“Most screenwriters are unemployed, chronically unemployed.”
Screenwriter Tom Lazarus (Stigmata)
Secrets of Film Writing
“It’s either very lucrative and exciting, or nothing.”
Screenwriter Anthony Peckham (Invictus) on screenwriting
When people think of how much professional football players make they tend to focus on the big numbers. Brett Favre’s $20 million dollar one year contract with the Minnesota Vikings. Payton Manning’s $99.2 million seven year contract with the Indianapolis Colts. But the truth is most rookies in the NFL earn around $300,000 per year. Deduct taxes, agent fees, a down payment on a house, and an expensive sports car or two and there’s not that much left. (Relatively speaking, of course.)
Then factor in that most pro football careers last less than four years and you can see why the majority of players who play in the NFL really have under a million dollars to their name when they retire. And when you factor in a history of NFL players making bad investment decisions it’s not hard to understand why so many end up filing for bankruptcy when their short careers are over.
Often when people think of Hollywood writers they tend to once again think of the multi-million dollar deals. But the truth is most writers (factoring both union and non-union) won’t make any money this year from their writings. (According to the Writer’s Guide of America-West (WGAW) recent report, of the 8,129 union members in 2007 3,775 were unemployed.) Depending on different sources working WGAw members seem to average between $40,000-$110,000. per year. (Key word there is “working” WGAw members.) Factor in the cost of living where most writers live (New York & L.A.) and that’s probably about the earning power of (just a wild guess) $20,000-65,000. in much of the country.
On the film side a good rule of thumb is scripts can make up between 2-5% of the total budget. So on a $50 million dollar film that could be as much as $2.5 million.(The highest paid spec script to date I believe $5 million to M. Night Shyamalan for Unbreakable, though that may have included his directing fee.) But it also means on a $200,000 indie film it could mean the screenwriter was paid $4,000. (And independent films make up the majority of the 500 or so feature films made per year. ) On the TV side writers can be paid per script or as a staff writer. The highest paid are the ones who create a hit network show and stay on as producer/writers. If that show stays on the air for five years and goes into syndication then they can afford to buy a small tropical island. A good gig if you can land it, but that doesn’t describe most TV writers.
“On balance, television writers today are the highest-paid practitioners of the literary profession in history. But mark the phrase on balance. If you can sell two one-hour scripts per year, which is a pretty good average for a freelance writer, that’s about $40,000 per year, before taxes. That figure is comparable to or less than the yearly average of elementary school teachers and considerably less than plumbers. The majority of working writers fall into this financial category. It’s only when you get the top 5 to 10 percent that you find writers and hyphenates who routinely earn six figures a year or more.”
J. Michael Stracznski, writer/producer
(Babylon 5, Changeling)
The Complete Book of Screenwriting
Granted that book was published in 1996 (and I think the minimum range for a 90 minute or less story & teleplay these days is around $30,000.*) but in a world of reality TV programing there is less scripted work being produced. (I know there are a lot fewer soap operas being produced that in 1996.)
“In 24 hours, NBC has just three hours of dramas and comedies. And, on some nights those make way for Dateline or Deal No Deal.”
Charles B. Solcum
Written By, August/September 2009
page 19
I have a writer friend with network credits in L.A. who was recently offered a job on a cable TV program that would pay her just a little more than her unemployment benefits. When you live in a land where rent is $1,500-3000. per month these are trying times. One more reason to live outside L.A., right? (Heck, for $3,000. I think you can still pick up a house in Detroit.)
Screenwriter John August recently wrote an excellent post What’s wrong with the business where he addressed some of these issues. I’ve quoted from that article before, but this is worth repeating because the industry is changing and the young, creative people coming up are going to embrace the changes;
“To become one of those inventors of industry, you need to surround yourself with similarly ambitious people. Film school is a good choice, but so is living and working in the right neighborhood in Silverlake or Brooklyn or Austin — or more likely, a place I wouldn’t even realize is a hotbed.”
Screenwriter John August
(Big Fish, Corpse Bride)
Could that hotbed be a place like Des Moines, Iowa? Steven Spielberg thinks so. He told Katie Couric on the NBC Today Show back in 1999, “I think that the Internet is going to effect the most profound change on the entertainment industries combined. And we’re all gonna be tuning into the most popular Internet show in the world, which will be coming from some place in Des Moines.”
