Mr W.kumar attends the Indian screenwriters conference
Do you remember Mr W.Kumar?
He decided to travel to Bollywood almost a year ago and wrote about it on PFC. You can read it at http://passionforcinema.com/mr-wkumar-goes-to-bollywood/
He did make it to Bollywood but it turned out to be the year 2028. (If you’re curious to learn about his adventures there you’ll find them in the related posts column at the bottom of this blog). Well, he’s found his way back and arrived just in time to attend the Indian screenwriters conference 2008. Unfortunately he could only attend the second and final day of the conference, something that he deeply regrets.
I met him that evening in a bar in Juhu. We sat on high bar stools surrounded by sparkling clean mirrors. An impassive looking bartender stood across us.
W.KUMAR : I’ll have whatever you’re having. You know what, I have mixed feelings today, I’m happy…but sad too.
ME : Mr W.Kumar, I understand you’re upbeat about attending a very successful conference and you regret missing out on day one. But first tell me what does the W in your name stand for?
KUMAR : Have you heard of the FWA? Do you know what the W stands for?
ME : Yes, the W stands for WRITER. FWA is the Film writers association, the body which organised this conference. So, you’re Writer Kumar. Hmmm…. is that your real name?
KUMAR : You think my parents would be daft enough to name me Writer? Stop asking me silly questions. You said you’ll ask me about the conference…..
ME : O.K. I’ll come back to your name later. You’ve been repeatedly saying that you’re terribly upset about missing the first day of ISC 2008.
W.KUMAR : Yes, I missed out on hearing so many speakers. Kamal Hasan, Raykesh Omprakash Mehra, Rajkumar Hirani, Nasreen Muni Kabir, Abbas Tyrewalla and Abhijat Joshi. Then there was Govind Nihalini…….
ME : Hey, I think I’m wasting money on buying you drinks. It seems you have no idea of what was discussed on the first day.
W.KUMAR : You’ll have to read Kenny’s post to learn about the happenings on day one. Even Magik has written in three posts on issues raised in the conference. Besides, the proceedings were being recorded and I hope PFC gets a copy which can be put up for viewing.
ME : I hope the FWA executive committee members read this and send us a copy…….So, why do I need to listen to you? I’m leaving after finishing my drink.
W.KUMAR : You have no choice but to listen to me and write in a post on our conversation. I hope you remember that you’ve been docked!
ME : Yaar, you writers are so blunt. Anyway, thanks for reminding me. Carry on, tell me what happened on day two.
W.KUMAR : I walked in half an hour after the proceedings had begun. The Auditorium was packed. There was a discussion taking place on the politics of the script. The participants were Prakash Jha, Atul Tiwari, Jahan Barua and Kamlesh Pandey. Anjum Rajabali was moderating and this was a job which he continued to do throughout the day with devoted determination. Jahan Barua’s speech was littered with some amazing anecdotes. He attended his first film festival in 1968 and charmed a strict female Australian film critic with his take on relative poverty. He admitted that film makers are a crazy lot but because his wife is a film maker too, they have no problems.
Kamlesh Pandey is a wacky and confident talker. He was unfazed by the mild heckling that erupted as he rambled on a bit longer than expected. He told us he and Rakesh Omprakash Mehra had to struggle to find a producer for Rang De Basanti and finally got one when Aamir was attached to the project. He said he doesn’t depend on films to earn a livelihood as he sells soaps etc. He is in Advertising!
His advice to aspiring writers like me was that you should always have an alternate source of income even if that involved selling peanuts.
ME : Peanuts? Hey did you see that waiter rip open the peanuts packet. That was packed by Haldiram’s. How can you possibly compete with them?
W.KUMAR : C’mon. We’re talking about selling peanuts on the streets.
ME : Wait, I’ve got an idea. What if a writer sold peanuts wrapped in lifafas made out of copies of his script and……
W.KUMAR : …..and some producer or director reads it. Man, you’ve come up with a crazy story idea. And I’ve always assumed that between the two of us I was the writer.
ME : You are! you are! So writers don’t make money? Does that mean I’ll have to pay the drinks bill whenever we get together? For the rest of our lives? I’m getting out of here, Mr Writer Kumar.
W.KUMAR : Wait until I tell you about the model contract. Once that’s implemented I won’t need you to pay for my drinks bills. This was the most interesting and probably the most awaited part of the conference. It was about writers rights. I never knew I was entitled to so many types of rights.
ME : You mean there’s more to all this than just handing over the script and walking away with a cheque folded inside an envelope.
W.KUMAR : Those days when a writer walked away without reading the amount on a cheque will soon be over. The FWA has been working on a model contract for screenwriters, lyricists and TV writers. Anjum chaired this session and was joined by Saket Chaudhary, Robin Bhatt, Imteyaz Hussain and the General Secretary of the Federation of western India Cine Employees Dinesh Chaturvedi. Three well known lawyers specialising in copyright and IPR matters explained the clauses of the proposed contract to a very attentive audience. Anjum very passionately handled most of the Questions asked by the delegates.
They proposed that a writer get a minimum remuneration of three lakhs for each component of the screenwriting process. Which means if I were to write the story, screenplay and dialogues of a film I would be assured of nine lakhs at least.
ME : Wow! Can I order another drink for you? How about some snacks instead of the complimentary peanuts that we’ve been gobbling up?
W.KUMAR : Later. Don’t interrupt me for a while. This proposal was well received by most people though some felt that producers of small budget movies won’t be able to afford this….
