Harlan Ellison: Pay the Writer

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  • #16
    Re: Harlan Ellison: Pay the Writer

    Every writer is writing/rewriting for free before they earn their first paycheck.

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    • #17
      Re: Harlan Ellison: Pay the Writer

      Originally posted by Why One View Post
      Every writer is writing/rewriting for free before they earn their first paycheck.
      Yes. My problem is doing it for free... for someone else.

      Especially if that someone else has more than enough money to pay.

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      • #18
        Re: Harlan Ellison: Pay the Writer

        Depends on the specific situation. As long as you retain rights and ownership of the script...

        My understanding has always been that most producers don't have money to buy scripts. The money comes from setting up projects with studios -- which is typically done with completed scripts -- which is also used to attract and package talent. And though they might love your script, they may have a couple of notes to make it more attractive to buyers/talent. In that particular scenario, would you rewrite for free?

        Or another scenario might be that they love your script, but know that nobody's buying such a script. However, they do have a script idea that they'd like to develop with you and go to buyers/talent with later (assuming you nail it). In that scenario, would you spec an entire script for free?

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        • #19
          Re: Harlan Ellison: Pay the Writer

          Well, they may not have the money right away but if they expect to get money once they set the project up with some studio, they can pay at some point. What I don't like is the idea of being asked to work for free, in exchange for exposure or other oportunities in the long run. If someone wants your script but doesn't have money to pay for it, how is he/she going to finance a whole movie? If he can finance the movie, he can pay for the script a reasonable amount of money, depending on the budget.

          I'm talking of established people wanting a writer to work for free. It's not like you are an amateur writer and you have an aspiring director buddy who wants to use your script to make his self-financed, ultra-low-budget, first feature. I think it's common sense that we are talking of a different situation here.

          The point Ellison makes is about professional writers and professional producers/studios/whatever, and that's a point I agree with. There are infinite other situations where one could agree to work for free on something. What I'm against -and I think Ellison is against- is being taken advantage of. "Exposure"? "Credit"? If they want the script, the writer is entitled to those two things and too be paid too. Like Ellison says: "ask them to work for free, see what happens."

          Of course, the person asking may be somebody you've developed a relation with. I guess I'd need to be in that situation to see if that person is worth a freebie or not; default is "not", though.

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