Sold it! My screenplay--finalized deal this week!

Personally, I use an "8 Sequence--Plot Point" hybrid similar to that outlined in Paul Gulino's book, but with several additions. In fact, I'm developing a screenwriting e-book on this right now, in between projects, specifically geared for the Neo Horror genre. BTW, Paul's book details other screenwriting tools as well, such as Dramatic Irony, telegraphing, Dramatic tension, Dangling cause, etc. which are very helpful and often overlooked by aspiring screenwriters.
 
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I just received Gulino's book a couple of days ago, very good read. I need to watch some of the movies he analyzes then read the accompanying chapters. Of course North by Northwest I know well, have watched that movie many times, fantastic movie. Interesting how Gulino points out the very serious plot hole in that story where Cary Grant waits to be attacked by the cropduster biplane, but how the audience does not catch the plot hole simply because of all the other fantastic cinematics, Hitchcock directing, etc.

Kyle I want to know about your ebook when it happens, particularly since I love writing supernatural horror. Can you build an emailing list or something, be sure to let those of us interested know when it happens/exists?

kylekmd said:
Personally, I use an "8 Sequence--Plot Point" hybrid similar to that outlined in Paul Gulino's book, with a few of my own additions. In fact, I'm developing a screenwriting e-book on this right now, in between projects, specifically geared for the Neo Horror genre. BTW, Paul's book details other screenwriting tools as well, such as Dramatic Irony, telegraphing, Dramatic tension, Dangling cause, etc. which are very helpful and often overlooked by aspiring screenwriters.
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No. The range is huge. You can get an idea of these prices from Movie Bytes -- Who's Buying What section, donedeal, and others.
 
Jason Ramsey said:
Kyle. Email it to me at jason at landmine dot tv and I will be glad to host it indefinitely on my server or put it on one of the dvxuser servers.

Later,
Jason
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Did this happen yet? I downloaded these from the original link, but the file got lost and I'd love to be able to download them again.
 
Many thanks for all the amazing info Kyle! I signed up all the way from rainy old England just to thank you for the technical writing insights.
 
The amount paid for the script correlates with the projected budget of the script. Most first sales are around $200k against mid (meaning $400k-$500k total if produced).

Kyle got an extra $100k which is freakin' awesome.

The guy who wrote up the upcoming movie, "Armored" got $400k for his first script, but I imagine the projected budget is probably more than Kyle's projected budget because his is an action flick (they cost more to make) and Kyle's I believe is a horror flick (which usually cost less to make).

So Kyle did better than the average first sold writer. Congrats!
 
My understanding is that 10% of the budget is for the script, meaning maybe 5% for the purchase of the script from the screenwriter and another 5% for a rewrite/tweak either by a pro or the original screenwriter. Assuming that is true, how would the screenwriter know what the budget is, so as to know if s/he is getting a fair offer (5% of the budget) for the script? I am asking to try to understand this (i.e. take this posting as one seeking information, not as sarcastic, etc).

Charli said:
The amount paid for the script correlates with the projected budget of the script. Most first sales are around $200k against mid (meaning $400k-$500k total if produced). ...
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Nope, that's not true. It might be a good rule-of-thumb for low-budget movies, but it doesn't really hold up. No one got $20m for the script to Titanic. Charli's right about the numbers she presented for first time writers. Akiva Goldsman or M. Night Shyamalan are probably the consistently highest-paid screenwriters there are, and they make around $4-5m per produced screenplay.
 
Is there a resource (publication, website, etc) to find out how much scripts were bought for to then compare against the budgets?

dougspice said:
Nope, that's not true. It might be a good rule-of-thumb for low-budget movies, but it doesn't really hold up. No one got $20m for the script to Titanic. Charli's right about the numbers she presented for first time writers. Akiva Goldsman or M. Night Shyamalan are probably the consistently highest-paid screenwriters there are, and they make around $4-5m per produced screenplay.
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it's usually 3% of the budget, sometimes 2%. and the genre sometimes doesn't mean anything as far as making the most money. you can make more money from a drama than an action. if a high a - list gets attached to your screenplay the budget is automatically at 30 mill right there, roughly. you figure just one of them is gonna be 15 mill give or take, not including the others attached. so do the math. also, taxes are paid too, so you lose more money along with the average 15% to your lawyer and manager. which you could get away with 5% if you just attach a lawyer. most think you need a manager or agent, where in reality, you dont need either. you could break in and sell your first spec just by using an entertainment lawyer. they accept submissions from them, but that also means doing your homework and marketing your screenplay yourself -- for the most part anyway, like the original poster, i believe i read before his entertainment lawyer knew someone etc. so that always helps.

again, this all factors in to many things. if the budget is 15 mill, the average youd be looking at 400kish. but than again, you may only see 75k of that, you may get fired or not hired at all for the rewrites and other things that come on the papers you agree and sign on. thats just an example. so many things can fiddle with your money.
 
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Where are you getting the 3% figure? I read in Dov S-S Simens book that 10% of the budget is for the screenplay (5% plus 5% rewrite), and I think Dov goes through a variety of budgets from high to low. I am just wanting to see where people (including Dov) are coming up with the percentages. It would be very useful to see some lists of $ paid for screenplays against the film budgets. boxofficemojo.com helps for looking at budgets and gross sales, now if only that site also had info on what was paid for the scripts that would be wonderful.
 
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a screenplay at 10% would only be for a few of the top players. a handful at most. take a look at signs, im sure m night recieved close to 10%. he got 5 mill for the screenplay if im not mistaken. not sure what the budget was, you'd have to look it up and do the math. but yes, generally the screenplay is 3% of the budget. 10-20% is the average for options (of the sale price)

if you look at the big picture. a writer may be the most well paid person in the business. granted helluva lot more people make more money than they do, specially actors. but they are also working, not just physically but mentally, atleast 8 months out of the year, for the big boys. where as a writer could work 2 months and take home his mid six figure paycheck. than again, living in Cali, that doesn't mean too much considering the home prices. but you get the idea. point is, a good spec, a good writer is well paid, but not 10% well paid.

p.s. the two months i mentioned, doesnt count the "inbetween" waiting periods. (for notes, rewrites etc.)
 
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Take a look at script sales in Creative Screenwriting magazine or Scr(i)pt magazine. You will see first time writers and that the norm will always fall around $200k regardless of the genre.

I know a writer who sold his spec script based on a book, the studio liked it, bought the rights to the book, bought his script for $200k, script to this day has not been made.

I also know of another writer who sold his script for $1,000,000 (and yes, that many zeros). That's one million dollars, there was a bidding war and when the dust settled, he came out ahead.

I also read years ago how a first-time writer got paid a million for their script, but that is a rare occurrence.

Shane Black I believe sold his first script for $250k - "Lethal Weapon." By the time "The Long Kiss Goodnight" came along, he sold that for 4 million dollars. He was considered the highest paid writer at that time.

M. Night gets paid to write & direct, so you can't classify him along with other writers.
 
My personal experience as both screenwriter and producer is that a screenplay should never exceed 5% to 7.5% of a film's total budget... That's simply a baseline to begin with as some screenwriters will get more and some are certainly going to get LESS... LOL.

Unk
 
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but check out http://www.wordplayer.com. The current topic in this thread along with many other things are discussed here. This site is a blog-ish type site with articles from Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott.
 
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