Wait a minute, didn’t John August go to Drake University in Des Moines? That Spielberg is a genius, you know? And didn’t Diablo Cody go to school in Iowa City? If John August and Diablo Cody ever move back to Iowa then you know that this blog will at least be assured a small footnote in the history of screenwriting.
I wouldn’t bet on that anytime soon, but I would bet that within ten years places now known more for football like Minnesota & Indianapolis (as well as Detroit, Austin, Atlanta, Memphis…and, of course, Cedar Falls) will see writers and filmmakers rise up (and stay put) as they embrace the digital revolution and the opportunities it brings.
Related Post: Investing in Screenwriting. (I have a quote in there by Max Adams who explains how a $500,000. feature script option can really translate to a mere $3,500. per year for the writer worked on that script.)
* To see current Writers Guild of America’s Theatrical and Television Basic Agreement visit the WGA-West website.
Update 12/09: Since this is a popular post as far as views I will update it from time to time and welcome your input on correcting any numbers. While reading over the WGAw report I made another connection between screenwriting & the NFL. On the film side there were 1,553 male writers employed in the last year of the report. That’s about 150 less writers than players in the NFL any given year. If you’re a female writer it just gets harder as they make up just 24% of all members in the guild. I don’t write these stats to discourage you but to help you know how solid your writing has to be to make a living doing this. And to also encourage you to keep your eyes open for alternative ways to earn a living in film, TV, and the Internet.
Update 3/12/10: Just read on Scott Myers’ blog Go Into The Story that the average production worker salary in the motion picture and tv industry is $74,400 a year.
Update 5/14/10: Residuals are another way film and TV writers get paid. I once worked with an actress who had worked on a popular TV show back in the day who told me she made $40,000 a year in residuals. A nice base. Check out the post Question: Do screenwriters get a percentage on the back end? by Scott Myers.
Update 10/24/10: Though it’s a few years old (2007) I just found this post by screenwriter Craig Mazin The Economics of Screenwriting.
Update 11/08/10: Interesting article about football player who turns down NFL offer to keep his train conductor job.
Update 1/15/11: “Let’s talk money, because no one ever does. A top tier screenplay deal these days might be for a million dollars or more. Most are far, far less, but let’s work with those crazy high numbers, in fact let’s say 2 million dollars, though nobody is paying that any more. Wow that’s a lot of money. But consider. With a writing partner, that gets cut down to $1,000,000., and after taxes, lawyers, agents, managers, and the WGA, let’s hope you get to keep $400,000.
That’s still a truckload of money, life changing, but they don’t give you that all at once. It might take six months to a year just to get the contract done, and the deal is contingent on the film going into production, and if it does that might take a year or three or five, and also the WGA has to grant full credit at the end of it all, which often doesn’t happen. But let’s say it all goes well, which means the ‘highest paid screenwriter in history’ is actually taking home around $200,000. a year, at least on that one deal. Which is good money, real good money, more than I ever imagined making, and let me tell you I do own a dream home in the hills … but it’s not in the fly-a-Learjet-to-your-own-private-island-in-the-Caribbean category.”
Screenwriter Terry Rossio (Shrek & Pirates of the Caribbean)
Interview with John Robert Marlow
Update 2/11/11 “For every writer I know that lives high on the hog I know twenty who buy their bacon at Costco.”
Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds)
And this from the book Power Screenwriting:
“The truth is, the odds of writing and selling a screenplay are probably just as great as winning the state lottery or the next Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes. Yet, with the emphasis directed towards the big bucks sale, the aspiring screenwriter may be deprived of one of the greatest transformational processes known to man: spinning a well-told story.”
Michael Chase Walker
Update 3/24/11: “Most writers never sell scripts. Why should you be any different?”
Christopher Lockhart who is the Story Editor for WME
From the post The Right Stuff on his blog THE INSIDE PITCH.
Update 5/29/11: This is the WGA’s current minimum basic agreement (MBA) for a screenplay purchase:
Between $500,000 & $1.2 million budget: $42,930
Between $1.2 million and $5 million: $42,930
Between $5 million or more: $87,879
Keep in mind those are union numbers. If a non-union company buys your script expect less. If you wrote the screenplay with another writer cut those numbers in half, and of course, deduct for taxes, lawyers, agents, etc.
