RACING FOR THE RIGHTS

Who ultimately wins the race to put the Emporia story on screen will depend on which network says yes first to a script and other “elements.” Meanwhile, we’ve tried to sort out the competitors for the coveted dramatic rights.

First, the finalists:

Henry Winkler nabbed dramatic rights from the convicted lovers for an ABC project. Winkler told Calendar he never got into a bidding situation: “I know what my intentions are, state them, and stand by them, hoping my past record speaks for itself.” He didn’t go to Emporia but phoned Lorna Anderson at the prison.

Following the convictions of Bird and Anderson, Kansas enacted legislation making it illegal for convicted felons to profit from their crimes, with any payments to be placed in a victims’ reparation fund. Whether the law can apply retroactively to the Bird-Anderson crimes may have to be decided in a court test case, according to authorities there.

Winkler claimed to have no qualms about dealing with convicted felons. “I never had that thought. Right or wrong, it will be interesting to see how they made their fatal decision. The way we will tell their story, I didn’t feel it was immoral (to cut the deals).” At any rate, he said, lawyers structured the agreements so that monies will go to the surviving children of Sandra Bird and Martin Anderson.

The psychological aspects provided by the criminals’ input, said Winkler, “are absolutely crucial to tell this story. (Without that) there is no way to tell this story, except to sensationalize it.”

Dick Clark Productions went after rights of the family of murder victim Sandra Bird “from day one,” said vice president Dan Paulson, who is co-executive producer, “and we were the first to talk to them.” The company was successful and Heywood Gould (“Fort Apache, the Bronx”) is writing a two-hour script, destined for NBC. Paulson said Clark never tried for the suspects’ rights: “Absolutely not. We would never do business with felons who are serving sentences. We have a real moral problem with enriching criminals.”

Can a successful movie be based on the rights of an early victim in the case? “We feel we have a very good story to tell. I don’t want to say more (about the script), because it’s a very competitive situation.”

Aspiring writers Kent Wilson and John Scott took the story to exec producer Zev Braun, who went after the rights of state trooper John Rule. Meanwhile, Interscope Communications dispatched Kathleen Cromley, director of development (her aunt lives in Emporia), to zero in on Gazette reporters Roberta Birk and Nancy Horst; v.p. Patricia Clifford followed soon after. Braun and Interscope then joined forces, matched a bid by Lorimar, and “almost as an afterthought,” said Braun, added the rights of Kansas Bureau of Investigation investigator Vern Humphrey. Writer-director Mike Robe is at work on a script for a projected four-hour CBS miniseries. (Wilson and Scott will get associate producer credits.)

Braun never went to Emporia, because “I didn’t want to join that race. Lorimar, UA, Dick Clark, all these people were back there trying to scoop up whatever they could.

“There are these (felons) who were lovers--juicy stuff--but I didn’t chase that story. Many people were pitching CBS (with) the story of the (suspects). But we pitched Rule as a Gary Cooper figure. I nailed down rights with the only guy whose story I think is worth telling. You need a good guy to root for and we’ve got him.”

Now, the also-rans:

Lorimar “poked around” on the Emporia story, a spokesman reluctantly admitted. But he added, “Until it becomes a deal with a network, it wouldn’t be something we would talk about. It’s too premature.” Agent Arthur Axelman said Lorimar was by far “the most interested” in obtaining John Rule’s rights and caused the bidding to skyrocket. In the end, Rule chose to go with Braun and Interscope for personal reasons.

Robert Cooper Productions, which has a close association with HBO, talked with Times reporter Scott Kraft about securing rights to his story, but Kraft never signed the contract. “Ultimately, after assessing (what rights were available), we realized we would have to deal with criminals,” said Jeff Wachtel, V.P., development. “And we draw the line at that. We don’t make deals with killers.” Likewise, Kraft said he would not be involved in any arrangement with convicted criminals.

Producer Marcy Carsey had a head start when she optioned Calvin Trillin’s New Yorker article but failed to go after individual dramatic rights, according to a highly-placed source, “and missed a hell of an opportunity.”

Harvey Kahn, an independent producer associated with ITC Entertainment, believes he was one of only two producers to personally visit with Lorna in prison, but she was noncommittal.

Aaron Spelling Productions contacted John Rule early on, possibly others, but Eileen Chaiken, director of development, would not comment on her department’s futile chase.

Armand Hammer Productions got interested after someone there read Trillin’s piece, but “we made less than 10 phone calls,” an executive said; the company gave up after learning that rights were “fragmented” among several producers.

Jacob Zilberg, with Peregrine Producers Group (formerly EMI), sought rights from Rule, contacted Lorna Anderson by letter, and talked with Joan Stibal Baker, who wrote a three-part series for KS. Magazine. But when he learned Dick Clark had a deal with NBC, Zilberg moved on to other projects.

Sherry Singer, V.P., drama development, Embassy Television, also wanted to tell the story “through the state trooper’s eyes.” But she pulled out rather than “get stuck in a bidding war.”

Fred Briskin, president of Cinaco Film Co., approached Rule and Humphreys, but quit when he foresaw “a bidding war.”

Warner Bros. TV reportedly gave up when others got key rights and the case seemed to have no end.

United Artists Television was interested but a spokeswoman said there is “nothing on that (project) in development” now.

Writer Lynn Brown Rosenberg, in association with Blue Andre Productions, went after Rule and Humphreys, who Andre feels is “the main guy in the story--Rule’s role was really not that big.” But Andre found the bidding too rich. “William Morris asked for such extensive, unbelievable and I must say almost criminal amounts (for Rule’s rights), that it was out of the question.” She feels such escalation is detrimental to the industry because “it kills the goose.”

Agent Robert Lee, Triad Artists, came across Baker’s KS. Magazine series in a Texas hotel room. He “immediately” sought the rights to her material, hoping to connect her to one of the agency’s producer clients, then “fly down and go around and try to lock up rights” to the principals. He’d had several conversations by phone with Baker when the Times “put it on the front page and destroyed me.”

Although a number of Emporians believed that Steven Spielberg had made inquiries, a spokeswoman for Amblin’ Entertainment said the company never had an interest. It now appears that the names Spelling and Zilberg (of Peregrine) may have been confused and--along the Emporia grapevine--fused into the more familiar name of Spielberg. --J.M.W.