Brian Bull's Lounge Discussions

@Brian Bull. Looks like the "really dark" approach seemed to work!

Hey crazy Bill Brock - my son got a degree in Radio, TV and Film from Northwestern U. and is still a starving stand-up comic at 50! You bring the comedy and levity to this group that I think we all need!

Hey, Maurice. Thanks for sharing those videos. As I mentioned to Dan, I've never seen THE WIRE. I was aware of the show back in the day and heard it was AMAZING, but had never watched it until now. WOW! Great ACTING and SCRIPT! Thanks so much for sharing because this is what I was looking for-- The technique of how the belt can be attached to the door knob. My scene differs greatly. Can't share the details. Prying eyes, ya know? ; )

Deborah, make up your mind-- crazy or weird? Pick one. Oh, and enjoy the comedy now, 'cause I'm outta here in October. I promised I'd give it a year to see how things shake out. Come Pumpkin Month, my lease is up in The Writers' Room. I just don't like to stick around in one place for too long. It ain't easy outrunning the feds.

Why pick one? It sounds like you have multiple personas. Your presence and personas will be missed.

Along those lines , what if characters in the script mention as a reference a book they read or enjoyed, or make a reference to a book character or tv character or a movie title, Is that allowed or is permission needed, for example mentioning Hunger Games to Tony Sopramo, etc?

Yes, get your clearances!

I think it's funny - when writing a novel, you can reference all kinds of brands, products, and other trademarks (Kleenex, Coke, BMW, etc) in pretty much any context (good or bad) without worrying about infringement. This comes straight from a literary attorney I know.

But show a logo or mention a brand name in a film/TV show and everybody gets sue-happy!

Thanks for all of the insight!

So here is the development executive answer... because this is a great question!

References to items or companies in innocuous contexts (getting into an Uber for example or eating M&Ms or shopping at Target) are totally fine in your script, as long as your story doesn't hang on that specific brand but some other similar brand could be substituted. No producer can guarantee you a specific brand and it's not realistic (i.e. professional) to expect it, so the specific brand can't be central to your script.

References to brands or companies in a derogatory context (i.e. a manager at Target rapes someone) are out of bounds. You will never get permission and it's frankly amateurish to even put that in your script. Just change the name to something fictional. You should even be careful about entities like cities - just ask the CBS executives who had to pull the episode of CSI that showed a map of Las Vegas with hundreds of "dots" referring to child molesters (way, way more than the real number in Vegas), after incensed calls from the mayor and the governor of Nevada.

References to real shows and especially specific songs are very much not allowed in your script and are considered the mark of an amateur writer. They add hugely to your budget and may not even be gettable if your show is on a network that competes with the owner of the specific show or song. This is not up to good producers to get for you - and you appear arrogant and entitled if you think it should be. I'm just telling you the perception from the people you're trying to impress. Once you sell your show to HBO, the entire Warner music library will be open to you, until then don't hang your script on a song.

As for references to titles... Books are almost always ok unless referred to in a derogatory sense (which is rare). Movie or tv show titles fall under the above category of references to intellectual property potentially owned by a competing company and therefore not available and to be avoided.

One more thing in case it's not obvious... When I see a derogatory reference to a show or movie in an "emerging" writer's script, I stop reading at that moment and the writer is off my list. If you want some fun stories, ask me about people who blew meetings and pitches by unknowingly badmouthing the wife/best friend/second cousin once removed of the person they were pitching to. Sing it with me... it's a small world after all...