ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

11 years, 9 months ago - Vasco de Sousa

Shooting People allows ads for screenwriters that pay less than 1000 quid to be listed as "paid." The UK minimum wage, at full time, rolled up with time for holidays, is usually more than that (if the writer is over 20), is more than that. That's for only one month.

Does SP really think that writers write features in less than a month?

And writers out there, if you're writing a feature, how long do you take? My estimates, from reading and talking to people, is that it takes the top pro's from 3 months to a year, or sometimes longer, to research, write, and rewrite a 100-120 page script. A year, or about 2000 working hours, seems the most common, as a lot of the longer projects are done at the same time as others.

Recently, some guy wanted me to write a script in three days, for which he'd pay 250 USD. The price isn't the most insulting I've seen (he's not rich), and I was offered less for some jobs (100 dollars to write a book in three days). But what's he expect in that time frame? If I accepted the offer, I probably wouldn't get paid anything because he wouldn't be happy with a hastily written script.

What's your experience? What's the fastest time that you've ever written a screenplay that's ready for production?