How much are we talking?

This whole writing game often seems to be all about trying to get the people in power to come down from the clouds and deign to agree to throw us a few crumbs. Obviously this is the wrong way round as writers are THE most important people on any project ;-)
It seems to be accepted among would-be writers that you have to do a hell of a lot of work and not expect to be paid. Assuming all of us want to get stuff made in the end, what sort of money do you get for writing that is commissioned?
I remember Mark Blake saying it used to be 42K for a six part BBC sitcom based on standard Writers rates but what is the score with indies etc?
What about radio?
Anyone here actually been paid for anything??!!
Like I say, it seems almost forbidden to mention these things and I aint expecting to be chinging it in but I'd like some idea if only out of curiosity.
I have been out of the loop for a good few years but used to write a lot of stuff for News Huddlines/Newsrevue sketch comps and stuff and the grand total I actually got paid was 42quid!
Great to have a forum like this BTW.

Going to move this to the correct forum...

Hi Bullet, if that is true and it is only 42k that is a disgrace. Think how many attempts it takes and how many hours it takes to get the thing written and then someone interested in enough to commission it. I get that for teaching in London. So I would need to write a 6 part sitcom every year for the rest of my life to have the same standard of living that I have at the moment. I wouldn't say that's very likely

Hi Dale,
have to admit we are talking several years ago for that figure. That's why I was asking. It would be nice to have some idea of what is possible. For all I know, they could offer 500quid per episode and that might be the going rate?
I seem to recall being shocked out how low the entry figures were for commissioned material as negotiated by the Writers Guild. Something like 4K for 60 mins of drama on TV!

Money
How crass!

I work for favours...

Well the writer of tomorrow's Channel 4 pilot said it was 100 times harder writing a comedy than writing a drama like Torchwood. So if he got paid around £6000 for an episode of that I reckon that's £60,000 an episode

I think the money on offer is still silly money compared to jobs in the real world. And writing may be infuriating and exasperating and at times push you to the brink of insanity, but it's still fun thinking up characters and doing things to them. You're like god.

It does vary a lot.
Sketch writing for TV is usually between £100 a minute and £200 depending upon your experience and how good your agent is. Budgets also play a part. The BBC is now cutting budgets across the board and that is forcing them to make cuts.
An episode of a sitcom usually seems to rake in between £4000 and £8000.
However, that isn't the end of it. If the show is broadcast on terrestrial TV then you usually get a bout 75% of the fee again when it's broadcast. You would then be paid something every time it is repeated.
If it's shown on digital (I'm thinking BBC3/4) you only get 15% of the original fee and they can broadcast many, many times without having to pay out another penny.
You can make a living if you're getting work on the screen but you still don't meet very many affluent comedy writers.

For me money / celebrity is never the issue. It's the audience and the platform for your words that TV / radio provides that is the key consideration for myself. What's the use in developing 'a voice' if no one will ever get to hear it?

If you are driven to write because you 'HAVE TO' then the cash is a lower priority.

I know that sounds more aloof than I intend it, so apologies in advance.

Radio: I've just got paid £55 a minute (which apparently is 'BBC standard rate minuteage' for a sketch. I guess this works out about £1600 for an episode of a sitcom. Not that much if you have a writing buddy to share it with!

TV: I have been informed that going-rate is about £7,500 per *hour* of comedy for a newbie writer.

Neither's great but then if you were doing it, it's not bad for 'not a proper job!'

Dan

I wonder how rich Susan Nickson is? Even if she only got 1% of £1 for each time BBC3 have repeated Two Pints that'd still make her a millionaire by now?

Quote: SlagA @ October 5, 2007, 12:08 PM

For me money / celebrity is never the issue. It's the audience and the platform for your words that TV / radio provides that is the key consideration for myself. What's the use in developing 'a voice' if no one will ever get to hear it?

If you are driven to write because you 'HAVE TO' then the cash is a lower priority.

I know that sounds more aloof than I intend it, so apologies in advance.

View original

Money's not the main issue for me either. I want to make a sitcom for TV because I want to make as many people laugh as possible.

Thanks for your replies.
Of course, WE all do it for love but I bet the Prod Cos don't - cold hard cash is their objective at the end of the day. Don't see why writers should be ashamed of wanting a fair slice?

A couple of years ago someone in a Prodco told me a radio sitcom would work out about £1500 an episode. And TV as a nobody would be about £5000.

But even Richard Curtis would only get £10,000 for a Dibley. The big bucks comes with DVD sales and foreign rights/remakes.

I was going to say, you make your money from other things other than the initial fee. Repeats, royalties on DVDs - that can dwarf the initial fee. Then you should be able to demand a higher fee from then onwards.

The effort you have to put in to get there means you have to be driven my something other than money as there are a lot easier ways to make a living but i don't believe anyone who says they would do it for next to nothing.

If you had a successful sitcom and everyone was making money apart from you then you would care. Especially if the writers of poor sitcoms were earning twice yours. Its more about valuing your work rather than going for the big buck.

Also a lot of people here aren't full-time writers, and probably don't realise that doing it 24/7 will start to tire you like any other job, even enjoyable work will still do that. So having money for downtime, even research, will come into it.