Random Thoughts

[megladon8]

Hey Orca / Devlin! Great to see you!!

[Devlin]

You too, Meg!

[Wryan]

Why the hell do people spend money at a time when they are actively trying to reduce their spending and clear cc debt?

Specifically me. I do that. I was talking about me.

I also have the truly terrible habit of doubling down on a day when I've already spent money somewhere else. Like I buy $100 of clothes and then add a pizza on top of it because whyfucknot. Goddamit.

[D_Davis]

Why the hell do people spend money at a time when they are actively trying to reduce their spending and clear cc debt?

Specifically me. I do that. I was talking about me.

I also have the truly terrible habit of doubling down on a day when I've already spent money somewhere else. Like I buy $100 of clothes and then add a pizza on top of it because whyfucknot. Goddamit.

I have been on CONSTANT retail therapy since November 2016.

I can't even begin to fathom how much money I've spent since then. It's like the only escape from the hell that is reality right now.

[D_Davis]

Are you Dade Devlin from RT?

[Skitch]

Axis exists on FB if anyone didn't know. Some of us still around.

[Devlin]

Are you Dade Devlin from RT?

No. That's not me.

[D_Davis]

Ah, OK. Then we can't be friends.

[Devlin]

Ah, OK. Then we can't be friends.

Just wait. I'm irresistible.

[D_Davis]

Haha. I think I remember you as Orca on Axis, but I can't say for certain. I don't remember my account name on Axis. The only thing I clearly remember from those days is a photoshop image I made of Rebort smoking a pipe.

[kuehnepips]

You o.k. Skitch? Ohio seems dangerous

[ledfloyd]

It's not bad as long as you avoid fair rides.

[Skitch]

Living the dream

[Ivan Drago]

I might not have been on RT while you were around, but welcome to the neighborhood, Devlin! It's great to have new members.

[TGM]

So I have a question to toss out there. I've just been approached by someone to write a feature length script for them. I'm assuming it's a relatively low budget - no budget production, but I was just curious if anyone here had any idea what I should charge to do that? I've never actually had to charge anyone for this sorta thing, so I'm really not sure what the typical going rate for this sorta work at this level would be. But I also know that I definitely can't write someone a feature length screenplay for free, either (particularly since in this instance, I don't actually even know the person, they were just referred my way by someone). So, I'm pretty sure some of you guys here have dealt with this sorta thing before, but what would you all suggest? What sounds like a fair price that's not over-charging, but also isn't selling myself short?

[Irish]

I'm assuming it's a relatively low budget - no budget production, but I was just curious if anyone here had any idea what I should charge to do that?

Find out if it's an equity production. WGA minimums for 2017 are here. Scale for first draft original screenplay is around $50,000-100,000. You'll also be eligible to join the union. If you're not in the guild and have no established credits, you have no quote. Which means you will likely be on the low end of the scale.

If it's not equity, apply freelance rules anyway. Which means that you charge for everything. The outline is a fee. Each draft is a fee. Meetings and conference calls are a fee. Travel time is a fee.

Consider a lawyer before you sign anything. Always keep in mind people lie about money faster than they lie about sex. (I once had a client who claimed poverty during negotiations, but when I flew across the country for meetings, he picked me up in a gold-colored Mercedes AMG GT.)

ETA: If it's non-union and you are lost, figure it this way:

- Charge to cover your nut, ie living expenses during the job. This is a full time gig and nobody should expect a draft in less than 90 days. How much do you need to cover rent/mortgage, health insurance, car, gas, power, internet, phone, groceries, etc for 3 months?

- Multiple that number by 1.5 because working to survive sucks ass.

- Now multiply that number by 1.35 and see an accountant. The taxes will eat you alive if you don't prepare for them. You'll have to file a Schedule C, which is a pain in the ass the first time you do it. The IRS might also expect you to pay quarterly taxes on the money you earn (ie, if you wait until next April, you could be hit with penalties). The upside is that you might be able to write off a portion of your living expenses (like rent) and a portion of purchases (like the cost of a brand new MacBook required to do the job).

- Whatever quote you settle on, always build ancillary costs into it. You don't want to pay the fees for lawyers, accountants, business managers, or agents out of your own pocket.

- If you quote a number to a client and they agree to it right away, you've charged too little. Raise your quote by 30% for next time. (I once worked a fulltime gig and during some related conversation, the office manager asked how much they were paying me. Before I could answer, she named a figure $10,000 above what I was being paid.)

- If it's a union gig, they have to abide by union rules and pay scale minimums -- and the guilds don't fuck around.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Find out if it's an equity production. WGA minimums for 2017 are here. Scale for first draft original screenplay is around $50,000-100,000. You'll also be eligible to join the union.

If it's not equity, apply freelance rules anyway. Which means that you charge for everything. The outline is a fee. Each draft is a fee. Meetings and conference calls are a fee. Travel time is a fee.

Consider a lawyer before you sign anything. Always keep in mind people lie about money faster than they lie about sex.

This is all good advice.

[TGM]

Wow, thanks for all the info, Irish! I just wish I was smart enough to understand most of that, lol. I know I'd have no issue handling the actual work, but I feel so far out of my element dealing with the business aspect of it all. I'm a total dunce when it comes to these sorts of things. But you definitely provided me with a lot of useful info to try and sort through. I also have an aunt who's a lawyer, so I think I might reach out to her and see what she thinks as well. But again, thanks!

[TGM]

Okay, so it turns out the production is much higher budgeted than I had originally thought. Contacting my aunt now for how to proceed.

[Skitch]

Okay, so it turns out the production is much higher budgeted than I had originally thought. Contacting my aunt now for how to proceed.

Get that lettuce, son!

[Irish]

You: Pick up the book nearest you, turn to page 45. The first sentence explains your love life.

Me: "David Bohlen, building a dam of wet soil at the end of his family's vegetable garden under the hot midafternoon Martian sun, saw the UN police 'copter settle down and land before the Steiners' house, and he knew instantly that something was going on."

[Lazlo]

You: Pick up the book nearest you, turn to page 45. The first sentence explains your love life.

Me: "David Bohlen, building a dam of wet soil at the end of his family's vegetable garden under the hot midafternoon Martian sun, saw the UN police 'copter settle down and land before the Steiners' house, and he knew instantly that something was going on."

"The insult had been renewed this year, during the black week when we struggled with the Lightning's repairs."

[Dukefrukem]

"It is a world in which the questions one wants to answer using the data have to be clear at the outset, so that the database is designed to answer them - and only them - efficiently."

[Skitch]

"Halfway up the ladder they rested for five minutes. By this time their arms as well as their legs had begun to ache."

Phew, sure glad it wasn't the last sentence on page 44.

"It was easy, but so boringly repetitious that there was a danger of becoming careless."

We should also mention the books. Rendezvous With Rama, Arthur C. Clarke

[D_Davis]

"We sat and drank our drinks, watched the fellows in the booth at the back."