18
Budgets
BACK IN THE 1980s, Steve went out to Hollywood to try his hand at scriptwriting. He’d written a TV pilot that Osmond Television Productions wanted to develop, and he took the opportunity to give it a shot. When he arrived in L.A., he found a brilliant entertainment lawyer to help him negotiate the deal. After the deal was in place, the attorney gave Steve some advice about “the business” that has served him well ever since.
“At the start of every meeting,” the attorney told him, “ask the people around the table how much money you’re going to be walking out with right now. Not “down the road” or “if the deal goes.” Not “if we sell your script.” Not any kind of promises of “back end,” “net,” or “revenue sharing.” Just ask them: ‘How ...
Get Breakthrough! now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
