Screen plays for your work?

[Brutal_One]

Just curious, although I do not plan to submit any new work in Literotica, however in exploring another form of writing - Screen plays I am wondering if any authors have written a screenplay for their work. Of course the reason for writing a screenplay is in terms of translating your story into the form suitable for film making. It is also a different way of looking at your existing work and putting it under a different lens.

One reason is the idea behind the novel Dirty Movies by Herbert Kastle. The premise of the novel premise is the Production based on a novel Galt’s Island.

So has anyone tried this? Interested in the different aspect of how you treat the subject matter and what, if any changes, it has made to your own work you base the screenplay on.

Brutal One

 

[windar]

Just curious, although I do not plan to submit any new work in Literotica, however in exploring another form of writing - Screen plays I am wondering if any authors have written a screenplay for their work. Of course the reason for writing a screenplay is in terms of translating your story into the form suitable for film making. It is also a different way of looking at your existing work and putting it under a different lens.

One reason is the idea behind the novel Dirty Movies by Herbert Kastle. The premise of the novel premise is the Production based on a novel Galt’s Island.

So has anyone tried this? Interested in the different aspect of how you treat the subject matter and what, if any changes, it has made to your own work you base the screenplay on.

Brutal One

One of my stories, a commenter said it should be made into a movie, so it's tempting. A few scenes might have to be toned down to get an "R" rating, but it's a spy story from World War II and the sex is not the main point, so not much would be lost. My impression is that an unknown writer published only on erotica sites without any connections in the movie biz would have approximately 0 chance of getting a screenplay produced.

 

[SimonDoom]

I have been working on a few movie screenplays as an entirely separate writing project, but so far I haven't completed or sold one so I can't say it's for "my work." They have nothing to do with erotica. Completely separate. It's a completely different kind of writing, with totally different and very strict formula rules, so it's an interesting departure.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Just curious, although I do not plan to submit any new work in Literotica, however in exploring another form of writing - Screen plays I am wondering if any authors have written a screenplay for their work. Of course the reason for writing a screenplay is in terms of translating your story into the form suitable for film making. It is also a different way of looking at your existing work and putting it under a different lens.

One reason is the idea behind the novel Dirty Movies by Herbert Kastle. The premise of the novel premise is the Production based on a novel Galt’s Island.

So has anyone tried this? Interested in the different aspect of how you treat the subject matter and what, if any changes, it has made to your own work you base the screenplay on.

Brutal One

One of my stories, a commenter said it should be made into a movie, so it's tempting. A few scenes might have to be toned down to get an "R" rating, but it's a spy story from World War II and the sex is not the main point, so not much would be lost. My impression is that an unknown writer published only on erotica sites without any connections in the movie biz would have approximately 0 chance of getting a screenplay produced.

A number of years I tried a few screenplays before I got into short stories. Those were not erotica-based. The most effort I put into one was a remake of an existing movie.

First of all, I assume you mean movies, but it could also encompass mini-series and regular television series.

The upside: it is a great way to practice dialogue and character-building. I did learn a lot from working on them.

The downside: well, I was 99% sure I'd never sell anything, so it was like Lit; just a hobby. But one should be aware of time limitations, both in the length of the entire work and the length of individual scenes. That is assuming you are even trying for a commercially-viable work. Of course, the competition to sell one of these things is intense. A lot of people probably think that a screenplay is easier than conventional writing, so the market is overwhelmed with "slush piles," as they are called at agencies and studios.

I wasn't concerned about that, so the one movie I came closest to finishing would have been at least five hours long. Some scenes within it would go on for several minutes. I finally said, "So it's a mini-series (like Berlin Alexanderplatz, which is fifteen hours long on TV?)."

One more consideration if you are going to try it for pay. The director, cinematographer, studio execs, and many other people are going to actually shape the final result. In a story, you can have control over the most elaborate scenes if you wish; it's just words. But if you are going to, say, write for location shooting in Brooklyn, the cost limitations may send the production to Vancouver, British Columbia. Or if something is filmed, your carefully constructed scene may wind up on the cutting room floor. (Note what happened to even established filmmakers like Orson Wells and John Huston.) It's possible, even likely, that you will have no input on the set at all. Once you sell it, you are basically out of whatever happens next.

So yes, definitely play around with them, but don't expect more than that.

