How Do You Go About Getting the Rights to IP? Aren’t All the Good Stories Taken?

How many times have you come across a story and thought, “Now that would make a great movie or series, but there’s no way the rights are available.” Pump the brakes on the pessimism, says Jody Lambert (Brave New Jersey, People like Us) who shares his experiences and tips. 

Question: How do you go about getting the rights to IP? Aren’t all the good stories taken?

Jody Lambert: If you’re chasing the rights to a piping-hot, once-a-generation, perfect-for-Zendaya piece of IP, then yeah, it’s probably unavailable. It was probably never available. It was already probably not available before you heard about it. But for something that producers/executives aren’t currently outbidding each other to acquire? All you have to do is ask. It’s that simple. Don’t be afraid. Don’t assume. Just ask.

Someone from your agent, manager, or lawyer’s office can do a rights search. If you’re not repped, or you just enjoy doing detective work, you should be able to easily track down the rights-holders. It’s 2025. You can find anyone. Reading that sentence, it sounds way more stalker-y than I intended.

I stumbled on an amazing, untold, you’ve-gotta-be-kidding me true story. After some internet-ing, I discovered that ABC News, The New York Times, the BBC and a bunch of other major outlets had covered it. Surely it would be a waste of time to pursue it. Some enterprising producer, whose job is to nail down the rights to these kinds of things, had already nailed down the rights to this thing. Right? 

Wrong. I sent the rights-holders a thoughtful, thorough, thoroughly low-status email (“I’m sure you’ve been inundated with emails from writers like me but…”) The rights were available. And now they were mine. It’s never a waste of time. 

What’s the worst that can happen if you reach out? Someone already has the rights? Big deal, move on knowing you have good taste in material. They don’t respond? Who cares, then it was never meant to be. And if they don’t respond, maybe they’re not the kind of rights-holders you want to be in business with anyway.

I read a woman’s obituary in The New York Times. Again, I thought, this is an amazing, untold, you’ve-gotta-be-kidding me true story. Some ambitious producer, whose job is to nail down the life-rights to these kinds of things must’ve already nailed down the rights and it’d be a waste of time to…

Nope. I tracked down the family on Facebook. We Zoomed. I reiterated how much their mother’s story moved me, why I was the writer to bring it to life. An attachment agreement followed. Then producer meetings. We’re about to pitch the TV show of their mom’s amazing, untold, you’ve-gotta-be-kidding-me true story.

My wife’s best friend told me about a novel she read years ago. Sounded very Zeitgeist-y so I read it—and loved it. It wasn’t a bestseller, but it’s been on a bunch of “Best Novels About California” lists so I assumed some clever producer had already optioned it. Nope. We’re putting together a shopping agreement.

One last thing: sometimes patience is your best strategy. Those piping-hot, once-a-generation Zendaya-y properties? Often, the rights-holders give big Hollywood a chance, there’s a splashy announcement in the trades, followed by years of development… then the stars don’t align and the rights revert back to the creators. That’s a good time to try your thoughtful, thorough, thoroughly low-status email again. It’s worked for me.