Big Dog Entertainment/PRELUDE Development, Inc.
000 Xxxx Xx. Xxxxx, 00xx Xx.
Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000
BODY OF WORK AGREEMENT
The following is an agreement between Big Dog Entertainment/Prelude
Development, Inc. ("The Production Company") and Xxxxxx Xxxxxx (The Owner and
Writer) for Xxxxxx Xxxxxx'x participation in The Production Company and granting
The Production Company a right of "option" on the complete "body of work" of
novels, short stories, and screenplays/proposals that Xxxxxx owns and has
copyright to, per the Attached List designated Exhibit A for the expressed
purpose of production of such projects for full length motion pictures and/or
television series release, agreement dated February 4, 1999.
1. TERM:
The initial term of this agreement shall be for a period of three years,
commencing on Feb 4, 1999 and ending on Feb 4, 2002. During this Initial
Term, the Production Company agrees to facilitate the production of three
(3) of the Writer's properties selected from exhibit A. (the "production"
shall be defined as the Production Company actually optioning one of the
Writer's properties, establishing a production schedule, and Writer
receiving contractual payments as defined herein.) The Writer agrees to
write four (4) outlines, selected by the Production Company from exhibit A
and provide the treatments to the Production Company in accordance with
schedule requirements stated herein.
EMPLOYMENT: Production Company agrees to employ Writer initially as sole
Writer on each individual project to accomplish initial writing
requirements (treatments and or screenplays) and Writer agrees to perform,
upon the terms and conditions herein specified in the individual project
"option" and "screenwriter" agreements. Writing services for the proposed
Theatrical Motion Pictures shall be based upon those properties specified
of the Writer's original literary works (listed in Exhibit A).
(a) Writer agrees that Production Company has right of first refusal on
optioning all literary works in Exhibit A. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, Writer agrees that if any of the literary works listed in
Exhibit A are offered or solicited for purchase for the purpose of
being made into a motion picture, or any form thereof, during the
Initial Term of this Agreement or any extensions or Terms of this
Agreement, Production Company shall be attached to said project as
executive production entity and compensated accordingly, per the terms
to be negotiated fairly.
(b) Writer hereby grants to Producer the right to use Writer's name in
connection with the material and the motion picture photo play
hereunder and in advertising, exploiting and exhibiting the same.
4. COMMENCMENT OF SERVICES:
(a) Writer provides a copy of all finished literary works listed in
Exhibit A to the Production Company within five days or when available
of execution of the agreement.
(b) Production Company agrees to protect all copies provided and return
copies to writer in a timely fashion, but NLT ____.
(c) Writer shall commerce services in writing of outlines upon receipt of
notification from the Production Company of the selected properties.
Draft copies of each treatment shall be due to the Production Company
sixty (60) days after notification. If required, revised copies of
each treatment shall be due thirty (30) days after receipt of comments
from the Production company.
6. DELIVERY/TIME OF ESSENCE:
(a) Effective Delivery: To allow time for duplication of any Product Form,
delivery shall be deemed to occur two (2) business days after the
Product Form is actually received in the office of the Production
Company. Delivery of each Product Form shall be deemed to occur upon
receipt of such Product Form in the Production Company's office.
(b) Time of the Essence: The Writer shall write and deliver each Product
as soon as reasonably possible after commencement of the Writer's
services thereon, but not later than the date upon which the
applicable Delivery Period expires. Time of delivery is of the
essence.
(c) Revisions: For each Product Form which is in the nature of a Revision,
the Writer' services shall include the writing and delivery of such
changes as may be required by the Production Company within a
reasonable time prior to the expiration of the Delivery Period
applicable to such Product Form. Delivery shall not be effective until
said Product Form incorporating such changes has been delivered to the
Production Company.
(7. COMPENSATION:
(a) On condition that the Writer shall fully and completely keep and
perform all of the Writer's obligations and agreement, hereunder, and
as full consideration for all services rendered by the Writer for the
Production Company, and for all rights granted and/or agreed to be
granted by the Writer to the Production Company, per the individual
project contracts, the Production Company agrees to pay the Writer and
the Writer agrees to accept compensation as follows:
1. A One-time payment of Ten Thousand Dollars (6000), payable on
April 15, 1999, such payment to be deemed non refundable by the
Company from the writer or non accountable against future options
or payments due Writer.
