A business perspective on writing
In the entertainment industry, there’s a lot of talk about project attachments. So-and-so is attached to direct. Attached to star. Attached to produce. Attached to finance, distribute, represent as a sales agent, etc.
This post is a look at what those attachments are and what they mean for your project.
When writers are first starting out, they’re typically hired to work for a company like an employee might: they agree on what services will be provided for what pay, they’ll fill out a bunch of tax forms to get inputted into the company’s payroll system, and the payroll system will issue a check payable to the individual that deducts taxes and other withholdings.
At some point, though, writers may find it more beneficial to incorporate and loan their services out to the production company through an intermediary. This post will take a look at how that works and in what situations that might be preferable.
In my most recent post about writing credit, I mentioned that one of the perks of receiving screen credit on an original project that’s signatory to the Writer’s Guild of America is the screenwriter is entitled to something called separated rights. This post will take a look at what separated rights are and why they’re so important.
For screenwriters, writing credit is a big deal. It’s a significant milestone that separates you from the majority of other working and aspiring writers out there, and there are often considerable financial benefits tied to receiving writing credit. This post will look at how writing credit is determined and what benefits are typically connected with receiving credit.
In my last post about sterile scripts, I mentioned that it’s a violation of your representations and warranties if you option a sterile script that somebody else owns. But what exactly are reps and warranties?
I’ve already talked about options and script sales, and those of you who have read those posts might have noticed several mentions of the fact that production companies don’t always end up buying the scripts they option or work on. It’s actually a common occurrence for a company to option a script, pay to have some writing done, and then ultimately decide not to buy it for any of a variety of reasons. That situation naturally raises the following question:
What happens to those drafts written while the work was under option?
I just wanted to post a quick note to wish everyone a very happy new year! I know 2016 was really tough for a lot of people in a lot of ways, and I’m sure we’re all anxiously looking forward to what its successor has in store.
In my earlier post about script sale breakdowns, I promised a more in-depth look at options. This is that post!
The previous post about script sale breakdowns was a little bleak, so let’s talk about a more positive topic today… all the things you can do with your writing once you’ve created something! This post will only provide an overview, because it’s a very large topic.
In my last blog post about quotes, I talked about how a writer’s compensation typically increases over time, in the same way most other professionals slowly build a salary history over the length of their careers through increasing levels of expertise and proven results.
Today, let’s break down how a writer actually gets paid out when they sell a script.
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