Option Agreement

An option agreement rents your screenplay's exclusivity without buying it. For an option fee, a producer gets the exclusive right, for a fixed period (commonly 12–18 months), to try to package and finance the project. If they succeed, a pre-negotiated purchase price is triggered; if the clock runs out, all rights revert to you and you keep the fee.

The parts that matter more than the option fee: the purchase price (negotiated now, paid at green light — this is the real money), extensions (how many, at what price, and whether extension fees apply against the purchase), the scope of rights (sequels, remakes, series — don't grant what isn't being paid for), and reversion (rights must come back cleanly, or your script is trapped).

"Free options" — exclusivity for nothing — are common asks from small producers. Sometimes worth it for a producer with real access; always worth a short clock and a written agreement. An unwritten option is how projects end up unsellable, with two producers claiming the same script.

An option is a producer betting their time on your pages. Scripts that arrive with a strong scorecard and a clean production pack get those bets faster — and negotiate them from firmer ground.