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SCREENWRITER TO AUCTION RIGHTS TO ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY ONLINE

By Anonymous

On Monday the 9th of July 2001, a young Hollywood aspirant is hoping to sell his first screenplay – on eBay!

Born and living in Melbourne, Australia, 21 year old screenwriter Petar Bridges has decided to take the road less travelled in the hope of finding a major studio to purchase or option his original screenplay from the world’s largest online auction site. But this decision comes only after taking the recommended road for almost five years and finding a solid wall at the end.

“I’ve tried to find an agent in the United States who could represent me, but it turned out to be an expensive lesson in time wasting.” Bridges said.

“I sent out over seventy inquiry letters to prospective agents and only received six replies in total. Five of those were rejections and only the sixth was a request to view the work. And these were all based on two to three sentence pitches that are so easy to dismiss because of their simplicity.”

Without suitable representation, the chances of an unknown writer selling an original screenplay in Hollywood are slim. What makes the story more interesting is that Bridges is unemployed and, apparently, unemployable.

“I go fine in job interviews until the question comes up asking where I see myself in five or ten years time. When I say I want to be a Hollywood filmmaker, the interest is extremely high but employers just don’t want to take on someone who has other prospects in mind. I even got knocked back for a job at Blockbuster,” Bridges laughs “But I can see where they are coming from, I suppose.”

Since leaving school in 1997, when faced with the very real likelihood of failing his final year, he has taught himself screenwriting through reading the works of industry giants like Syd Field and William Goldman.

“I’ve had a number of projects come very close to the production stages here in Australia, with a star cast ready to commit, but no one wants to know you until they’ve already heard of you. They won’t read your work unless you have experience. Catch 22. And the agents and actors who have read my work have been very impressed – even to the point of recommending other people to contact. It’s frustrating.”

Bridges set himself a timeframe of roughly five years to make some sort of impact in the film or television world, after which he would have to seriously consider other lines of employment. The five years are coming to a close at the end of this year. The debts are mounting up and the obstacles in his way are getting tougher to conquer.

“I know a lot of people out there will look at this and scream ‘publicity stunt’ or just say I’m plain impatient, but I’m no closer to my goal five years on than I was when I started. And that’s not through lack of trying either. The reception is always good when someone reads one of my scripts, but getting those scripts into the right hands is impossible.” He said.

“This isn’t an exercise in ego. Obviously I’d love to sell the script – life would be a lot easier without all this debt – but what I’m really hoping for is that someone with power will read my work and maybe tell me whether I should even continue on in this field or not. Genuine encouragement goes a long way, I think. I could happily struggle on for another five years if I knew there was reward at the end of it.”

The screenplay in question, titled ‘Hellfire’, is the story of a divorced man and woman teaming together to stop Lucifer from re-entering Heaven.

“Basically, Lucifer needs the souls of six vulnerable people to become an angel again. He does this by offering six people a one-off chance at vengeance for wrongs done by them in their past.” He said.

“That’s where pitching problems come in. It is a ‘high concept’, but it sounds pretty hokey or gimmicky. But, then again, most films do when you boil them down to their bare essentials.”

Bridges says that the screenplay, similar in tone to other films in the genre like ‘Se7en’, ‘Unbreakable’ and ‘Fallen’, is a supernatural thriller with more to offer than a clever premise.

“There’s a lot of twists – especially in the tail end – and a lot of things that make you sit back and consider your thoughts on loss, lies and revenge. The premise is the hook…the story and characters stand on their own.”

When the auction is listed next Monday on eBay, serious bidders will be able to receive a copy of the screenplay via email.

“Everyone who opens the auction will get the title, the log line, the pitch and the first eight to ten pages of script as an enticement. After that, only seriously interested parties will get the script by email within a few hours of request. I’ll be glad with any interest generated in the auction, but I can’t sit at my computer all day and send the script to hundreds of people.”

A low six-figure reserve will be set and bidding will start from as low as US$1000. The auction is expected to run between seven to fourteen days.

Though an intriguing way to offer an original work for sale, this is not the first time a writer has put the original rights to a screenplay up for auction. In early June 2001, screenwriter Mike Schmidt listed his spec script, ‘Blue Christmas’, on eBay. Although considerable interest was generated, Schmidt is yet to sell the screenplay. Does the thought of not registering a bid at all scare Bridges?

“It is a scary though, yeah. It would be great to sell, but I’d be pleased with even one bid below reserve from someone who actually wanted to pay me for something I love doing.”

At the end of the day, all Bridges wants is to test himself and see if he has what it takes to make it in the big leagues. With the heat coming from all things Australian in Hollywood right now, maybe an Australian writer is next to crack the big time?

“I’d be happy to have a studio or agency see the work, reject it for one reason or another but still remember my name down the track when it comes time for my next pitch. Being all the way Down Under makes it that much harder.”

His best-case scenario?

He laughs, “Oh, nothing out of the regular; Dreamworks, Ridley Scott, Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks. You know; the usual screenwriter’s wish list.”

And the worst case scenario?

“Uh, me, a crowded city mall and a Styrofoam cup with loose change rattling in the bottom.” He laughs again.

***NOT FOR PRINT: Petar Bridges can be reached for further comment on (03) 9740 9683 or by replying to this email***

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