Screenwriting News links – 11/26/07

Hollywood's Giving Away Residuals:
Last month, HarperCollins, a division of News Corp., announced a partnership with Sharp Independent to develop movies based on HarperCollins books. Meanwhile, Random House Inc. has teamed up with Focus Features to co-produce two to three movies a year based on fiction and nonfiction from its dozen imprints… Random House and HarperCollins will get a cut of the box office sales, as well as revenue from DVDs, cable TV and other media. And the authors involved will get more say in choosing screenwriters, actors and directors.

Hollywood screenwriters, producers go back to bargaining table today
HOLLYWOOD — Akiva Goldsman never stopped writing. Not when his teachers, from grade school to grad school, said he wasn't very good. Not in his tough early years as a struggling screenwriter. But on Nov. 5, Goldsman — who went on to pen blockbuster movies such as “Cinderella Man,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “The Da Vinci Code” and “I, Robot” — quit writing. “I won't pick up my pen again until we have a fair deal,” the Oscar-winning Goldsman declared at a rally...

(I'll tell you what's a fair deal - Akiva never touching another Batman screenplay – THAT is a fair deal. Hehehe...)

Screenwriters of the World Unite:
In a show of support for the ongoing Writers Guild strike, 21,000 screenwriters worldwide are planning what's being described as an "international day of solidarity," with protests set for Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexico, France and Canada Nov. 28. "For us it's a thing of admiration for our colleagues," said David Kavanagh, chief executive of the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild. "They're taking risks now that are going to benefit us later on."

Plus, Screenwriting Guru has been added to Wikipedia.