Advice — skip press

Dollars and Sense ~~ Monica P. asks: What does it mean to be offered $XX 'against' $YYY, for your screenplay? For example, does one price 'against' another mean that the writer is paid $XX now, with an additional $YYY later if the film is actually produced? Or does it mean that you'll either be paid one or the other amount? What does it mean 'an initial 12-month option agreement against a potential $100,000 purchase price.' Can you please explain just what 'against' means there? ~~ Skip Press responds: I suggest you study the Writers Guild 'Schedule of Minimums' (www.wga.org) if...

Question: How valuable/important is film school? I am graduating college in one year, and I want to go into film. Skip Press responds: It's one thing to aspire to write films or act in them, and quite another to know how they are made. Smart writers and actors learn the process and profit greatly -- just ask David Mamet and Clint Eastwood. These days, there are more opportunities to break into Hollywood than ever before, thanks to the digital revolution. You can learn all the basics via a CD set, but the real secret is CONTACTS, and you get those...

I wrote 'The Writer's Guide to Producers, Directors and Screenwriters' Agents' somewhat by accident. I quit Hollywood in disgust after two feature screenplays were purchased, but not filmed, this after years of options and some TV work, but no feature credit. I went back to writing articles and books for a living. One day, I noticed I was about to be out of a job, so I started promoting to publishers in the Members Directory of America Online. Two weeks later, I had a signed contract to do the first Writer's Guide. I wrote the first edition for people not...