I am working out a contract with a screenwriter to write the script for a film I want to make. I'm actually a Composer NOT a Filmmaker so this is new territory for me. In addition to the screenwriters fees for writing the script, in the event the film is purchased for major distribution, the screenwriter wants a percentage of net profits of the initial purchase up to a maximum amount and then a percentage of all profit royalties after the initial purchase.
Is something like this typical of a screenwriter contract?
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Thanks Laura Scheiner. I guess part two of my question is the percentages the screenwriter is asking for is 8% of the initial purchase and then 2% of profit royalties. Is that considered low, high, or middle of the road?
Sorry for these uneducated questions. Having never done this before I don't yet know how to gauge what is being asked so I'm running this by the Stage32 screenwriting community.
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Thanks Laura Scheiner. I greatly appreciate the feedback!
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yea, writers usually get paid about 3% of the budget. and perhaps 2 percentage points on the backend. but if your writer isnt wga and doesnt have a quote, then you're not obligated to pay that.
Thanks for the feedback Danny Manus
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“Work for hire” flat fee. Play hardball, take it or leave it offer. Plenty of writers available.
Julian- What Dan said.
Thanks for the feedback Dan MaxXx and Steven Harris Anzelowitz.
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Percentage of net profits are considered "monkey points" because the writer seldom ever sees any money after the original payment is made.
I was going to say yes and no, refer to the WGA guidelines but Laura Scheiner gave a great answer! Remember that you're building a relationship with this writer and you may want to use them again. If in doubt, get an entertainment attorney to look over the contract.
Thanks all for your contributions. This screenwriting world is so vastly different from the music composing world of which I'm very familiar. The first thing that caught me by surprise when I started talking to screenwriters was the whole concept of actually putting a cap on the number of revisions. That’s not something that really exists as a composer. I actually just recently attended a film composing event where the panelists were composers from Black Panther, Krypton, Mile 22 and more. It was interesting to hear all of them talk about the high number of revisions (sometimes as high as 20 to 30) they did per cue. Then to now hear about percentages that even threw me off even more. I was expecting the whole thing to be more straightforward like you tell me your flat fee or hourly rate, I tell you what I can afford and we decide if it will work or not. It sounds like that’s not the norm.
Laura. That is the smartest way to go.
Ummm Pamela Bolinder I would say that's more like hopping on a plane and going to a completely different country lol. I'm not creepy just more of a quiet and introverted person. I don't particularly like to look into the camera when the sole focus is me unless I have shades on. You would have to understand more about introverted people for that to make sense. Didn't mean to creep you out :)