Scriptwriting - Royalty Payments

Next up on script wiring is - Royalty Payments

Royalty Payments

Definition of Royalty - These are ongoing payments that are made to a creator of (or participant in) an artistic work (e.g. composer, author, performer) based upon sales of that work.

Royalty payments are where the writer of a script (and possibly the agent) receives money every time the finished film/programme is aired on television. To get a good deal on this a writer would consult with his agent and the producer to work out a deal, writers generally don’t get a large fee, so this provides a valuable form of income.

However getting paid for you creative writing is harder than it seems and having a good agent would be useful if they are selling their first screenplay the low amount of money they would receive would be countered by the value of having an Agent who has experience and can press for a better deal, if they don’t have an agent, the writers bargaining power would rely solely on their reputation. Royalty payments require a good business sense and negotiation skills, which many screenwriters don’t have because very few screenwriters receive large fees, many consider royalty payments a major part of the process, some even take money solely in this form.

The payments also came from television or DVD or even theatrical broadcast, although there may be a considerable wait until they receive any money, if it were a film they may not receive any money until the film has broken even, and once the studios and cinema chains have received there cut, leaving a relatively small amount for the writer.

Before a writer sells a script, they should ensure they have thoroughly questioned their agent and the potential buyer to ensure they have made clear what they want, when it comes to sign the contract they should pay a lot of attention to the small print and different clauses to ensure they aren’t being cheated. Getting a good royalty payment not only improves a writers finances it may improve their reputation and it shows that they have good business strategy and will fight for what they want. Writers may use royalty payments as a bargaining chip e.g. ‘don’t give many of the profits, but finance my next script’. Royalty payments are a complicated time consuming issue for writers but are worth the effort however there are for instance other kind of "payments" they each writer should be aware of:

Royalty-Free: Royalty-free can be used to describe media (such as graphics, photos, music etc.) that is bought for a one-off fee allowing it to be used for profit, without payment of royalties (ongoing payments to the creator).

Remuneration: Wage or payment for services.

Commission: A payment made to a director, writer, production company etc. for the performance of a task or completion of a section of work.

REFERENCES

http://paulashwell2.wordpress.com/
http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/135/Scriptwriter.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/further/glossary
http://www.writersstore.com/the-ins-and-outs-of-tv-series-writer-deals