Amazon Has A Rip-off Site For Screenwriters

[Greg]

The chance of making $200,000 for a script that would otherwise just be collecting dust in your closet is nothing to sneeze at.

It's still an enormous risk to take your script off the market for a year and a half for $0.

[Big Magilla]

Actually the re-write aspect could be a good thing. It might make the script more marketable and you would still get the credit, which, as I read the rules, means you could choose to share it or not.

The chance of making $200,000 for a script that would otherwise just be collecting dust in your closet is nothing to sneeze at.

[OscarGuy]

If it weren't for the re-write aspect, it would be an interesting proposition, but that re-write thing makes it a no go for serious screenwriters...basically, they would write plagiarism into their upload agreement. That's duplicitous...though, I guess it's similar to the way Hollywood can take submitted scripts, re-write/tweak them and make them there own.

[Greg]

Amazon now has a spot for aspiring screenwriters to post their work for possible sale. Here's the deal. Upon posting you agree not to show your script to anyone else for 18 months, even though you get no money when you upload. If Amazon buys your script you get at least $200,000; if not, they reserve the right to extend their option for another 18 months for $10,000. So, the moment you upload you agree to take you script off the market for a year and a half for $0, and perhaps for 3 years for $10,000. Also, all scripts submitted are eligilble for rewrite contests where anyone on the site can attempt to rewrite the script you uploaded for money.

Here's the link to the site's rules:

http://studios.amazon.com/getting-started#prevent_extension