Thread by @DavidHSteinberg

Paragraph 3, DELIVERY (and welcome to page 2 of the contract). Delivery isn't very exciting, it just says "time is of the essence" which is a legal term for "you can't say the dates specified weren't real deadlines."

Programming note: I've split the thread on purpose. For page one of the contract and the beginning of the thread go here:

https://twitter.com/DavidHSteinberg/status/1458131000907550721?s=20

The delivery clause also names the actual person you deliver to. This is usually a very senior exec or even the president of production, although as a practical matter you won't really deliver to them. I'd love to see a writer ask for the POP's email so they can properly deliver!

Paragraph 4, TERM. The term seems kind of obvious and not really important until you have two projects. Then the issue of priority comes into play. You might have heard "first position" or "second position." Big-time EPs might have multiple scripts in development.

"First position, non-exclusive" means you can do another project in lower priority and the Term defines how long you are "engaged" on each project. Okay, that's it for term, Monday is going to get really exciting because that's when we start talking about COMPENSATION!💰💰💰

I should have added: while I AM a lawyer, this isn't legal advice. And I haven't practiced law in 25 years so my understanding and discussion of the terms could be off. If you're an entertainment lawyer, please feel free to add to or correct anything I say.

Any questions so far?

Paragraph 5, PILOT SCRIPT WRITING COMPENSATION. It's the moment you've been waiting for! The guaranteed* compensation! Before I break it down, let's talk about the several money streams a series creator can potentially look forward to. *But see:

https://twitter.com/DavidHSteinberg/status/1459936718887407622?s=20

Briefly, because we'll get into this soon enough, a series creator is going to get paid separate 💰 to: WRITE the pilot (and possibly a format/bible); PRODUCE the pilot; PRODUCE each episode; WRITE the episodes they write.

Plus, there will be a SERIES PICKUP BONUS for the show getting picked up to series; a per-episode ROYALTY for creating the show; future season RENEWAL BONUSES; and BACK-END. We've got a lot to look forward to! But let's get back to Paragraph 5, the Pilot Writing Fee.

This is the fee for writing the pilot, obviously, and this is the only guaranteed (pay or play) money in the contract. It's what you probably spent the most time fighting for and it's what your "quote" is. For median and range of pilot quotes, see wga.org/members/employ…

A quick aside about quotes. It's now against the law in CA to ask for your quote (previous salary), so this complicates the negotiation somewhat. BA tends to start low and needs to be convinced that your quote is your quote so in reality it usually all works out the same.

But you will find that depending on circumstances you might make less on a subsequent deal! This deal has my fee redacted but it was my first cable pilot so my pilot fee was about half my broadcast network quote! Also depends on if you sell late in the season.

Long story short, in success you will get your quote or above on your next deal. But a lot of times you have to fight for your quote and wind up getting less! It doesn't always go up! 😭 Tomorrow, PILOT SERVICES.