People often ask me, “How do I break into Hollywood?” as their number one question for a working screenwriter. The second most asked is, “How do I get an agent?” because the answer to the last question is “get a rep.” That said, there is a question that ranks above both of those: “How much money do you get paid?”
It’s a question everyone wants to ask, but polite society has programmed us not to ask. It’s a question the industry itself discourages talking about because if we were all open about it, it would be harder for them to pay marginalized people less than the white dudes. (As of this writing, I am still in fact waiting for my white-guy money to appear).
What Do Screenwriters Get Paid?
As a working screenwriter for over a decade, two people have asked me this question directly—my partner, who I live with, and a female screenwriter wanting to ensure she’s not being undercut; and a 13-year-old horror fan at a convention, likely prompted by his father.
You all want to know. I know you do because before I broke in I, too, wanted to know the answer. Here is the honest answer: it varies. As a full-time writer with no day job, my worst year was $20,000. I didn’t book anything for a year. I lost my WGA health insurance by not making the minimums. The money I made came from the final payment of a job I booked the previous year.
My best year, thus far, has been around $300,000. This was a year in which I was both on-staff for a TV show and had booked a feature job. A few things to keep in mind: I am a mid-level writer. I tend to work in lower-budget horror. Most years average in the low six figures, but it varies a lot.
Before we dig into getting paid as a screenwriter, there are very important factors you must keep in mind:
1. Work and pay are never consistent
2. WGA vs. non-WGA pay is worlds apart
3. While you may get rich, you probably won’t
Let’s talk about consistency first… or lack thereof.
In the before times, screenwriters had quotes. A quote was what you were generally paid for your writing services. Your quote would start at a union minimum, and with each job get added to based on the negotiating power of your rep, and what the studio/production company was actually willing to pay. Quotes were basically respected by all powers, and each consecutive job you booked would match or increase.
No one does this anymore unless you are a high-profile writer. While people still ask for quotes, they don’t actually care. The idea of increasing pay based on experience has died out over the last decade. Why? Because of streaming and late-stage capitalism. Don’t get me started.
From my perspective, around 2015 or so, everyone seemed to just get locked into whatever salary range they were at, and it hasn’t improved by more than 4-8% since. This is based on my experience, and that of friends I can have open conversations with. There are exceptions for sure, but the talk on last year’s picket lines was that everyone was having trouble matriculating in their career.
Most people I know have been locked into being low-level, mid-level, upper-mid-level, and high-level. Not to be a total downer, but I do know people who have jumped levels in the last few years and doubled or tripled their pay. It can happen, it’s just a lot harder.
Most people I know making upper six figures (or higher) have either worked their asses off, had a low-level project (or two) that went over huge or were already high-level before the new paradigm set in. Also, I know people at all levels who have struggled to find work as of late, so no one is sitting pretty these days.
Read More: You Broke In! Now What? A Screenwriter’s Guide to Crafting a Career
Work Isn’t Always Consistent
This brings me back to the point—getting work is not consistent as there is less of it right now, and the retraction in business has everyone, including studios, watching every penny. I’ve gone up and down in pay over the last few years in the tens of thousands. When you haven’t worked in 8 months and somebody lowballs you, they know you need the work.
Factor two: the WGA.
If you’re not a union, there are no rules. People can literally pay you whatever they want. All I can say is, have a decent lawyer negotiate for you, and know your worth.
Once you become a union, for life, you are now under the control of the MBA.
The WGA Minimum Basic Agreements is a sprawling document you can download and read right now. It’s dense and confusing if you’re not an accountant, but it is essentially what it says it is: it establishes a baseline minimum pay for every conceivable writing situation. (The last strike was all about patching holes in the internet-based arrangements that the streamers were taking advantage of).
Be it features, cable, streaming—the MBA covers it. If you dig into it, you’ll find many ways to structure deals and arrange payments.
For most situations, negotiations will likely start around 10-20% above minimum, unless you have worked for that specific producer/company/studio before, and/or you are a high-level writer with a resume of big stuff.
Setting Your Expectations
If you think screenwriting is a way to be both creative and rich, you need to temper your expectations. You certainly can become rich, it’s just a lot harder now than it used to be. A LOT.
After a decade of writing at the lower and mid-levels, my life is still very blue-collar because I live in Los Angeles. True, I get to make stuff up all day, I don’t have to go to an office or commute, and my health insurance is great… so maybe an UPPER blue-collar experience.
But… it is still a job that requires a lot of work… a lot of FREE work no matter what the union says. You have to brainstorm, pitch, and have meetings in which you have to be personable and not reveal you’re a little weird and prefer to be in a dark room typing all day (even if that’s what they want you for). Don’t forget too that if you have reps, they take their commission. Agents get 10%, managers 10-15%, lawyers 5%.
Once you’re making over roughly $100k a year, you’ll also maybe need a CPA or financial advisor, and should incorporate it to avoid the brutal taxation of 1099s and better manage business expenses. The WGA, to not be liable, does not frequently offer much in the way of financial advice so even when you do start making money, you need to manage it properly—something that more often than not isn’t a thing creative types love to do.
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Screenwriting is still a job. Screenwriting offers fun, creativity, and the freedom to manage your own time (unless you’re on staff), but it remains a job in an industry dominated by corporations focused solely on potential profits. To navigate this world you have to be smart about finance. You must do as the prophet Snoop Dogg does… keep your mind on your money and your money on your mind.
