The producer from "Pirates" sent mail back saying I can not send him my pitch bc it might lead to plagarism?

Question

it might lead to plagarism?
So, what should I do now? Like, is there any other way, you know, besides getting an agent that I can do this? And, you know, I have been asking this a lot. But if you guys don't like it, I'm sorry. Nothing I can do about. Just don't read my questions I guess. Becasue I am going to keep posting. Sorry.

Answer 1

hey! dont let people get you down! i can tell that you just really want this to happen! :D

Answer 2

This is a standard response - producers never take unsolicited material. They will only accept submissions from known entities - agents - to protect themselves from potential lawsuits. The issue is their plagiarism, not yours.

There are kind of a limited number of ideas in the world. Say your pitch is about a clown who develops amnesia and has to go on the run from the ringmaster of the circus because he saw him drug an elephant. Hey, sounds original, right?

You send it to a producer who might not even read it, or some underling reads it and passes on it or whatever. All you know is that you sent it to them, on your own, without the protection or imprimatur of an agent.

Next year they come out with a movie about a doctor who gets amnesia and goes on the run from a mobster who he saw whack an informant. Now, it's surely a totally different idea, a new script, it might not even be the same genre, but you'd say "Hey! That's just like my idea, they just changed some stuff!" So you sue. You'll probably lose - like I said, there's only so many ideas in the world so everything tends to resemble something else, and they are big Hollywood producers with fancy lawyers, and you'd have to prove they even read it to begin with - but they don't want the headache.

Whereas if a script or pitch comes via an agent-ordained writer, they call back the agent and say "We're not doing clown pictures this year" or else say "We love it, let's go!" or whatever. But if they DO steal your idea (viz. Art Buchwald and "Coming to America") then you have proof that they read the script and know about it. If they get the script and say within five minutes of reading it "We already have an amnesia project, sorry, it's about a doctor" then they're legally protected.

Producers are always looking for good material - they can pay for it. They don't need to steal it. But they do not accept unsolicited material lest it open them up to lawsuits.

I heard from someone in the industry - perhaps just a rumor - that Steven Spielberg spends one day a month dealing with his lawyers and accusations that ideas have been stolen.

A pitch is especially vague. You could try writing a full script, registering it with the Writer's Guild (for your own ownership rights) and then sending an unsolicited script - which might get you further than a pitch. But it's not likely - you'd do better to use that script to get an agent. Writers without agents just scream "amateur". Sorry.

Answer 3

I read an article in entertainment weekly about Mr.Pitch. He is the go to guy for pitched ideas. He runs a web site that you can submit ideas to and if he likes it and pitches it you get the royalties. I think it costs money to join his web site though and I'm not sure what it is anymore. Good luck too! Shouldn't be too hard to search on the web for it.

Answer 4

Because if you write a story and you use characters that were created by someone else without their permission, then they can sue you. The producer doesn't want sued. You need to submit it to the actual owner of the property rights to the characters AND the previous films, in order to 'get it across'.... good luck & don't give up!

Answer 5

I really don't know why it would lead to "plagiarism". Yeah, you should probably get an agent but I don't really know much about this topic!

Answer 6

Did you plagiarize this question? I think I read it someplace before.