How much do screenwriters get paid for a movie going to theaters?

[HardWorkinFilmSlave]

I'm curious.. how much do the top guys get paid?

Is there any site that lists some famous scripts and how much they were paid for the rights?

Out of curiousity, I also want to find out roughly how much a screenwriter is paid for: a movie coming to theaters everywhere, high-end indie feature, small crew indie feature, shorts.

Hearing about the top screenwrters is pretty damn inspiring.

 

[Sweetie]

Top end scriptwriters can get paid in the area of millions (3 million) for a script. The source for this is a tv show called "The Dialogue Series". If you can chase it down, it's worth watching, even if it is just to see how differently the big boys do it.

I'm not sure if there are any sites as I haven't seen many figures posted for this.

 

[HardWorkinFilmSlave]

Thanks! I've bumped into that series a few times. They're completely inspiring.


Aside from my main question I forgot to add: What's the highest you guys have sold yours for and how much do you usually sell your script for?

The question about the big boys is mostly for inspiration and personal curiousity.

 

[Flicker Pictures]

Here's a PDF of the WGA's "Schedule of Minimums" for guild members which I find to be quite an eye opener!

http://www.wga.org/uploadedFiles/writers_resources/contracts/min2011.pdf

Nice work, if you can get it.

 

[2001 Productions]

This is like asking, "How high is up?"

What a writer is paid depends on myriad factors. Writers have worked for back end points on low/no budget movies, and consequently received nothing (that would be me ).

A freelance writer who actually sells a spec script to an independent production company is often paid 10% of the total budget (that's just traditional, there is no hard/fast rule).

A writer who sells a spec script to a production company for a studio/union shoot is typically paid the WGA rate, at minimum.

A writer whose spec incites a bidding war is paid whatever the highest bidder is willing to pay, as negotiated by the writer's agent.

All of that is for a first script. As the writer gains a track record, his/her rates increase.

Writers are often paid to adapt or rewrite existing material, which can be a flat amount or a wage, again depending on the size of production and/or experience of the writer.

Bottom line: a writer can receive $0 to millions. How's that for a concrete answer?

 

[victortiti89]

The highest I saw yesterday was 5 million $ for a spec script(on blacklist)...in 2013! I think it's the first and last to receive such an amount, though. What do you think?