2. Each project shall then be required by Company to have an
individual "option" agreement and an individual "screenwriter"
agreement assigned to it and designated and reflective of the
following amount: option payment against the combined book and
screenplay purchase price of between Two Hundred Fifty Thousand
($250,000) Dollars and Three Hundred Seventy Five Thousand
($375,000) Dollars.
3. Five (5%) Percent of one hundred (100%) percent of the Gross
Profits earned by The Production Company.
Compensation per project will be due per schedule per contract of
individual designated "option" and "screenwriter" on each project.
Compensation shall not be due or payable to the Writer for any period or
periods during which the Writer shall fail, refuse or neglect, or shall be
unable for any reason to render the Writer's services as required or
desired by the Production Company under the terms of this Agreement.
Failure to accomplish schedule of commencement of production and contracts
therein and/or failure to meet all and any payments required, shall
automatically null and void this contract and Company acknowledges and
warrants that it will have no claim, lien, or interest therein in any and
all of Writers Literary works, present and future.
It is understood and acknowledged by the Production Company that this "Body
of Work" agreement is non- assignable by the Production Company, for any
reason whatsoever, without the written consent of the Writer.
AGREED TO AND ACCEPTED BY:
/s/ Xxxxxx Xxxxxx /s/ Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx Big Dog Entertainment
Exhibit A
Novels by Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
One Night Stand (Razoni and Xxxxxxx). New York, Pinnacle, 1973.
Dead End Street (Razoni and Xxxxxxx). New York, Pinnacle, 1973.
City in Heat (Razoni and Xxxxxxx). New York, Pinnacle, 1973.
Down and Dirty (Razoni and Xxxxxxx). New York, Pinnacle, 1973.
Xxxxx Town (Razoni and Xxxxxxx). New York, Pinnacle, 1973.
Leonardo's Law. New York, Carlyle, 1978.
Atlantic City with Xxxxx Xxxxxxx. Los Angeles, Pinnacle, 1979; London,
Sphere, 1980.
Smoked Out (Digger). New York, Pocket Books, 1982.
Fool's Flight (Digger). New York, Pocket Books, 1982.
Dead Letter (Digger). New York, Pocket Books, 1982.
Lucifer's Weekend (Digger). Xxx Xxxx, Xxxxxxxx, 0000.
Trace. New York, New American Library, 1983.
And 47 Miles of Rope (Trace). New York, New American Library, 1984.
Grandmaster, with Xxxxx Xxxxxxx. New York, Pinnacle, 1984. Xxxxxx,
Xxxxxxxxx, 0000.
When Elephants Forget (Trace). New York, New American Library, 1984.
The Ceiling of Hell. New York, Xxxxxxx, 1984.
Pigs Get Fat. (Trace). New York, New American Library, 1985.
Once a Mutt. (Trace). New York, 1986.
Too Old a Cat, New York, New American Library, 1987.
High Priest (Grandmaster), with Xxxxx Xxxxxxx. New York, New American
Library, 1987.
Getting Up with Fleas. (Trace) New York, New American Library, 1988.
The Hand of Lazurus, with Xxxxx Xxxxxxx. New York, Pinnacle, 1988.
The Sure Thing. Xxx Xxxx, Xxxxxxxx, 0000.
Jericho Day. Texas, Diamond, 1989.
Scorpion's Dance. Xxx Xxxx, Xxxxxxxx, 0000.
Destiny's Carnival. New York, Xxxxxxx, 1992.
Honor Among Thieves. New York, Pinnacle, 1992.
World Without End, with Xxxxx Xxxxxxx. New York, Tor, 1996.
Deathgright, New York, Tor Books, 1993;
End Game, New York, Tor Books, 1994.
Short Stories
A Public Duty
Another Day, Another Dollar
And One for the Little Girl
A Finished Man
Collaboration
A Nice Place to Visit (with Xxxxx Xxxxxxx)
An Element of Surprise
Without a Trace
Waiting for Mister Green
Unpublished Outlines, Treatments, Manuscripts
Saturday Night Special
The Last Resort
Wicked Ark
The Reduvi Defense
Out of Control
Extinction
Swashbuckler
Plays Written by Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Screenplays:
Where or When
The Temple Dogs*, with Xxxxx Xxxxxxx. New York, New American Library, 1989.