Update 7/6/11: This post is by far the most viewed post of all time on this blog and you may enjoy this post today from Scott Myers on his blog Go Into The Story: Reader Question: How much does a top screenwriter get paid for a rewrite?
Update 11/08/11: “Most writers are middle class; 46% did not even work last year. Of those who do work, one quarter make less than $37,700 a year and 50% make less than $105,000 a year. Over a five year period of employment and unemployment, a writer’s average income is $62,000 per year.” Writers Guild of Ameria, West
Update 2/22/12: Bureau of Labor Statistics in May of 2010 listed the mean annual wage for writers (including screenwriters) and authors at $65,960 (with $109,440 being in the 9o percentile).
Closing thought: “There’s more to life than a little money, you know?…Don’t you know that?”
Sheriff Marge Gunderson in Fargo
Written by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
[...] When people think of how much professional football players make the tend to focus on the big numbers. Brett Farve’s $20 million dollar one year contract with the Minnesota Vikings. Payton Manning’s $99.2 million seven year contract with the Indianapolis Colts.. But the truth is most rookies in the NFL earn around $300,000 per year. [...] Original Source… [...]
I recently decided I would like to become a writer for television. I was doing a some internet research and came across this article. Pretty depressing but as an avid TV watcher who is always thinking of how much better a show would be if the characters did this or said that, imagining a different scenario if I didn’t like the one the writers of the show filmed, I think this is something I would be great at. I’ve seen a few different articles on the path to my newly discovered dream – Take screenwriting classes but options for those in Indianapolis, slim to none – looking into some online options (not quite ready to relocate). Write a script for a current TV show but then they say don’t do that because show runners can read them – it’s fanfic??? Not looking to quit my day job or anything but do you have any advice or books I can read, classes I should take to help out? Thanks!
Hello Stacia,
No one really decides to be a doctor and overnight be doing surgeries, but for some reason that seems to be the case with people who want to be writers. Perhaps because we start reading and writing and telling stories at a young age some seem to think it would be a fun and easy way to make money writing stories.
But the truth is it’s hard work. The best thing you can do to become a writer is write everyday. Start with a goal of 500 words, and then work your way up to 1,000 words a day. Be more focused on writing that amount everyday than you are watching TV, working out, or going out with friends.
Know that it may take you years to get paid for anything you write, but be encouraged that you can finish a TV script in a month or two, or a feature script in 3 or 4 months if you write everyday.
If you want a book read try Blake Snyder’s books “Save the Cat” and “Save the Cat Goes to the Movies.” Want to take classes from home look at UCLA or Scott Myers is now doing an online class. But read a few screenwriting blogs for a little direction–but focus on writing everyday.
Also, pick a favorite film or two and watch them over and over again asking yourself questions about story and structure. Why did they do this, what did they do that? Find the screenplay and break it down.
Write stories about Indiana that show you have a fresh voice that can’t be found in Hollywood. I was in Chicago over the weekend and John Mellencamp was performing there. If a kid from Seymour, IN can make it big, maybe you can to.
wow!
Reading all this makes a person wonder is it realy worth it?
I realy thought that you get paid a bit more then 180 000.00! No seriously! I am smashed! And dont you get a % of the profit made at the box office? No?
Nee my drome is verpleter!
Janet Davids
Janet–This post is by far the most viewed post I’ve ever written. And I wrote it because if your sole purpose to write is to get rich and famous as a screenwriter, I figured someone should shine a light on that aspect.
One reason you don’t hear this perspective a lot is there is a good deal of money to be made off of people wanting to be screenwriters.
But I just read about a screenwriter who bought a million dollar house in L.A. so success does happen. Just not as often as some people believe.
P.S. That millon dollar house in L.A. was a two-bedroom.
[...] Related post: How Much Do Screenwriters Make? [...]
I would just like to add that buying a $1 million dollar house in most areas of LA is like buying a $100k house in the midwest.
That said, most people in entertainment will still never be able to afford one. If you’re okay with the possibility that your future will be living with roommates in well into adulthood, never owning a house or traveling the country, having all of your friends in several tax brackets ahead of you, then you’re getting into a realistic mindset for a writer. It’s not why successful writers write, even the ones that do eventually get the house, family, etc.
