+1
Oh, I will add this on to my answer to your scenario, Og. Many publishers and agents will sign contracts that INCLUDE things like movie rights and *adaptation* rights. Unfortunately, a novelist whose work hits the big screen REALLY gets dumped on and has VERY little input into how his or her book is adapted for the screen. They almost NEVER let the novelist do that work, and if they take it and chop it to bits and pieces, there is nothing the author can do about it.
And, I assume that all movie contracts (those created solely for the screen and adaptations of other works) including AGREEMENTS by all parties for editing content for television broadcast at some point down the line. That's just the nature of the business, which is not solely about artistic content but also about money. Ultimately, even those of us who try to come off as "artistic" are really as much about putting food on the table as we are about artistic integrity.
I've written a few novels now (still looking for an agent at the moment), and every author I know who has an agent and/or publisher already has to sacrifice some of their original vision of their work when that agent or editor asks them to change entire scenes and sections of the work in order to make it more saleable. Don't be fooled into thinking the artist/author is brooding over his or her original work. If you're that concerned about every jot and tittle you've written and won't let anyone touch it, you will not succeed as a published author. Word will get out and no publisher will want to work with you.
You should see what a manuscript looks like after an editor (or copyeditor, like me) has gotten through with it!
So, every form of artistic expression has that problem, not just movies formatted for television.
If you want to make films solely for yourself (or write books or produce sculpture), then you can do what you want. But once you decide you want to sell it, you may have to learn how to adapt. It's just how the world works.
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