 

[lovecraft68]

I tried, but just can't seem to grasp that style of writing.
However, my editor has experience and I paid her to do a screenplay of my erotic horror novel Every Dog Has Its Day that I have pitched(so far unsuccessfully) to some local NE indy film directors.

 

[Brutal_One]

Yes my take is really just another form of writing but closely aligned. There is of course a different way of looking at it from the eyes of a TV viewer or movie goer versus someone reading a novel. In some ways the way of the novel is better as your reader can engage his / her own imagination. The screenplay puts more structure to it and is necessary from taking a work to screen format. Then you have the finished TV series or film where now it’s all there for the viewer. Even another form of writing E.g. a play for theatre has its own unique aspects but it’s still a different form of storytelling which ultimately is what a writer wants to do. In summary I think these different methods just help to think of and conceive the plot, characters and story to make it the best from the nebulous beginnings of imagination to different methods to tell the story. I just personally think it helps the creative process to look it from these specific angles. For sure writing a novel to be read rather than a screenplay to be filmed or a stage play to be acted has the most chance of being shared and appreciated by others. The skills though I think although different are beneficial to both. Brutal One.

 

[SimonDoom]

As an exercise it would be interesting to take one's short story and convert it to a screenplay. Screenwriting forces one to focus more attention on dialogue. In a screenplay, there's usually a premium on making dialogue concise and to the point, and also in making it carry the story more than in a short story.

Is there a market for short erotic screenplays?

 

[jsmiam]

As an exercise it would be interesting to take one's short story and convert it to a screenplay. Screenwriting forces one to focus more attention on dialogue. In a screenplay, there's usually a premium on making dialogue concise and to the point, and also in making it carry the story more than in a short story.

Is there a market for short erotic screenplays?

I nominate Simon or brutal to coordinate an authors challenge: Screenplays.

Just like readers don’t like 750 word stories, they may not care for screenplays. But this wouldn’t be about readers, right?

 

[SimonDoom]

I nominate Simon or brutal to coordinate an authors challenge: Screenplays.

Just like readers don’t like 750 word stories, they may not care for screenplays. But this wouldn’t be about readers, right?

Thank you, but I'm so behind on the projects I'm already working on, I have no appetite to take on something new! It's an interesting idea, although I don't think it would be popular among readers. Plus, it would be a bitch to try to format at Literotica.

 

[gunhilltrain]

As an exercise it would be interesting to take one's short story and convert it to a screenplay. Screenwriting forces one to focus more attention on dialogue. In a screenplay, there's usually a premium on making dialogue concise and to the point, and also in making it carry the story more than in a short story.

Is there a market for short erotic screenplays?

I was thinking of going in the opposite direction and converting an old screenplay I tried and making it a novella, I guess I would call it.

I don't know what the market is like now for erotic screenplays. I suppose there used to be some explicit movies that required a screenwriter. Some of the older ones are now online, for free mostly, but it seems like few of those were made after the 1980s. The Devil in Miss Jones was perhaps one of the more successful examples of the type, and it was meant to be shown in theaters. Nowadays most explicit material is online and much of it is given away for free. I don't what the business model is for stuff like that.

 

[SimonDoom]

I was thinking of going in the opposite direction and converting an old screenplay I tried and making it a novella, I guess I would call it.

I don't know what the market is like now for erotic screenplays. I suppose there used to be some explicit movies that required a screenwriter. Some of the older ones are now online, for free mostly, but it seems like few of those were made after the 1980s. The Devil in Miss Jones was perhaps one of the more successful examples of the type, and it was meant to be shown in theaters. Nowadays most explicit material is online and much of it is given away for free. I don't what the business model is for stuff like that.

I haven't seen it much lately, probably because the Site is doing more to filter this stuff out, but I used to see solicitations here from porn producers (or so they claimed) to write scripts for erotic short pieces. I can't imagine they pay much, but it would be fun to see one's story turned into a video.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Thank you, but I'm so behind on the projects I'm already working on, I have no appetite to take on something new! It's an interesting idea, although I don't think it would be popular among readers. Plus, it would be a bitch to try to format at Literotica.

Here is a screenplay that is online. It looks like it's conceivable that it could be formatted for Literotica.

