CALENDAR DEALING IN THE SUPERBOOK ERA Continued from First Page for four reasons: 1-"Atlantic City" was sold on the basis of only a two- memo. 2-Though the film version will be a joint effort, the author controls 100% of the hard-and softcover publishing rights. 3-All negotiations were handled from the West Coast. 4-Erdman will not write the screenplay. By choice. The would-be blockbuster books of T and 1980 will filmable- not only -they'll be be promotable conceptualized. For Peter Maas' first novel, "Made in America," a logo already is being devised. It will be utilized by Viking (his hardcover house), Bantam (softcover), Paramount (owner of film rights) and producer Dino De Laurentiis. Similarly, Steve Shagan's next novel, "'The Formula," already is being conceptualized by Morrow, Bantam and MGM. The lucrative notion of a promotable book becoming a promoted movie often is credited to producer Robert Evans. Evans fostered and partially financed the writing (both book and script) of "The Godfather" and "Love Story." "But I never paid big money," says the former Paramount production chief. "I did the opposite of what happens now: I instigated the writing. I got 'The Godfather' for $5,000 down." (Evans also kept Mario Puzo supplied with spaghetti money, with occasional $2,500 payments until "Godfather" got written.) More importantly, Evans understood the value of a best- -seller: "On 'Love Story,' I offered Erich Segal's publisher $25,000 (for advertising) if they'd do a first printing of 25,000 copies. Otherwise, they would have published 6,000 copies and there would have been no 'Love Story.' Today you have inflation that's counterproductive. Certain writers deal from strength simply because everyone's so hungry for success. There's a terrible manipulation." How did it happen? A -entirely ryphal anecdote may just mark the beginning of the Big Book era. In the midwriter Rona Jaffe, manuscript tow, walked into the office of the Simon & Schuster founder, the late Richard Simon. Simon was just off the phone with Fox producer Jerry Wald. What Wald told Simon -"Find me a story about office girls in New York" -is what Simon told Ms. Jaffe. The result, a book calculated to be a movie, was "'The Best of Everything.' In 1965 the founder- mother of blockbuster books hit the scene. It wasn't the late Jacqueline Susann's triple blitz (three consecutive No. 1 books) that made her a book legend, nor the statistic that her "Valley of the Dolls" is still the top- selling book of all time. It wasn't even her dealmaking, even though her $1.5 million movie sale of "The Love Machine" was a record -setter until last year. What propelled Susann into a superstar was promotion. When the author and publicist Jay Allen planned their initial campaign, the era of Big Books was launched in earnest. Allen is considered peerless on either coast. He alone seems to have the knack for boosting a book to No. 1 within three weeks of publication. Boardwalk SIMOX&S ER CDC Like Paul Erdman, Susann avoided writing screenplays and concentrated on her books and their jackets- -which she colorcoordinated for TV. She cultivated book- sellers. She worked talk shows more effectively than any writer since Gore Vidal. Peter Benchley prefers to tackle screenplays as well, at least first drafts. His scripts for both "Jaws" and "The Deep" were rewritten by others. Yet, because of box-office receipts (a combined $290 million in film rentals for the two films), at latest report, any Benchley book is a Big Book. His next novel, upcoming this year, is "The Island," and it, too, set records. Universal Studios and producers David Brown and Richard Zanuck are paying Benchley $2.15 million-"if all escalators work out," as Brown puts it -for both movie rights and a first -draft screenplay. Rumor had it that Benchley also asked for a clause stating that no rewrite (by an- knows there's no ceiling." other writer) could be done on the screen- In certain cases, there are not even play. "No truth whatsoever," says Brown. books involved. Big money vis-a-vis star "If Peter reached the limits of what he writers began in 1969 with William Gold- could contribute, he would step aside." "But real clout in this business," explains producer Marcia Nasatir, "comes down to this: Can you be fired? Does the writer have any influence over how a picture is made? The key to clout is 'Do you remain on?' The numbers, after all, have always been reasonably big.' PETER BENCHLEY'S DEMANDS eter Benchley's upcoming novel P "The lication Island" galleys was by bought producers in prepub- Richard Zanuck and David Brown and Universal Studios. First, though, the "book" was submitted to various studios and producers by Benchley's agent, Jeff Berg. Along with the galleys went a 10-point "guideline deal" of author's demands: 1. Cash guarantee $1.5 million for book and screenplay against 10% of true, nonadjusted gross from first dollar. 2. Merchandising and music publishing to be accounted on a separate basis and not into the picture gross. 3. Benchley is to receive 5% of soundtrack album. 4. Freeze all sequel remake rights and TV exploitation of all kinds; i.e. neither Benchley nor producers could exploit any of these rights without first negotiating with the other party. 5. Author retains publishing rights and all rights in sequels written by himself. 6. Mutual approval of director, producer, But $2 million for one book? Not so long ago, the terms would have been outrageous. "Nothing outrageous about it," says Evarts Ziegler. "Consider that the domestic gross alone can be $80 million. Benchley may be a bargain. A few of us over the years have fought the good fight for writers, and it's paying off." Adds Putnam's Irene Webb, "'There's no ceiling. God location and any writers employed subsequent to Benchley's approval. 7. Subject to knowing who producer or director will be, he may want credit as "Peter Benchley's THE ISLAND." 8. For a full selection for -of -theMonth of Literary Guild, a bonus of $75,- 000. If an Alternate Selection, $37,500. A bonus of $2,500 for each week book appears on The New York Times best- -seller list. If book appears for 10 consecutive weeks on the New York Times paperback list, a onetime payment of $20,000. All payments under this paragraph to total a maximum of $150,000. 9. Producer to make contribution of $25,- 000 for hardback publishing, advertising. 10. Producers to render monthly accounting on theatrical receipts, starting three months after the initial theatrical release. 0 EPILOGUE: The parties aren't talking much--but word is that most if not all of Benchley's demands were met. D -P.R. man's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." The novelist decided to write a film instead of a book and agent Ziegler secured him $400,000 from 20th -Fox. Ten years later, that figure goes to only a few talents, primarily writer-director hyphenates like Paul Mazursky, Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick. Clearly, though, there are other screenwriters with clout, with or without books to their credit. More than three dozen scenarists now command what was once called "movie star money": $100,000 a picture. Even more bankable are those writers lumped in what can be called a new category: $250,000-$350,000-and-up. "Up" can mean $1 million. "Robert Towne (Chinatown) can get a million for the right script," says one source. Mario Puzo, for his first draft of "Superman," received $350,- 000 plus 5% of the film's gross. "But there are not 20 people in that category," stresses agent Ron Preissman. An informal survey reveals there to be fewer than 20 writers in that stratum. Among them: IRVING RAVETCH AND HARRIET FRANK JR.: The veteran writing team was nominated for an Oscar for "Hud" and responsible for "Conrack" and the upcoming "Norma Rae." On occasion, Ravetch both writes and coproduces, as with "The Reivers." Additionally, Mrs. Frank has written two novels, "Single" and the justout "Special Effects" (Houghton Mifflin: $8.95). PADDY CHAYEFSKY: Only in this category since his Oscar win (his third) for "Network." Chayefsky is an infrequent scenarist, but a nearly venerated one. His published screenplays for "Marty" and "The Goddess" are collectors' items. Upcoming: "Altered States." WALDO SALT: Oscar -winner for his adaptation of "Midnight Cowboy," and at work for the last two years on the definitive Hemingway film, based on Mary Hem-
