is really about open discourse and not really a device to help develop scripts. Although it can be used to request reviews and information from whoever frequents the forum.

This concludes that AS is only interested in scripts that have potential to be comic book material. Then based on a million or so copies sold/downloaded will they consider making that particular project into a movie. If your project is not on these lines...fagetaboutit! Take it elsewhere :)

Or maybe the web comics are the only surviving part of this exercise. Do you really think AS will cough up the eight figure budget to make a competitive feature film?

"Alchemist Agenda" had a stand-in for Dick Cheney as the villain. That probably earned him points at AS.

I completely support union writers. What I don't support is union writers being the only ones able to have a shot. I want to join the WGA, but you can only do that once you have credits. The fact is, the union doesn't support me -- or any other non-union writer. In fact, in many ways, they serve as the antagonist to new writers casting a barrier for those without contacts. So, you can scream all you want, but unless you can admit to the negative aspects of the union, you're blind to reality and your voice doesn't matter.

As far as getting paid for the comic, no - I'm not. And, I'm fine with that - Amazon isn't getting paid either. In fact, they're putting their money out there to get exposure for my project. If Amazon were to sell the comic, then I might have a problem.

The whole idea is to build some interest in Blackburn Burrow so that the movie gets made. The more my name gets out there in the process, the better chance I have to sell more projects in the future.

See, unlike some people, I don't feel like anyone owes me anything - I feel I have to work for it. Amazon is the one risking their money - they're taking a risk backing a project from and unknown like myself. I appreciate that. Things may or may not work out in the end, but I'm not going to bite the hand that feeds me.

Unless you're already a raging success, there is no reason not to accept every effort in promoting your work. There is no downside to any of this ... Except to someone who believe they are worth more than they are.

As someone who has repeatedly taken on unpaid jobs to build a portfolio, I agree with you.

Marketing- Building interest, and gaining a following is just as challenging as the creative parts.

I agree with JH:

The Writers Union basically is an exclusive self serving club. Individual members do a lot in helping non-members through their blogs, ect., but the union itself is no friend to anyone but the union. To say that someone working outside the union is attacking the union for not following union standards is absurd.

For me, any union is about getting minimums for work done.

Great idea.

But it always evolves into a power thing, especially once those union dues start to flow in.

Screenwriters need a professional organization, like the Bar Association, Medical Association, heck, film Producers have one. It would have "associate memberships", ie. for the newbies. "Get 'em while they're young," I say. The good is that it makes our dealings with ourselves (training, standards, penalties for bad play eg. plagiarism) and with others (ie. producers) more professional and, likely, less confrontational.

We're all here to make great art and earn good money, after all.

And, hey, it's one step closer to getting a screenplay spec up for a Pulitzer, in competition with all the other "serious" literary forms out there. There's still a big problem with respect for our art form.

Some of that stems from the way we sell our souls, when we sell the rights to our art for exploitation by the producers. But some of it stems from the way we depend, in this case on a union, to measure credits/separation of rights by how many words a writer types in a screenplay.

There's a bit more to writing than that. I understand from the history that some real rip-offs and blacklisting happened in the early years that contributed to the formation of the union, but I think we need to start acting like partners in the process, rather than merely one side in the old labor-management relationship that arose the Industrial Revolution.

Even in writing assignments, we're not building cars on an assembly line. And that's certainly not the situation when it comes to specs.