FROM BOOKS TO BUCKS Continued from Page 33 Big Book -to- Big Movie titles, among them "Dress Gray," "Bloodline," "Made in America," "Tales of the City," "On the Brink," "Plum Gut," "Destinies," "Winter Stalk," "Titles," and "Blue Roses." The drought of material, such as it is, requires a new kind of creativity. Publishers and moviemakers now are willing to experiment. Five years ago, Doubleday -the publishing house that's one of America's richest privately held companies (Nelson Doubleday and family have total control; there's no stock) -decided to get into movie investing. The project was Lorenzo Semple's "Parallax View," the star, Warren Beatty. Paramount produced, Nelson Doubleday invested, Evarts Ziegler masterminded. In short, a property was invented, financed, produced and promoted. The upshot: The publisher and agent reaped some profits, the studio did not. And the "trend" didn't catch on. Doubleday went back to books and acquired Delacorte/Dell. Another innovation happened last year. One noted producer encountered an unpublished writer who had a good book -to-movie idea but no track record. So the producer financed a short presentation film of the idea for $5,000. After publishers saw the short subject, the bidding zoomed to the six-figure area. Film thus can be a selling tool to get a book off the ground, which can then, in turn, become a film. uch of M all agents the family members attorney, Wally today's book -world power goes not to but to agent -attorneys who can decipher clauses. The Irving Wallace clan (all four are writers) has no book agent, only an Wolf, to handle contracts. Perennial best- seller Arthur Hailey ("Airport"), in town recently to promote "Overload" (Doubleday: $10.95), admits, "I have no agent for books. I handle all my own business affairs. But for movies and TV, I have an agent. It's a jungle out there. One should not walk alone.' A millionaire author like Hailey also doesn't pass up movie money. Even Hailey realizes the seeming outrageousness of the figures quoted: "The media has hyped all this far too much," he says. For clarity, it should be stated that fees are never paid totally up front, especially in publishing. Mario Puzo's $2.5-million paperback deal for "Fools Die" nets him only $100,000 a year for five years, after taxes, agents, etc. Often authors' arrangements are cross-collateralized against future books and earnings. Advances also are broken down into fragmented payments: One does have to deliver a final product to be finally, and fully, paid. There also are misconceptions, starting with gross percentages vs. net percentages. Obviously, the former is more attractive. Theoretically, a writer with a "gross deal" would see money from the first box- office dollar earned. In fact, it's a clouded issue. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward had a gross point deal on the movie of "All the PresPlease Turn to Page 36 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD WINNER BEST FOREIGN FILM 0 film by Autumn onala. PG with INGMAR INGRID LIV BERGMAN BERGMAN ULLMANN FINE ARTS Theatre, Beverly Hills • 652-1330 DAILY 6:00 • 8:00 & 10:00 SAT-SUN 2:00 • 4:00 • 6:00 • 8:00 & 10:00 PM ACADEMY MEMBERS: Your card admits you and a guest to any performance.
