One woman broke the law. The other helped catch a suspected killer. Both are selling their stories and could make millions in the process.
Representatives of Ashley Smith — whose 911 call led police to courthouse shootings suspect Brian Nichols — and runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks made deals for their stories with publishing houses in the past week.
The women likely received advances of about $500,000 for story rights that could turn into a windfall of millions of dollars should movies on their lives be made, entertainment experts said. The companies that acquired the rights have declined to release financial details of the deals.
Smith and Wilbanks weren’t the only ones striking high profile deals. On Thursday, Mark Felt, the former FBI deputy director who revealed himself as Deep Throat, chose PublicAffairs Books to release his memoir and Universal Pictures optioned the 91-year-old’s story. Literary agents have said the book rights alone for the story of The Washington Post’s secret Watergate investigation source could be worth $1 million.
Sky's the limit
Experts say the sky is the limit when millions of people want to know your story.
“The demand is unprecedented,” said Steven Beer, an entertainment attorney from the New York law firm Greenberg Traurig who has represented Britney Spears. “We’re living in this media culture where general audiences crave personal stories of people who were once like them but now ... are thrust into the public eye.”
In Smith’s case, a book titled “Unlikely Angel” will be co-published this fall by the Zondervan and William Morrow divisions of HarperCollins. In March, the 26-year-old widowed mother led police to Nichols, who authorities say killed four people — including a judge — after going on a shooting rampage at the Atlanta courthouse where he was being tried for rape.
Smith said Nichols held her hostage for hours in her Duluth apartment before she persuaded him to let her go.
ReganMedia — which includes HarperCollins imprint Regan Books — announced it has acquired all media rights to the story of "runaway bride" Jennifer Wilbanks and that a television project is in the works. A book on the 32-year-old nurse also is possible but nothing has been signed yet, ReganMedia spokesman Paul Crichton said.
Although not much is known about ReganMedia’s intentions, signing such a deal typically signifies publishers have big plans for their clients.
They also have their sights set on big profits, said Kenneth Fleer, an entertainment attorney with the Los Angeles law firm Loeb & Loeb.
“Nobody is doing this after paying a significant number of dollars unless they perceive a significant return on their investment,” he said.
Wilbanks gained national attention when she vanished April 26, four days before she was to have been married at a lavish ceremony with 600 guests and 28 attendants.
But she wasn’t abducted, as feared. She instead fled to Las Vegas and then Albuquerque, N.M., where she called home three days later, saying she had been abducted and sexually assaulted. After authorities questioned her story, she quickly recanted and said she left because of unspecified personal problems. She pleaded no contest to making false statements and her sentence included two years of probation and 120 hours of community service.
Other than issuing a statement the week after she reappeared, Wilbanks has avoided the media until now. Her first interview will air Tuesday on NBC.
“I was very ashamed. And felt so guilty for the people I have hurt,” Wilbanks said in a sound bite from the interview that aired Friday on NBC’s “Today.” “But at the same time, it’s the best mistake I ever made ... it allowed me to realize that I desperately needed help.”
Smith also has remained relatively mum since her ordeal with Nichols. Experts say the women’s handlers intentionally clamped down on releasing information to maximize the interest in books or movies about them, said Beer, who does not have any ties to either project.
'A public strip tease'
“It’s a public strip tease — you don’t take it off in the first act,” he said. “It’s human nature ... you heighten the interest by raising intrigue but not presenting too soon.”
Books on the women could be on the shelves within three to four months, Fleer said.
Movies are a different matter. Fleer, who specializes in book-to-movie deals, said Felt’s story is the most compelling because so much about the man’s life is unknown. People also will be curious about the seven hours that Smith spent with Nichols, he added.
While it would appear to be the closest to reaching a television audience, the runaway bride’s story is the least attractive, Fleer said.
“It just seems to me the emotional crush of her having a 600-person wedding and trying to be perfect about it — I don’t find that overly compelling.”