Writer needed:$1,200 per page / $6 per word
May 6, 2009
We like to see a lot of space on the page so will only be requiring around 125-175 words per page and we’ll probably be getting someone else to re-write what you have done anyway… maybe 3-5 people actually.
$1,200 per page, $6 per word, now that’s not bad is it? Well that’s what a new writer gets on a studio movie. Now, I get sent a lot of scripts and I can assure you that every page isn’t worth $1,200. I’ve got sent a lot of spec scripts that have sold for around $600,000 – that’s a staggering $6,000 per page / $30 per word. When you start to look at it like that, you’d better make sure that you have something really special on each page, something which I won’t cut out in the edit room because it is redundant; each page needs to push the story or develop the characters. But it’s amazing how still I get sent projects that fall flat, it’s like the writers aren’t thinking.
For me, and I know this can be a matter of taste, I don’t just want to know the action: “Character x walks into the room” I want to know how, I want a little detail, I want something interesting that makes me believe I’m in the hands of an accomplished writer who is worth the money. For action line “Character x walks into the room” you have been paid/ or want to be paid $36 dollars or if it’s a good spec sale $180!!!! You can also flip it on the head and use this for characters. Let’s say there are 36 speaking characters in your master screenplay, which works out at $3,300 per character, each character better be well rounded, have their own unique voice and actually have a purpose. For $3,300 I should be able to read the script without any character headings and know instantly whose dialogue it is.
Now I know this is all very simple, and some might say crude, boiling each page and character down to what they are worth, but I’m amazed at the amount of scripts where writers have been lazy. So, all you writers out there, please, once you’ve finished your script just go through each character and ask yourself: “Should I be paid $3,300 for this character and his/her dialogue?” Go through each line of action and ask “is this line worth $72”!!! If they are not, come up with something that is… come up with a line that you are proud of… that you would like to be on the wall of the WGA corridors ranking you as one of the greatest writers of all time.
My rant is over… Back to reading scripts…
