Does anyone have experience as an independent contractor paid to write a screenplay? I have a contract I need to negotiate and I am not involving my agent. My question is; if I sign away my right to authorship, and hence, the copyright goes to the person paying me, can I have a clause in the contract stating that his sale of the script is contingent upon my contracting a % of production budget and % of the profit with the purchaser of the script?
Screenwriting : Independent Contractor by Cari Griffo
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What's the whole point of having an agent if you are going to circumvent them when you need them the most? You can put any clause you want in there, but it depends on the other party if they are willing to accept it.
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This is not an agent's work. The contract is the work for an entertainment lawyer. Sounds like you're trying to save a few bucks by cutting your agent out of the loop. Contractually, he gets his percentage whether you involve him or not. In the end, trying to negotiate a contract by yourself could cost you more than if you had involved your agent and an entertainment lawyer.
And don't take legal advice from folks on this site. Get an entertainment lawyer.
I've signed a number of agreements for screenplays and contracts are generally always negotiable. I just signed a shopping agreement with an agency about four months ago. My partner and I did not like a long paragraph in the agreement and he consulted his attorney and I consulted my wife (attorney) and we requested the deletion of this paragraph. The agency agreed without any objections. I've also redlined things I didn't like in agreements with producers. Don't be afraid to negotiate!
I've negotiated for myself as well. I had a contract that allowed the producer to request as many rewrites as he deemed fit, however I also had a deadline. My concern was that he could suddenly ask for a page one rewrite at anytime, making me default if it was close to the deadline. So I requested a limited amount of rewrites, after which he could go hire anyone else he wanted or give me a time extention and more $ for additional rewrites).
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You can always negotiate, but i dont believe the 2 contingencies you're asking for are possible or fair. Youd be stopping the purchase of the script. if i were the producer, id never allow that. but i would put into the contract that "best good faith efforts will be made to get you back end points or x payment"
Thanks, Danny, I appreciate your advice, as you seem to understand that this is a spec script. I'm writing it for a historian that says he has a producer friend who will shop it. I will use "best good faith."
I am not writing as a ghostwriter, I am being hired for a fee to write a historical drama, based on true events for a historian, in which it was his idea to write about this event. As far as I know, he will own the copyright, but I shall receive writer's credit.
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Work for hire gigs? Take cold cash upfront. There is never any backend. Good luck chasing down people for $$ later (if movie ever gets made). Nobody shows you the actual bookkeeping numbers. Do your best and move on to next.
Dan, thanks for your good sense!!!
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From my own experience:
- when a producer options your script, a percentage of the shooting budget plus a percentage of net profits are normal asks.
- when a producer hires you to write for them you can negotiate anything, but two typical scenarios would be 1. you charge a flat fee and that's that; 2. for lower budgets, you charge a fee and then ask for a 'bonus' payment to be paid on the first day of principal photography.
Getting paid a fee to write AND being given a percentage of the shooting budget is not something I've seen. One producer did offer me a much lower upfront fee in exchange for a percentage of the gross profits, but that's fools gold - don't fall for it.
As Dan MaxXx mentions above, opt for cash above all else when you can.