Is the Slamdance script competition a bad idea?
I am a writer who has multiple scripts entered in the Slamdance Horror Script Competition.
Recently, Slamdance announced the new Grand Prize: $10,000 and acquisition of all rights and title by an independent production company. In said acquisition, the production company plans to produce a feature motion picture from the grand-prize winning script.
The winner will be paid five percent of the film’s minimum budget, which is $200,000.
So here’s my first question: Shouldn’t the writer be paid 10% of the film’s budget according to WGA standards?
As a writer who has primarily entered the competition with the hope of placing in the competition so I can attract queries from agents, I am a bit puzzled by this new Grand Prize. If a script is good enough to rise to the top of a competition like this, and if the writer is lucky enough to land a good agent, wouldn’t it be within the writer’s interest to look for a better deal?
Not to mention that upon accepting the Grand Prize and putting pen to paper, the writer is signing all rights of the script to the powers that be.
Would it be foolish for someone to decline the Grand Prize and take his or her chances with attracting an agent who might be able to find a better deal?
– Terrell
Newnan, Georgia
Yes, it would be foolish. If you win, you should take the prize money and the additional $10,000. (I’m assuming that the 10% of the budget comes on top of the prize money, but either way, take the deal.)
Why am I suggesting you blindly take whatever’s offered, when just two days ago I advised another reader to quickly get another lawyer? Because you live in Georgia. You’re treating the Slamdance competition as a sort of become-a-screenwriter lottery. The first, unspoken rule of lotteries is “always take the money.”
Could winning the competition help get you started as an honest-to-goodness screenwriter? Sure. But getting a movie made would be a much, much bigger help. Lots of writers win competitions but never get beyond that point. However, if you get a movie made — if you get a movie set up — you suddenly become an actual, working screenwriter. And the process of finding agents, managers and future work becomes much easier.
Now that your main question is resolved, let’s correct one fundamental misunderstanding:
Shouldn’t the writer be paid 10% of the film’s budget according to WGA standards?
Yes, in Fantasyland. There’s no WGA rule or standard. All there is is WGA scale, which indicates the minimum a writer can be paid for movies of a certain budget. These are flat figures, not percentages. (You can download a .pdf of the rates here.)
I’ve never been paid anything close to 10% of a film’s budget. My first feature, Go, cost roughly $6 million. I was paid $70,000. That’s half a million dollars less than I “should” have gotten.
For The Movie, I was paid low-budget scale — $35,782, plus a $5,000 script publication fee. (If we’d qualified for the WGA Indie rates, we could have brought that down to zero.)
And as a writer who’s written several very expensive movies, let me tell you, I’d love to be cashing $20 million checks. But it doesn’t happen.
Don’t get me wrong, a screenwriter can make plenty of money. But dollar signs shouldn’t be a driving force in choosing it as a career, no matter what level you’re talking about.
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November 10th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Great comments and advice. Your explanation makes complete sense and we have to remember that a “foot in the door” is major.
As screenwriters, we have to be confident that if one of our scripts wins a contest, it’s just the beginning. Also, we have to be confident that we have much better scripts to be written in the future! We have even brighter days ahead!
November 10th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Yeah, no shit take the money. I can’t beleive that guy even asked that question. Imagine winning the award and then attempting to “renegotiate”.
The phrase ‘looking a gift horse in the mouth’ comes to mind.
November 10th, 2006 at 6:37 pm
I’ve been in this situation, and John is absolutlely right. I never thought twice about signing over rights to my script, even though some people said I shouldn’t.
My feeling is that if you’re lucky enough to win a competition where the prize involves shooting the script, then the budget of the film is kind of part of the prize, even though you’ll never be able to spend it on a Porsche and a pad in the hills.
I would say to anyone entered in this competition: Do you have $200,000 to spend on shooting your script? If not, then winning can only help you. And if you get some money that you can actually spend on top of that, then so much the better! It’s not enough to buy a Porsche, but it’s better than the proverbial poke in the eye with a sharp stick, which is what the screenwriter usually gets.
November 10th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
Thanks for answering my question and giving your opinion on the matter.
It’s not dollar signs I’m concerned about. It’s fear of the filmmakers taking the material and turning it into shit.
Further conditions of the deal state that the writer is entitled to two rewrites with no cost to the producers.
Is that normal? Shouldn’t a writer be paid for rewrites?
November 10th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
I’m going to dissent slightly here. It would be ideal if Slamdance adhered to the WGA low budget agreement; I’m not shocked they don’t, and I’m not a pollyanna about it either. Yes, you should take the money.
However, I would certainly try to change one term.
There should be a reacquisition clause.
If you win, it’s fine to grant the organization the exclusive ownership of the material and the exclusive right to make a film of it. But for how long? What’s wrong with giving them 2 years, at which point you have the option to reacquire your material back? Hell, agree to give the prize money back. But you should have the right to get your work back if at all possible.
If not, then John’s basic take is correct. You have zero leverage.
November 11th, 2006 at 1:41 am
The response could have done without the “Because you live in Georgia” line, because if under his name it said “Santa Monica, California”, the response and advice would have been the same, but it’s good advice none-the-less. Worry about negotiating when you have leverage in the industry. First you need to actually get into the industry, which is obviously the most difficult part. If a competition is willing to essentially do that for you, then run with it.
November 11th, 2006 at 1:49 am
Who is the stocky guy raising his hand?
November 11th, 2006 at 10:34 am
I’m going to second Craig’s amendment. Some sort of reacquisition clause is smart, and really, they should give that to you.
November 11th, 2006 at 11:01 am
“Who is the stocky guy raising his hand?”
That’s the third Weinstein brother, Tor.
November 11th, 2006 at 6:24 pm
Actually I want to also thank John for sharing what he made on a couple of his movies. That was very frank and forthright - most people wouldn’t reveal info that personal.
Thanks again for the education, John. I appreciate it.
November 12th, 2006 at 7:24 am
My first experience with Slamdance (and the only one, thus far) has been fantastic.
November 12th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
The FAQ on the Slamdance site about the competition says:
“Q: If I win and the film does not get made, will I (the screenwriter) reclaim rights to my material? A:Yes. After a period stipulated in the Purchase Agreement signed with Angel Baby Entertainment and the screenwriter, the rights of the screenplay will revert to the writer.”
So, it looks like that objection is covered.
November 13th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
John, how much did you spend on music for The Movie? Since were on the subject of budget and fees. I’m scoring my first feature film, a dream project so far. A small indie movie, great script, great people. The director has brought me, the composer, in on the project 6 months before production, to generate ideas and get a creative process going, very ambitious and unusual, I believe. No negotiations about my fee yet and I am not sure in what range I should be. Does anyone have any clues?
January 11th, 2007 at 3:24 am
Thanks for the advice, John.
My horror script, RED WEDDING, made the Slamdance Horror Competition semifinals.
I wrote the script with plans to direct it myself, but if I win the Grand Prize I won’t quibble.
September 7th, 2007 at 11:54 am
First, sorry, but I can’t help doing the mental math… that fee from the script of John’s own film must have been less than one point one percent, correct? Also, I second Adam’s comment. John’s generosity in this regard- Craig’s as well -is unusual, for obvious reasons. I’ve said this before… if writers were to achieve the camaraderie I’ve seen between D.P.s (most of them at least, they really do help themselves out at the drop of a hat). And big cheers to Terrell for having the balls to ask.