What would you want to do?

[Thekherham]

If it comes to the contract it would be

1) Lots of Money upfront plus royalties - I relinquish creative control
2) Less money upfront plus royalties - I want to have creative approval

I agree with 2). I'd take less money as long as they do the story the way I wrote it.

I'd go over the contract with a fine tooth comb. They want my story, they do it my way.
No excessive changes, no changing names etc.

 

[AliceShiki]

• The story needs to at least resemble mine. I don't mind them taking creative freedom and switching some plot points, character motivations or whatever in order to make things work out in the format that the adaptation is working with. I understand different mediums have different constraints, and the adaptation will be forced to make some changes (besides, if they can improve some part where my delivery was bad, then all the power to them. I'm not gonna complain if they fixed something that I knew that wasn't that great), but the final product has to still feel similar to the original work. I would not be okay with an adaptation as nonsensical as the Eragon or DBZ Evolution movies.
• I should be able to have some say on the script and casting of the adaptation. I don't mind them pushing a political agenda, but I need to hear of it in advance and approve it (to like, be sure it's a political agenda I don't mind being shoved into my work and stuff). If it's something like a manga adaptation, then I should be consulted about who the artist will be (maybe they can give me a list of artists to choose from or something); if it's a movie/anime, then I should be consulted about who the actors/VAs will be. I should have the right to deny certain people from participating in the adaptation of my product...
• Don't go past the written point of the story. Basically, if an adaptation was made of an ongoing story, then it would have to be done with a seasonal product or something. I would not be okay with something like Game of Thrones that overtook the books and had to improvise the ending. If there is no story written yet, then you'll have to wait until more stuff is written to continue adapting. I would not allow people to just make their own ending to my story because I haven't written the ending yet.

That would basically it. I think I'd be willing to accept (or negotiate) most other things that came my way. I wouldn't even necessarily want royalties, and would be fine with an upfront payment and the like, since I'm not one to turn down money~

I would just want the adaptation to be something I would be fine having my name associated with, essentially.

 

[melchi]

Personally, I think successful results would be the best end product. However, changes need to be things that improve the narrative.

For example, the ready player one movie starts out with a race scene that doesn't appear in the book. The first arc of that book was mostly a scrappy scrubby socially awkward guy who can only confidently talk about 80s pop culture with his one friend. The first Easter egg isn't found by accident. An bunch of research and understanding of the Oasis staff's history needed to figure it out.

In the book this is the turning point for the MC to start getting sponsorships so he can get out of extreme poverty. In the movie it comes across like he stumbled into success. I'm not sure that a change like that is an improvement on the narrative.

That is a bad example. A good example would be the Silent Hill move. The game is about a father looking for his daughter. In the movie it is about a mother looking for her daughter. Considering the premise of the game and the plot a female main character fits quite nicely.

 

[Brandondee]

1) Damson Idris has to play the main character
2) Edgar Wright would be my top choice to direct the movie

That’s about it

 

[MajorKerina]

I would foremost like to be paid so I can make more things that I can sell to people. But assuming that’s a given and it’s a good return and for instance the producers have offered me a blank check on three things that I can control creatively… then I suppose it would be something along these lines.
1) I want to be in the writers room learning the methodology of breaking down different scenes and having a voice in that group but not being the final person in charge. As some have noted avoid shoving political points into a work where they don’t exist organically. Treat the people who are going to see it with respect and it’ll be a cool room for me.
2) I get a copy of all the production artwork because I love art especially when it’s inspired by something I created. Animation or live action are fine although I prefer animation.
3) Design the tech side for me and give free advertising to my other works. I want royalties in perpetuity but that’s a given from the top point.