IOTG Glossary

[work-in-progress]

Since we've had a number of aspiring entertainment industry professionals ask for the definitions of some of the terms used on this blog, below is a glossary of common terms you'll see here and inside www.itsonthegrid.com.  If you have a term you'd like us to define, email us and we'll include it.  And for an excellent roundup of other entertainment industry terms, there's always Variety's "Slanguage Dictionary."

Covering:  The activity of tracking information about projects in development around Hollywood, as in "Who at UTA covers Paramount?"  Not to be confused with script "coverage," the book review-style synopsis and opinion documents used by agents, executives, managers and producers instead of alongside the actual screenplays.

Development Priorities:  Below are the definitions of the various "Project Status" terms used inside IOTG.  While we've cribbed these from a couple of different studios, not everyone uses the same labels or the same definitions.  Nevertheless, the following is how the site differentiates between the various stages of development.

• Packaging - Production of the project is imminent: The script is basically done, dates have been set for principal photography, and/or offers are being made to lead actors (as well as directors, if the project is still ODA).  ["Packaging" refers to the practice of assembling several key elements of a project, such as a script or writer with a director and/or a lead actor.]
• Next Wave - Project has been slated for production, general dates have been selected for principal photography, and the script is in the final stage of development.
• Priority Development - Project is in active development (script is being written/rewritten, often to a director's specifications), and the studio intends to make the movie.
• Active/Regular Development - Project has champions inside and outside the studio but must earn its way into production through the development process.  The two terms are interchangable, and as we refine the database we'll settle on one label and remove the other.
• In Abeyance - Studio is not actively developing the project, but the rights to the project have not yet lapsed.
• Turnaround - Studio's rights to develop the project have lapsed.

ODA:  Open Directing Assignment, or a project for which a studio or production company seeks a director.

OWA:  Open Writing Assignment, or a project for which a studio or production company seeks a screenwriter.

PODA:  Priority Open Directing Assignment - the studio needs a director for this project right away

POWA:  Priority Open Writing Assignment - the studio needs a writer for this project right away

Sales Strategies:

• Direct - The material is being sent directly to studios and other buyers by its reps, as opposed to "territories" being made available to producers.
• Select - The material's reps have selected a handful of producers they hope will take territories, as opposed to going wide.
• Wide - The material is being sent out (or made available to) the entire development community in hopes of creating an auction-style clamor for territories amongst prospective producers and an attendant appetite to purchase it amongst prospective buyers.

Spec Script:  A screenplay written by a writer for free ("on spec"), as opposed to one commissioned by a studio or production company.

Territory:  A studio or other buyer; most often used in the context of producers receiving an exclusive right to take a piece of material in to a given buyer or buyers to have it purchased on their behalf.  As in, "Wonderland has taken several territories on "Looters," including Warner Bros., Fox and Paramount."