Saturday, January 17, 2015

How to Protect Your Idea

Everyone's got stories. When I was worked in programming for television networks, I never told anyone what I did. Because once people heard what I did, they would start pitching me an idea. My cobbler would pitch me a show idea about cobblers, my taxi driver would say there should be a show about taxi drivers, not realizing that there already was a very successful series called "Taxi," and my son's teachers would pitch me educational sitcoms and dramas. They were convinced that viewers would love to see their stories up on the screen, if only "those idiots" at the networks would agree. Almost everyone who was about to pitch me an idea would ask if I planned to steal it. I would always say not to tell it to me if they thought I would steal it. While there are certainly unscrupulous people in the entertainment industry, idea stealing is not that common. It's not the idea that matters, it's the execution of the idea that matters. How many movies have been made where a parent and their teen child switch identities? Some have been hits and some disappear from the theaters after a week. It all depends on the execution. Therefore, the best way to protect your idea is to turn it into a property. If you have an idea for a movie, don't keep it in your head. Write a treatment, or do a rudimentary story board, or create a detailed outline. Don't just say that you want to create a reality show about a biker bar in Dallas -- go to Dallas, find the perfect biker bar for your show, and sign an exclusive agreement with them. If no one wants to read your screenplay, use it as an outline for a novel. Then write your novel and get it published. You may find it easier to get studios to read your script if it's based on a novel. As I pointed out, everyone has ideas. If an entertainment company doesn't like your idea, they know they can get ideas from any number of other creators. If you own a property that the entertainment company wants, you're in the driver's seat. JK Rowling had an idea for a novel about a boy wizard. That idea itself can't be protected. But once she wrote her first Harry Potter novel, she turned her idea into a property that has become one of the most valuable entertainment properties in the world. It also made her a billionaire. Maybe you have an idea that can be equally as successful. Turn it into a property and find out.

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