Reader Question: If you sell a project on your own, do you owe your agent/manager their commission?
Point Break asks:
If you have a manager or agent promoting your work but you manage to sell or option a screenplay by yourself, without their help, do you have to pay the manager or agent 10%?
If you have a signed contract with an agent or manager, then you are obligated to live up to the terms of that arrangement. And it’s pretty much a blanket item in those contracts that whatever writing work you get, you owe your reps 10% (or in the case of a manager, whatever percentage your contract stipulates).
There is a larger issue and it comes down to the key phrase in your question: “by yourself.” Writers and reps may tend to take a differing view what that means. If a writer takes a meeting with a Producer X or Studio Executive Z, then ends up eventually landing an assignment, the writer may think, “Well, I’ve done all the work, haven’t I? I schmoozed, I tossed out an idea they liked, I worked up a story, I pitched it, I took followup meetings, wrote a treatment, then landed the gig. Why does my rep deserve 10%?” But the rep will look at everything leading up to that meeting: “I plucked the writer out of obscurity, helped them write and rewrite their spec script, championed that script all around town, promoted the writer to all sorts of producers, execs, and talent, including Producer X and Studio Executive Z, so in fact, the writer would not have been in a position to get the assignment had it not been for me.”
In a sense, both sentiments are true.
In a larger perspective, if you’re at the point in your relationship with your rep that you’re questioning whether they deserve their 10%, I recommend you reevaluate both your relationship with them and your attitude about what a rep does.
It could be your rep has lost enthusiasm for you (this happens) or you may have developed a reputation as a problem writer (e.g., you’ve gone cold career-wise, you’re unreliable with deadlines, you’re a pain in the ass to work with) which makes it increasingly hard for a rep to sell you (this happens, too). In either case, it could very well be time for you to have a frank discussion with your rep about where you stand in your professional relationship.
On the other hand, you may have gotten so successful and far removed from the early stages of your writing career, you have forgotten all the hard work your rep put in to push your name in front of buyers and indeed could very well be continuing to do on your behalf. In other words, your head may be getting big and fat (this also happens). In this case, perhaps you need a change of scenery for a long weekend. Go away to the mountains. Hike in the desert. Rub shoulders with non-Hollywood types. Believe me 48 hours in Oxnard can provide a dose of reality you’ll never get inside the 405–101–10–110 bubble.
Bottom line: 90% of something is better than 100% of nothing. So unless you have real concerns about if, in fact, your rep is working actively on your behalf, take the deal, write the hell out of the script, cash the check, and move onto the next project.
Any writers, agents, or managers out there who care to chime in, please feel free to do so in comments.