*This title exempted from production, until further negotiations.
Biography In 1963 Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, then secretary to the Mayor of Jersey
City, New Jersey, and a reporter on the City Hall beat named Xxxxxxx (Xxx) Xxxxx
decided to collaborate on an adventure novel featuring a brash young Westerner
trained in the martial arts by an inscrutable Oriental Master. While it took
some time for the idea to catch on, (the first Destroyer novel was published in
1971), and the theme quickly became a cherished part of popular fiction (e.g.
The Karate Kid movies). There are now over 30 million copies of the Destroyer
novels in print, in 11 languages.
Eighty Destroyer books have now been written, together with a novelization
of the movie Xxxx Xxxxxxxx: The Adventure Begins, and the characters are as real
as ever. Xxxx Xxxxxxxx, an ex-cop named after the Indiana town in which his
hospital bed pan was manufactured, learns Sinanju, a fictional Korean Martial
Art, at the hands of its venerable last Master, Chiun. Together they take on
problems of a troubled world that make The Labors of Hercules look like
mumblety-peg.
Originally conceived as a parody of "Super Spy" novels, the series owes its
success to the fact that its heroes are real people, their problems and emotions
common ones, and the social and political basis for its plots mirrored in every
day reality. The consistent high quality of the prose stems from the fact that
Xxxxxx finished and fine-tuned every script, usually from an outline and 95 page
start by Sapir. But in 1978, after the first 34 books, Sapir opted to raise his
literary sights and disassociated himself from the series. He later recanted his
decision and returned to co-author No. 48, Profit Motive, and No. 52, Fool's
Gold, and wrote Numbers 63 through 68 on his own.
Xxxxxx says of him "He had the most amazing talent for coming up with great
story "McGuffins", plot twists; reading his work was like going to writing
school. At his untimely death, he had barely toughed how great he was going to
be."
The breadth of Xxxxxx'x talent xxxxxxxx the imagination. Comic detectives,
caper novels, large suspense novels, sword and sorcery spy novels, and
locked-room mysteries, together with stories, comic books, movies and countless
collaborations do not even begin to xxxx the parameters of his creative genius.
The Ceiling of Hell, winner of the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus
award in 1985, is a prime example of Xxxxxx'x wide range. The story of disabled
Secret Service Agent Xxxxx Xxxx'x struggle to cope with the collapse of both his
personal and professional lives captured the imaginations of millions or
readers.
Similarly, Xxxxxx'x Law starring Xxxxxx Xxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxx, based loosely
on Xxxxxx'x characters "Trace" and "Chico" harvested a huge television following
throughout the world.
A mystical event takes place in books co-authored by Xxxxxx and Xxxxxxx.
For a moment, the suspension of disbelief becomes so profound that readers are
transmigrated to lands that never were with such vivid detail that they
experience a sense of loss when the books end. Grandmaster, and Xxxxx winner,
high Priest and The Temple Dogs are books like this. Hopefully, they xxxx only
the beginnings of an endless collaboration that will continue to enrich the
reading public for countless years.
Because of a glitch in the printing order of The Temple Dogs, the hardcover
of this book has become a collector's item in its own time.
Sapir eventually succeeded in achieving judgment on his own terms. The New
York Times review of his final work, Quest, an ambitious project concerning the
Holy Grail, ended with the statement "Xx. Xxxxx is a brilliant professional."
Unfortunately, he never got to read it, as it was published after his death.
Xxxxxx, however, is the professional's professional, the hallmark of work
of consistently high quality produced in spite of the mercenary peccadilloes of
a constantly changing publishing scene. A warm, generous man, he is often the
victim of "ricochet discrimination." The sharp, snide, cutting one line retorts
and highly prejudiced viewpoints of some of his characters are wrongfully taken
to reflect the author's personal feelings. Nothing could be further from the
truth, but such phenomena characteristically fail to bother Xxxxxx. He simply
philosophizes "It goes with the territory."
