Salary
Average Salary: $200,000
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $8,349,600
According to the guardians of the gate, the WGA, the minimum you can get for the sale of an original screenplay is $45,556 – this includes two drafts, a first and a final. If you’re a new, unproven writer, expect this.
If you have a super high concept picture that’s hot, or are an established hit scribe, you can double that figure. Guild minimum for a feature script with a completed treatment (basically a summary of everything that happens in the film) is worth $67,804 minimum (that includes a treatment, a first draft and a final draft – so this is more of a work for hire situation and could take from six months up to a year to complete to a studio or producer’s satisfaction). Again, for a famous screenwriter, double that figure.
Now, take your money and subtract 10 percent for your agent. Take out another 15 to 20 percent for your manager. And don’t forget Uncle Sam, taxes will take a nice chunk out. And if it’s your first script sale, you’ll have to join the writer’s guild, that’s another $1,500. Maybe you shouldn’t quit your day job after all.
If you’re making tons of money, you can afford all these fees and still get yourself a nice two seater sportscar with seat warmers and everything. However, be real. The days of six figure spec scripts are gone the way of Amanda Bynes job offers.
If you’re already established, there’s plenty of work rewriting and polishing, though. Guild minimums are 22K for a rewrite and 11K for a polish (the difference between the two is something you can duke out with the producer). Get a stack of rewrites and a script sale a year and you’re making in the low 6 figures (less agent and manager fees and taxes). Nowhere near what writers used to be making. Of course, that is until the next time someone comes up with a brilliant idea and sells a script for half a million. Could happen, after all, this is Hollywood.