ME : ….Sorry to interrupt, but how much is a small budget film made for?
W.KUMAR : Say…er…1.5 crores.
ME : So why doesn’t the producer raise his budget by another 5 percent and pay the writer 9 lakhs?
W.KUMAR : The payment would have to paid on a staggered basis and the writer will have to deliver the script within the agreed time frame. The writer would have the option of buying back his script if shooting doesn’t commence within two years. Screen credits was another important issue discussed. If another writer is engaged by the producer the first writer would get the first credit. He would be paid royalty for the remake rights. A writer is entitled to moral rights too.
ME : What are those? I never knew a film writers contract would cover so many things. I’m impressed. But will you stand up and insist on all these rights while negotiating a contract?
W.KUMAR : Thats exactly why a model contract is being drawn up. Mr Chaturvedi said unlike other film technicians the writers agree to anything that’s thrust upon them. They have to learn to say no. After the model contract is finalised it will be put up to the producers body for approval and then implemented.
ME : I suppose the producers associations include people who were writers and directors once…..
W.KUMAR : These are the very people who will understand the issues and help in getting the model contract approved. The Model contract committee is determined to ensure its successful implementation.
ME : What happened next?
W.KUMAR : We had a lunch break. It was an opportunity to meet the other delegates and network a bit. The next session was about the writer-Director relationship. It was moderated by Shriram Raghvan who wanted to add some zing to the proceedings. It was a short and a breezy session. Shriram said he receives a lot of scripts but most of them are not up to the mark. The panel included his younger brother and well known script writer Shridhar and the young writer of Rock On, Pubali Chaudhuri. Onir, whom you all are very familiar with was one of the Directors on the panel.
ME : Hey, I admire his patience. He replies to each and every comment made on his blog on PFC.
W.KUMAR : The issue of DVD remakes was touched upon too. One of the panelist said this is something that we have to accept and learn to live with, after all it does get you work.
The next session was about the writer-Producer relationship. This was chaired by Abbas Tyrewala. The producers were represented by Rohan Sippy, Vipul Shah and Ram Mirchandani of UTV Movies. The writers included Amole Gupte, Kamlesh Pandey and someone we all admire on PFC, Navdeep Singh. While introducing him Anjum remarked that these were the loudest cheers he’s heard for any participant at this conference.
Abbas said that the days of the safari suited producers are over and the new breed of producers are willing to back newer and different themes. Amole said TZP happened because he had a star attached to the project. The producers on the panel agreed that if it wasn’t for the star such a movie wouldn’t have been made. Navdeep pointed out that the stars are producers nowadays and it makes more sense to approach them. Vipul said he’s turned into a producer so that he can make his movies the way he wants to, something that Abbas seconded. Ram seemed to be in favour of the writers contract and told us that they’ve paid Jaideep Sahni a good remuneration for the remake rights of Khosla ka Ghosla in Tamil and Telugu. There was a lot more discussed and I wish we get to view a recording of the conference soon.
This was followed by the appearance of the executive committee on stage. The young volunteers who had been helping out were also called up and so was the FWA office staff. The applause which followed was well deserved.
ME : So, Writer Kumar is there anything you would like to suggest to the FWA?
W.KUMAR : I’d like them to accept registration of scripts online.
ME : O.K. You still haven’t told me why have you named yourself Writer Kumar. I suppose Writer is an assumed name and Kumar is your real surname.
W.KUMAR : Kumar is a common Indian surname used in the film Industry. From Dilip to Akshay, it’s been affixed after so many first names…….. Order a final round of drinks, I’ll be back in a minute.
The minute passed. A few more passed too. I looked at the impassive looking bartender.
ME : My friend hasn’t returned from the loo. I’ll just go and look for him.
BARTENDER : Your friend?
ME : Why are you so surprised? You’ve been serving us a couple of drinks every time we’ve ordered.
BARTENDER : We do serve a couple of drinks every time someone orders during happy hours. Ek ke saath ek free.
He kept staring at me expressionlessly. He then moved his eyeballs to the extreme ends of his eyes. I turned to look at where his gaze had stopped. He was looking at my reflection in the mirror next to me.
BARTENDER : Sir, your friend.
Tags: Bollywood writers, film writers association of India, Indian screenwriting conference 2008, screenwriters model contract
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its well written..
da writer have gvn da ‘fight club’ execution..
good one.. i really njoyed da readin..
Good one…on-line registration is little clumsy…we need to have a software which can except fees and give registration numbers at the same time. We are looking for something like this. If you know of a programme/software like this. please do suggest, we would surely like to get it done ASAP.
Any suggestions, do write to tfwa@rediffmail.com
Thanks,
Kumar Gautam
EC member, FWA
@ Kumar Gautam
There are a lot of IT guys on this site and I’m sure someone will come up with an idea on how to implement online registration.
Many writers may not be comfortable with online fee submissions, you could alternately accept a cheque/draft of a minimum amount, say Rs 500 from which the registration fees could be deducted as and when they submit scripts online over a one or two year period. You could increase the per page rate for online submissions.
I’ll also request PFC readers to write in any suggestions at the email ID mentioned in your comment.
@ Kumar Gautam-
Registering scripts online and accepting fees online is a straightforward functionality which I am sure any half decent Website development company can help you with. It’s a great suggestion. Please implement it if you can.
Thanks
Online script registration is a great idea. But please don’t keep the payment method restricted to credit cards. There should be option for both online payment as well as postal payment through cheques and demand drafts. Not many in India would be comfortable paying online, or even be savvy enough to do so.