Not too long ago, a writer of my acquaintance (a person of some fame in the industry) was hired to work on a major franchise. After several months of development, the project was making genuine progress and looked good. Then one day, out of the blue, an amateur from West Elbow, Nevada, sends him an email containing her outline for a spinoff of that franchise, asking him to help her sell it because "she has the story, but he has the access to the people who will produce it."
My friend backed away in horror, but the damage was done...
He had received this woman's email. Even the act of telling her, "No, I can't help you," was an acknowledgment of receipt. Therefore she could prove that he'd had access to her material -- and it didn't matter that he'd already done six months on the project -- her email had created a situation where she (and an unscrupulous lawyer) could claim that he had ripped off elements in her material.
Something like this has happened to every single writer I know. Myself included. The "you have the access" email is the worst thing ever. Ever. Ever.
UPDATE: I have no problem whatsoever using the wonderfulness of social media. I posted this to Facebook and got some GREAT comments -- some of which I will lovingly steal pass on and reproduce below:
Ha! Denis - I was gonna send you this for your site. Its hugely fun to read. I think his premise is bullshit. No time to pay it forward? Really? Forgot the albeit rare thrill of reading someone new and good? Writers shouldn't need encouragement? Too busy sweating the 'mot juste' for the hero of your dubious studio cartoon movie? Puh-leeez. Methinks he is just tortured about saying no. Very simple solve and I use it all the time if I am too busy. "I am not reading right now'
Being a newbie writer I've asked friends to read things before. But I always offer them the out of "if you're too busy to read this, I understand". And if they do agree to read it I try to be really clear in what I'm looking for feedback-wise, as opposed to just "what do you think? I'm a genius, right?" I understand where "History Of Violence" guy is coming from, but methinks he protests too much.I read this today too! Very funny. It is ironic though, that the first time I met Josh, he gave my boyfriend his girlfriends demo tape. No joke.Best comment so far on the site:
"I don't care if you read anybody's script, but for the love of god, get a new photo. You look like a rectum with eyeglasses."
Awesomesauce.
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