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screenwriting money confusion...

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victortiti89

First of all, I would like to apologize for writing about such things! I'm sorry, and I hope this doesn't mean I'm greedy or stupid, it's just so confusing for me, as I've read two contradictory opinions repeating themselves on many internet pages. The first one states that a screenwriter gets a ton of money(hundreds of thousands and even milions of dollars) for a single piece of work. The other one states that screenwriters should expect nothing of their screenplay, except maybe a few hundred dollars at best. What is the truth behind this confusion? Thank you for reading and sheding some light on this!:)
 
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It depends ;p If you write a short script for your friend who just bought a DSLR,I dom't think you are going to get a lot of $$$$. If you write for a multimillion Hollywood blockbuster, you can swim in gold like Scrooge
 
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baoliun said:
It depends
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+1

Yup.

Exactly WHERE or from WHOM is the money being paid to the screenwriter coming from?


A screenplay IS NOT a "pseudo-fixed price" commodity like a pick up truck where it doesn't matter if you're a teen wanting a F-350 just to go pu$$y cruising at the local high school, a landscaper wanting the same truck to haul mowers and crew, or a LLC rancher hauling cattle to market - they're all pretty much going to be paying the same thing for the same truck.

2013_ford_super_duty_f_350_srw_green_green_metallic_97245937332377858.jpg



A screen play IS a wildly "variable value" commodity most often dependent upon the total film product's production cost.

If you're the writer/director/producer of a drama screenplay like... '50/50' (any of us SHOULD be able to shoot something technically simple like this) how much of your crowdfunding proceeds are you actually going to take away from the production and promotion just to pay yourself for writing it? A few hundred? A few thousand? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand?

If you wrote that exact same screenplay and your local community theater wanted to produce it how much do you think they're going to pay or should pay for it? They plan on spending about $100,000 on production. A few hundred? A few thousand? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand?

What if a small independent director/producer approached you to film your screenplay? They plan on spending about $1.5million. How much do you think they're going to pay or should pay for it? A few hundred? A few thousand? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand?

What if a larger independent prodco was willing to spend >$5M?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50/50_(2011_film)

Screenplay values are tied directly to production budgets rather than any fixed commodity price.
Generally speaking, outside of any union minimums, they're valued at around 2-5% of a film's production budget, the bigger the budget the smaller the percentage.
Code: 
THEATRICAL BUDGET THRESHOLDS 
LOW BUDGET - Photoplay costing less than $5,000,000 
HIGH BUDGET - Photoplay costing $5,000,000 or more


Also, writer's get paid for re-writes! http://www.wga.org/uploadedFiles/writers_resources/contracts/min2011.pdf
Above '08 original: http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/50-50.html
Shooting draft: http://www-deadline-com.vimg.net/wp...INAL_Shooting_Draft_12-1-11__111215013022.pdf
 
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As you may have guessed from the above posts, both are true. Don't expect a lot and expect a lot are both truisms.

Some of it comes down to your value, your value to get a project greenlit (usually the box office/critical success of your past scripts) and your contacts.
 
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victortiti89 said:
it's just so confusing for me,

Thank you for reading and sheding some light on this!:)
Click to expand...
All I can do is agree with the others.

I don't know why you are confused. Some writers make a lot of money,
some writers make no money. That shouldn't be confusing. Not every
screenplay is exactly the same so not every screenplay is worth exactly
the same price. Not all producers are exactly the same so they do not
spend exactly the same money on a screenplay. Not all productions are
exactly the same so the amount paid for everything is different.

Did you know that some actors make hundreds of thousands, some make
millions and some make nothing? Did you know that some directors make
hundreds of thousands, some make millions and some make nothing? Did
you know that some DP's make $5,000 per day and some make $500 per
day and some make $50 per day?
 
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