Ghostbusters 3 Fan Writer Faces Epic Battle ... To Be Read

July 1, 2009 - PRLog -- VANCOUVER, BC – The ‘writing sample’ is a right of passage for writers to submit their materials to network television as it demonstrates their take on established characters and stories. In fact, this is how Ronald Moore established himself on Star Trek: The Next Generation before eventually moving up the ranks with his re‐imagined Battlestar Galactica series.

And yet, this practice is almost unheard of in film.

“ ‘Chain‐of‐title’ (the sequence of historical transfers of title to a property) is taken very seriously in film as without this, any fan writer could make claims to a story and its characters, hobbling the ability of a film creator to advance their own intellectual property,” confirms Glenn Luinenburg, a California‐based lawyer. “While Mr. Blocka acknowledges no ownership to the Ghostbusters chain‐of‐title, he faces an uphill climb if he’s to convince the Ghostbusters rights‐holders to even read his screenplay. In order to protect themselves, the rights holders typically would accept a copy of the screenplay only after Mr. Blocka signed a carefully drafted release and waiver. Most simply pass on the opportunity because of the hassle and legal risks involved regardless of quality.”

Legal precedent aside, Mr. Blocka also faces stiff competition from two writers from the NBC show ‘The Office’ – Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky – who were hired on recently by Columbia Pictures along with Ghostbusters alum, Harold Ramis to pen a sequel. Their first draft is expected within months.

Despite all this, Boyan remains undeterred, citing how contentious the 5‐way rights situation still is. “Having spoken with Fred Specktor (Dan Aykroyd’s agent) a while back, I know how hard Dan worked on getting consensus for ‘Hell Bent’ (Mr. Aykroyd’s attempted sequel). Dan’s version eventually became the new videogame and new writers were brought on to attempt a new draft ‐ so if the rights‐holders don’t all like Lee and Gene’s story, they’re back to square one – again. As such, I’ve spent four years researching, writing and polishing my screenplay. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of a courtesy read.”

Chronicling his journey, Boyan has gone so far as to launch a website: http://mygb3.com and a petition campaign he calls “Write to be Read.”

Concludes Boyan, “right now I’m telling my story one person at a time, if that’s what it takes, then so be it. If a writer has no faith in what they’ve done, they have nothing.”