What is Your Screenplay Worth?
November 5, 2007 by clive
So, you’ve written a screenplay, but you’ve never taken it out into the market and you’ve no idea what it’s worth. Somewhere in the back of your mind you hope it’s worth enough to quit your day job… but really you’re not sure.
In real terms any well written screenplay is worth any figure between zero and $10,000,000 dollars. It’s worth nothing on any day you can’t sell it… and, it’s worth the top end figure, if you’ve got an idea strong enough to attract a top name actor and top name director who are willing to become your partner in developing it as a product. To understand more about that process it’s worth reading this article by Craig Mazin.
A few post back I talked about the Screenwriter’s Career Plan.
Basically, what I was saying was a screenwriter could do worse than work with an impoverished indie producer on their early movies, to gain both experience and also in the hope that they can create a hot breakout project, which would bring in both income and demand for their other scripts.
The reason I mention this again, is because in many respects the value of your project is set by two things… how hot an idea you have and how hot you are as a screenwriter.
In other words, the second you have a breakout film, all those scripts you thought were worthless are now getting serious attention. However, even if you haven’t got a hot reputation, I’m going to suggest that you place a monetary value on any screenplay you write.
I’m going to suggest that for an unknown writer, you ought to set that value at no less than $50,000.
The reason I’d like you to do that, is because when you decide to either find a producer to make your film with, or when you attempt to sell your script, you have to have some concept of what the film is worth to you.
You have to have this concept of value, because when you enter into a relationship with a producer who can’t afford to pay you for your script, you need to understand the value of your investment in the film and cut a deal with that producer which gives at least a minimal chance of a $50,000 return on that investment.
On top of that, I firmly believe a writer who understands their script is worth $50,000 ought to be prepared to do $50,000 worth of work on it.
However, before you run into your first producer meeting expecting a cheque for $50K, let’s just run through the kind of deals that producer’s offer.
When you’re dealing with an established producer, they’ll offer an option fee. An option fee is the money they pay you to have the exclusive right to develop the film for production. Linked to this fee is another, which is generally paid on first day of principle photography. The fee secures the rights to the film and is often the last money the writer sees on a project.
The option fee can be insultingly low for a newbie writer… because at this stage the producer is taking the risk on a script that may never go into production. And, the truth is, most don’t. The fee paid on first day of principle photography is usually the remainder of the fee and is a significantly larger amount.
When you’re working with a penniless indie producer, chances are the option fee is going to be zero or close to and the full fee may well be deferred until the film goes into profit.
With this kind of deal the writer is taking a larger risk and therefore the payment needs to be greater.
From my POV any writer who is investing a script in a feature production, with a producer who can’t pay up front, needs to be negotiating a coproducer credit and with a percentage of the film’s gross, instead of a fixed fee. Or, in other words, cut a deal which you think will get you close to a $50,000 return when the film sells.
Now, my experience of penniless indie producers is this… although they’ll invest money in production equipment and crew and catering and transport and lights… they’ll do everything in their power to not pay for a script.
What you’ll hear from them is how much they are investing in your script… it’s always “your script” when you ask for money and “their script” when they’re looking for investment.
They’ll try and kid you that they’re doing you a favor by making your script for you… but you need to remember that every script is a piece of real estate worth $50,000 and anytime you invest that amount of money you’re going to need to see a return on that investment.
Bottom line on this is… value your work, understand it’s worth something and if someone wants to invest in its production, they think they can make money out of it as well. You may be a newbie… but, that’s no reason to get robbed of a year’s work.
screenplay sales] [indie film] [film options]
Well done.
Great post, Clive…
I would go so far as to recommend that any writer that gets his or her script optioned or sold TRY LIKE HELL to become a producer on that film IF it comes to be.
As a producer, you wield a hell of a lot more negotiating power when it comes to all aspects of your script — UNLIKE what is going on with the current strike.
Unk
That’s how I see it as well.
One of the reason I’m a massive advocate of micro-budget film making for screenwriters, is I think it can give them a good model for working with the larger industry… but only if they get into the idea that the writer is part of the core creative team. I do think it’s the way forward.
It makes more sense for writers to develop their careers that way, especially if they’ve got ambitions to do more than write. I also think it’s better for the industry to have writers as producers. That’s how TV’s worked for decades.
There are always going to be exceptions to that rule, but at least if you’re going to “option, sell and walk” you should understand that’s a choice, not a necessity.
