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How Much Does Screenwriting Pay?
Q. I want to be a screenwriter and would like to know how much money the majority of screenwriters get for a movie or for a TV show?

A. That really is a difficult question. It depends on a combination of:

  • How much you are in demand as a writer - how 'hot' you are
  • The quality of the script
  • How 'hot' the script is - (not the same as how good the script is!)
  • The budget of the movie (you usually end up with about 2% of that, but it's a fiendish calculation that is highly negotiable)
  • The size and quality of the production company
  • Which country you are in
  • Whether you are writing a tv show or a movie.

It can be anything from $1 to $millions. Seriously. Just to pull a figure out of the air – I have a friend who has just had an independent movie made here in the UK with a name star and a good, in demand, director. He received £30,000 for the script.

My agent tells me it tends to be 1 or 2% of the entire production budget – but there are so many variables attached to that it's kind of hard to say. I guess, if I were to sell a script in the UK, with my level of experience, and it was to the average UK company, not a big American outfit, I'd expect between $60 and $100K, if that helps.

TV writers in the UK earn between £8K and upwards of £50K per hour of drama, depending on how successful they are, with the bulk of writers earning in the £10-15k mark.  I gather the payment is much higher in the US but it comes at the price of some freedom as you tend to be tied into a particular show.

Comments
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ojo success nosa  - a little help here   |2009-04-16 22:12:35
hi,
i know this may probably not be the write avenue for this but i'm a young
writer and i'm looking for information on how to go about it as well as
opportunities
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helen  - is this a scam?   |2009-12-29 16:38:12
i wrote my first movie and got a screenwriter based in US to work on my project
she agreed to do it for $3000, im to pay her $1500 up front and the ballance of
$1500 when the job is done. she said she will send me a contract. we'ev not met,
only comunicated through e-mail. Is this fraud.
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