Todd McFarlane Quotes

With 'PKP,' I did not own the film.

Once you work with a studio on a film, the studio is sort of like this enormous clam that just opens, takes everything and then closes, and no one enters again. They own it all.

You'd be naive if you think you are going to retain any control once you option a character to TV.

Franchising implies a financial arrangement, and I am always pleased to consider those.

I own all the characters I created, thanks to the Writers Guild, so nobody can do anything without me. The way it works is: If the copyright owners instigate a project, like the movie, then I get a fee as creator. If I instigate a project, like the musical, I pay a percentage to the copyright owners.

Typically, when you sell your story rights to a movie production company, they can do whatever they want with it. The writer is typically not involved anymore.

If you have sold the film rights to somebody, take your money and leave. If the producers need you, they will call you. But you have to be careful about who you are selling your book to, and ensure that it is not tampered with.

When you do a studio picture, all the paperwork and legal stuff is already taken care of!

Authors need to decide if they want to keep forever to themselves, or share forever with a publisher who takes over half the cover price.

Certainly, my many years working in the comics industry, creating products that I do not own, has made me rather fierce on the subject of giving up rights.

Writing on a contract for a major studio you get the very best.

When a record co. finds a guy now, they want to own everything. They want to own the rights to market that person's particular name. They want a piece of the action all the way through.

And usually the studios they don't want you to have credit for your movies because they want to take credit for the movies because if you get credit for your movies they've got to pay you more.

I think that one of the most useful applications of the Creator's Bill of Rights is that it clearly indicates for creators what rights they have at the outset.

I will never sign anything which makes me have to do more than one film.

Composers and lyricists are not responsible for storyline and casting. One can imagine actors shouldering this responsibility, since they charge for half the film. But producers never ask actors to share the losses. Instead, they train their guns on composers and lyricists.

You get involved with a studio, and optional pictures and sequel options and that sort of thing are becoming part and parcel with the roles they're handing out.

I have no problem selling books to media franchises and we do it all the time. The author must understand that he/she is a writer for hire and has no control over copyright or over editorial changes made to the text.

And Warner Bros. seems to be pretty much into re-releasing all of their catalog. So there's the Warner Bros. stuff and the stuff that we have control over, we're gradually re-releasing it. Some stuff we don't have control over.

The studio have always claimed that the ship is the star of the show, especially when they're renegotiating contracts.

I thought I had the rights to The Lord of the Rings. I don't know how Jackson ended up with the rights.

Without a doubt, if I had it to do all over again, I would do whatever it takes to be a one-person studio. You need to learn how to write so you can control the material. If you own the material, you can do it all.

There is such an advantage to self-releasing. If you can do it yourself, it's the best way to go. In Europe and the rest of world outside the U.S., I have licensed my music to labels. But it's amazing because I still own all the masters. I didn't have to give up any of those rights. I have 100 percent creative control.

With some of the samples that I chose to use, tracking down the person that owns the publishing has become a task.

The standard publishing contract is replete with clauses that strip authors of control over their books.