How is a Writer paid or best way to handle my questions?

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DVX100Shooter

Veteran
So I posted an ad on Craigslist the other day looking for some writers. I have been getting a steady stream of responses to my ad.

This is all new to me. How does this work. Do I pay them a flat rate for writing me a treatment for a Music Video, Commercial, etc. or do I base their pay from the budget of the artist/group? Several people have responded and are ready to write a treatment. How does this work for the major big budget projects out there? I remember hearing that they recieve treatment submissions from all sorts of people and then the Record Label, Artist and Director will select which one is the best. Is that accurate? Now how is this person paid? Do most writers have flat rates which they charge? Are they given a percentage based on the budget of the artist? I am in the dark in all of this!

Being as though I own a lot of equipment and have knowledge of a lot of various editing applications, I never needed anyone to work on a project with me. So this is all new to me going out and hiring temporary folks for a job. This job being some Music Videos.

Any thoughts? Right now, I have 2 videos that we are looking to shoot in April. One of the artists, won't have a definite budget number until the treatment is completed.
 
You are the boss.

You can either pay a flat fee, or an amount based on the budget of the production.

Overall, you hold the money bag, so best mention what's going to be paid.

EJ
 
The best thing you can do is offer a flat rate for a script. A work for hire type deal. That way you are not looking over your should once the movie is make. Pay it and forget about it. Keep all receipts though.
 
Which brings me to my next question. What is a reasonable rate to charge for a script? The song is between 3:45 - 4:00 minutes long.
 
DVX100Shooter said:
Which brings me to my next question. What is a reasonable rate to charge for a script? The song is between 3:45 - 4:00 minutes long.
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You could use the benchmark that the rest of the industry uses to pay writers: pay as little as you possibly can. You can get away with paying a dollar, but what often happens is that one piece of writing will stand out above all the others, and for some reason it's THAT writer who won't give it away for nothing. Real writers often know the value of their work. They might be starving and need to buy groceries but someone capable of really original, good ideas in a well-written form often knows these ideas have value. If you're being paid good money, then be prepared to pay a writer good money. If you're getting it for a hundred bucks, that's probably what it's worth.

All that said, I'm trying to think of a music video where I thought, wow, that was really "well written." Aren't they generally just playgrounds for cinematographers? There's not usually a story we follow in a traditional way. They're just evocative images strung together. Perhaps your cinematographer is the best "writer" for a job like this?
 
sean90291 said:
" Aren't they generally just playgrounds for cinematographers?
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That is all to true. But being a writer myself I can attest to the difficulty of creating something truly original for a music video/commercial. i'd rather write a movie. you only have a few minutes to capture everyone attention. Most of whats out there is crap. So find the best work possible and pay him what is fair based on the budget.
 
DVXshooter,

I wish I knew what the rates were for music videos, but I don't.

I think you're best bet is to pay what you think is reasonble.

You seem like a decent enough guy to worry about all this, so I imagine the amount you offer won't be offending - and probably entice enough people to work with you.

EJ
 
thank you for all the great advice!!! I will come up with something that should be fair and have everyone involved happy in the end!
 
Now one more question. Being as though I do not have a writer that I work with on various projects, I have recently posted an ad on craigslist looking for freelance writers. Now what is the fair way to handle this: Several people responded to my ad with interest. Now say I give them the song to write the treatment. One person responded back saying how is she going to get paid for her time? I didnt really have a clear answer for her because we are in the early stages right now. I wanted to collect a few (3-5 maybe) and then decide which was the best one that would represent the artist and his music.

I can see her point that she doesn't want to spend X amount of hours writing something and then we say naaaa thats not what we are looking for.

I told her that the budget for the video was to be determined after the treatment was written but I could be doing this backwards. Maybe I should have got a concrete number as to what the budget will be first then gone to find a writer with enough money left over to use on the shoot.

This is all new to me and I don't want to screw anybody over in the process.

Any more suggestions?
 
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