“I may be the first Canadian screenwriter to take three dollars worth of three-hole punched paper and sell it for $50,000,” says Sorensen, who estimates he made roughly $500 per page on the transaction.
Sorensen, who’s made such motion pictures as the award-winning Hank Williams First Nation and the U.S.-shot Campus Radio, landed the deal with a script for the forthcoming movie 40 Below & Falling.The romantic comedy starring Jewel Statie, best known for her performance in the TV series Firefly and the movie followup Serenity, wrapped up filming earlier in February in Edmonton and various spots around Alberta. According to production company 12pt Media, 40 Below & Falling will be the first Alberta motion picture to be filmed using 3D 4K technology.
Sorensen said the script sale is very unconventional in Canadian circles.
“Millions are granted every year to Canadian producers and screenwriters in the form of grants called ‘development funding,'” he says.
“For every thousand projects that receive development funding perhaps one will go on to get ‘production funding.’ Because Canada’s film industry has never really existed independent of the government, there has been no free market for speculative script sales.”
Initially, Sorensen intended to direct, produce and even act in 40 Below & Falling, and was in the course of funding the venture. Then he met with director Dylan Pearce, who read the script and wanted to helm the film. Pearce approached producer Josh Miller and, together with other partners, liked the script so much, they offered Sorensen a cheque for the film rights.
“I wanted a nice round number that was just a little more than union scale,” says Sorensen.
