Reader question: How much money is my script worth?

From an anonymous GITS reader:

I’ve been asked to name a price for a feature script of mine and I’ve very vague ideas about what to say. I want him to like the price but don’t sell to cheap, you know what I mean. It’s a director asking, and I’m not sure if he’ll produce it himself. It isn’t exactly a mini-budget script.

Could you please give me some advice or maybe within what kind of span I should be with my price?

Shall I think what kind kind of money I would need to pay for my living the time it took me to write it?

When you say “name a price,” I’m assuming that you are talking about an option deal, not a straight purchase of the material. In the U.S., options can range from $1 (a symbolic gesture) to $10K or more. The option gives the person paying for the option control over the material for a specific amount of time, typically 1 year, renewable for two more years.

If you’re talking about a purchase deal, as a point of reference, you can go here and download a PDF of the “WGA 2008 Schedule of Minimums.” On P. 8, you’ll see minimum numbers for “Original Screenplays, Including Treatment,” “Original Screenplays, Excluding Treatment,” and other categories. There are two sets of figures: Low Budget (with a cap, I believe, of $5M production and post budget) and High Budget. For example, an original screenplay including treatment is $62,642 (Low) and $117,602 (High).

I’m reminded of the 7 months that I worked as a salesman in the Guitar Center in San Francisco, a particularly forlorn period in my life. The manager of that particular store was a guy nicknamed L.T. and it was fascinating to see the world through his very business oriented eyes. For example in a sales meeting once, he whipped out a five-dollar bill from his wallet, threw it on the floor, and asked, “How much is that worth?” Some brave soul picked up the bill and replied, “Five dollars?” L.T. shook his head and said, “It’s worth as much as you can sell it for.”

So per your script, anonymous, it’s worth as much as you can sell it for.

Of course, the buyer may not have much in the way of discretionary funds. Perhaps you take less up front for a larger fee when the movie goes into production. Or maybe you share in the percentage of the gross (not net) profits.

But as always with my advice in these matters, your best bet is to hire a skilled entertainment lawyer to negotiate on your behalf.

UPDATE: A follow-up question:

This was very interesting. Thank you.

If a script is optioned, does this mean that the script is bought later, so the writer is paid twice?

Yes. There is the option fee (which is as I noted is renewable per the terms agreed upon in the option contract), then if the project gets set up, the material is sold to the buyer per whatever deal the writer’s and buyer’s reps work out.

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