Haunting 1999 script

It's called the "initial shooting script," and I know that the final movie (which was pretty bad) was quite a bit different. Note that Tolkin put in a lot of details that are sort of like "placeholders." The production people, special effects artists, and so forth later made the final product based on various factors. Like, it's supposed to start in Charlestown, MA, but the filming crew never went anywhere near Massachusets nor does any character in the cast ever mention it. There was an opening scene showing some buildings, but it was filmed in England because the crew was already there filming other scenes.

 

[Wifetheif]

I didn't write the script but one of my stories "Patent Pending" was ripped off and filmed by a self-described "amateur porn star." I only found out when her agent/director contacted me to see if I had written or was interested in writing a sequel. He did NOT offer me any money. He did NOT credit me in the original script. The actress didn't even provide me with a copy of her film which she sells for forty bucks a pop. I had to obtain it from a grey market source. Damn if it wasn't my story! Even some of the dialogue matched. I contacted a lawyer but he said there's not much I can do. I'm simultaneously pleased that my story was reincarnated in film and royally pissed off that they didn't even send a few beans my way! I SHOULD be getting a portion of every sale the babe makes. That incident is a big reason why I primarily post to Amazon these days. I may still get ripped off but I have a better chance of defending my work from pirates. I posted the story here, because I wanted to share it with the world. I did NOT post it here to be used to enrich others other than the owners of Lit.com.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I didn't write the script but one of my stories "Patent Pending" was ripped off and filmed by a self-described "amateur porn star." I only found out when her agent/director contacted me to see if I had written or was interested in writing a sequel. He did NOT offer me any money. He did NOT credit me in the original script. The actress didn't even provide me with a copy of her film which she sells for forty bucks a pop. I had to obtain it from a grey market source. Damn if it wasn't my story! Even some of the dialogue matched. I contacted a lawyer but he said there's not much I can do. I'm simultaneously pleased that my story was reincarnated in film and royally pissed off that they didn't even send a few beans my way! I SHOULD be getting a portion of every sale the babe makes. That incident is a big reason why I primarily post to Amazon these days. I may still get ripped off but I have a better chance of defending my work from pirates. I posted the story here, because I wanted to share it with the world. I did NOT post it here to be used to enrich others other than the owners of Lit.com.

You are absolutely correct, but how are you going to enforce it? Probably there are other people here who know more about how to do this, but you might need to retain a lawyer to get any money out of these people. I know personal injury lawyers will work on a contingency fee basis, but I don't know anything about other types of cases. Maybe these film producers will settle on an amount to just get rid of you.

With the coming of the Internet, any text, photo, or illustration put online is open for exploitation. Musicians have been fighting a losing battle to keep their work off YouTube. The movie industry has done better, at least getting some compensation for their work, but that is not airtight either.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I noticed that there is already a thread about getting your work stolen, but I haven't gone through all the responses yet.

 

[Wifetheif]

The fact that I published the story for free works against me. The implication is that I wanted no financial gain from the story, so there is no expectation of financial gain. While I didn't publish it to make money, I still own the copyright and my rights are mine and should be respected. The recent Google decision also works against writers both famous and anonymous. Google argued, and the supreme court agreed that prose works posted on the internet are defacto public information and can be shared. Google sells an unauthorized digital version of a popular history book I wrote. Neither I nor my publisher ever received a dime from their piracy which Goggle sells. In the early days of scribid, I posted an article there. Scribid now sells the article with no reimbursement to me. The internet seems to be designed to reward theft.

 

[SamScribble]

I have worked on a number of screenplays - mainly TV, but also a couple of big screen productions.

I have a couple of erotic stories that I think might make good films but, with the way the world is, I'm not sure that the game would be worth the candle.

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

I have a story I'm writing as a script, using real porn performers. I would live to see it get made but its almost a full length film with a cast of 6-8 big name porn stars. No one would finance it.

 

[RachelPost]

When I wrote my two stories, I wrote it with two porn actresses in mind. I wrote seeing the story with my mind's eye. I didn't use a screenplay format. But I "watched" the story in my head.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Good Lord, I can't even big to imagine. I write series, so not really applicable. Sure, a big budget Alexaverse sounds wonderful, but I'd hate it when they got everything and everyone wrong. I"m a control freak about my characters.

Time Rider would be hilarious, but once again, it's a series. So it might work as a big-budget TV series, but it rampant with porn, so...