Most writers never sell anything. Most of the ones that do never sell something that gets made. Most of those that do don’t continue selling material for the rest of their careers. If you still want to write after hearing things like this, congratulations, you may just be passionate and hard working enough to accomplish something!
Great comments Steve. Sounds like you have the inside track. Every film school should pass your three paragraphs out to every student on the first day of classes. That should weed a few out quickly and save them a lot of money and heartache.
And maybe the remaining will follow Edward Burns words, “Don’t compete with Hollywood.” Keep writing and see where it leads…
Hi my name is Sade Greene and I am an aspiring dramatic writer. I just wanted to comment on the fact that although I really like your blog I must say that I disagree with the comment that Steve made about focusing on the possible negative aspects of becoming a screenwriter. I feel that thinking this way only leads to a self defeating attitude and giving in to an already morally ailing culture fixated on amassing fortunes and accumulating material objects. Any career that is worthwhile comes with a great deal of hard work whether it is being a doctor, lawyer or engineer. Careers considered very lucrative and “easier” to break into such as becoming a financial analyst requires that you have a natural ability for numbers and equations and the connections to gain a position at a prestigious firm such as Goldman Sachs. I know a person who has their own engineering business and while they are very financially stable they are not millionaires. It is very difficult, especially now in our American society to attain that level or wealth whether or not you choose to be a screenwriter. The main focus should be on planning smart when navigating through your career path. The figures you mentioned for selling your screenplay could very well be used to invest or set aside to start your own company. I for one want screenwriting to an aspect of my career aspirations in the film industry. While practicing writing dialogue and spec scripts, I am planning on going back to graduate school to get an MFA and MBA. I hear that Tisch NYU has a dual MFA/MBA program but I do not mind taking them one at a time if I am not accepted into this program. I would like to focus on the distribution aspect of the film industry and concentrate on having a career in that while I write spec scripts since I have always had a busy schedule and managed to write because writing is something that I love to do. I apologize if this response has a defiant twinge to it but I will not allow myself to buy into negative thinking. Just as will Smith said, “I will keep running on this treadmill and the only way I will get off this treadmill before the next person is if I die and they have to drag me off.”
@Sade—Thanks for the detailed reply. Let me simply say that understanding business is one of the key things that every filmmaker needs to know. Read any recent interviews of Edward Burns and Kevin Smith and you’ll discover that they are pretty business savvy on top of being screenwriters. That’s actually why I started the blog e-filmmaking.com (short for Entreprenurial Filmmaking).
Well this has been totally disconcerting. Why are the most imaginitive, intelligent and humanitarian professionals be so consistently undercompensated in this country? I understand not rewarding the loafing, underachieving weed-head who will never develop the wherewithall to leave mom’s house, but a successful writer is not even remotely in such a league. I guess it gets right down to integrity. In order to make it financially a person must be willing to compromise honesty. The more treacherous, the more prosperous. A really stupid evil person is making ten times more than I am.
@Joshua—Another way to look at it is the most talented, imaginative, intelligent screenwriters in this country (Aaron Sorkin, David Koepp, Steve Zaillian, etc.) are extremely well paid.
Well spoken. Great information Scott! I’m a songwriter, now embarking on screenwriting for film. Having done several small roles in major films with intent on rubbing shoulders, my network in the industry continues to grow and I’d be honored to add you to that network. How can we keep in touch? E-mail (CamJovan@aim.com)
I publish the movie scripts I write and submit my work in film festivals I select through http://www.withoutabox.com There is no other joy than for me to write my script world of entertainment. Success is mine as a writer/producer/director at Mount Harrison Pictures Studios! I only live ONCE! That is how I think no matter how long the road to INDIE & HOLLYWOOD STUDIO filmmaking is I am in this Industry for Life!!!
Robert—That’s the spirit. I know some pro screenwriters didn’t care for the studio deal Amazon did last year, but writers did get payouts from $25,000 to a million dollars. (More than many pro screenwriters made in 2011.)
The fact is there are many avenues to take these days to get your work produced. The good news for writers and filmmakers these days is you don’t just have to move to LA and starve.