From a very very guilty independent producer, this is all very true. The cheaper I can get the script, or at least the option, the better.
Though, I wish you would have recommended a cheap option when dealing with indie producers, with a high price tag. A producer can look for investment so long as they have the an option on the script. You could option the script for very little, for a year, but with the buyout price at $50,000 or whatever you wanted to make it. This can work out great for the writer, since while shopping the script, the producer will often get the interest of studios who may want to wait out the time of the option and buy the script, or perhaps buy another script from the same writer.
Matt,
You raise a very good point and I do understand the position of indie producers… I’m one myself.
Personally, I’ve been pretty flexible in the past when it comes to working with indie producers. I once optioned a script for the price of a Starbucks Chai Tea Latte, for exactly the reason you gave.
However, these days I value my scripts a great deal more and therefore the deal is… either there is some money on the table, or I co-produce and retain a percentage of the gross, on top of the script fee (which can then be deferred to either principle photography or point of distribution).
I think the problem I’ve run into is a lot of indie producers want to use my scripts to do exactly what you’ve suggested… they want to use it to raise production finance, to bring actors on board… but, when that money starts coming in it almost never trickles back to the writer.
I once had a producer explain to me that he had no option money for scripts, because the line producer he’d hired to shoot his trailers was costing him $4,000… to which I said, well, try making a film without a line producer and then try making it without a script… come back and talk to me when you work out which is easier.
I think the main thing I’ve always objected to was the Producer acting like they were doing the writer a favor by making their film… my underlying take is it’s easier for a talented writer to become a writer/producer than it is for the opposite to happen.
I’ve turned down three options in the past year… all because I didn’t think the producer was bringing enough to the table. This is especially true in these days when all you have to do to become a producer is get a business card printed.
What I’m really proposing in this article and in this blog, is that writers should see themselves as partners with a producer and also with the talent… and that with equal stakes in the project they move the film forward together. Basically this means a 33% equity stake in the film for the producer, 33% for the writer and 33% for the primary talent. Everyone else gets paid out of the production budget.
If I met a producer I really believed in, the initial option money would be irrelevant, providing the back-end deal was sound… however, they’d have to have an established track record of bringing in money and getting films sold before I’d make a deal like that.
[...] What is your screenplay worth? by Clive [...]
hi? i am a writer and i need 2 find a producer. it’s my dream since i was a child .i live in Rwanda. i have a script based on trou history and it will be a luck for me if u could help me 2realise my dream happy new year.
You need to follow the WGA format, and not get suckered into an indy that might not have the money to do it right
You should get 5% of the production cost and what ever residuals and percentages you can get. If that means a lower percentage up front with more on the back end then go for it. The gamble is that will or will not the director screw it up, or did the writer do such a poor job that so much rewrite is needed to fix it so that it is doable and understandable to the director. Get it as close to technically perfect as you can and then, with a lot of luck….
That’s certainly an option: hone your script until a legitimate producer, with a proper budget is prepared to pay WGA rates.
However, like you say, even if you get your script technically perfect, it still a matter of luck whether it happens to be the right project for the producers who get to see it. A technically perfect script can still spend years sitting in your desk drawer.
What I’m talking about here, is an alternate strategy that matches your script up with someone who has the talent to make it, but doesn’t have the money to make the WGA formula work.
Given the choice between having a script sitting in a drawer gathering dust and having an IMDB writer credit, a produced film to learn from and the possibility of the film getting attention on the festival circuit, I know which route I prefer.
What I am sure about, is you have to be very careful in which indie you chose to work with. Which is one of the reasons for this post… it’s to get script writers to understand the level of investment they are making in an indie film… if they decide to provide their script.
Now, the reason I’m a firm believer in this route is because by doing exactly this, optioning my first script to an indie producer, I’ve gone from writer, to award winning writer, to writer/director, to producer/writer/director in just eleven years. I suppose it’s possible I would have had a more focussed writing career, if I’d done nothing but write and had kept on pitching to the majors… but instead I’ve actually learned how to make a feature film and why they so often fail in the market.
The other thing I believe, is that writers will always get the short end of the stick, for as long as they act like employees. I’m with Joe Eszterhas, when he rants about how insane the “autuer” director concept is… and, one way for the writer to remain the author of the film, is for them to use their script as leverage to gain a producer position.