by Fin Wheeler

Whenever the topic of writing on speculation or “on spec” comes up, the same cluster of questions is always raised. So, here’s the information I wish someone had shared with me when I was starting out.

What’s the difference between writing your own spec and writing ‘on speculation’?

Film - A spec is a feature screenplay you’ve written based on an idea you own and/or have the rights to and are able to sell.

Writing on speculation for another person means that someone else has an idea and they want you to write it up as a screenplay for them, but they’re not willing to pay you, nor will they promise to pay you for it upon completion. They’re asking you to work for free on a screenplay you won’t own or have the right to sell (because the concept is owned by them, not you).

TV - In television a spec is essentially a television writing sample. You write 2-3 episodes of currently running sitcoms or dramas and use that portfolio of writing samples to try and get work on an established television show. A pilot is an original script you’ve written yourself, based on your own idea or an idea you have bought the rights to and are in a position to sell.

Writing on speculation for TV would be writing someone else’s pilot for them without payment and without any promise of co-ownership, credit, or payment from them.

Why are professional screenwriters banned from writing on speculation?

The Writers’ Guild prohibits its members from working on speculation for obvious reasons. To be a professional screenwriter you have to be paid. It devalues everyone’s work if some writers are willing to work for free.

The WGAw has about 2,600 members. Only half of those report screenwriting income each year. That’s right: half of all professional screenwriters don’t earn money from their profession each year. Many who do earn income only have one or two paid writing gigs per annum.

There are only about 150 professional movies made each year. There are also hundreds of screenplays in active development. All that writing, rewriting, and script doctoring work goes to a pool of about 50 of the most in-demand screenwriters.

How does payment work for professional screenwriters?

There’s a list of scale (industry minimum payments) on the Writers’ Guild website. And as a member you have access to contract templates. They offer samples on their sites, too. Each country has its own Guild and own industry standards.

The point of industry standard pricing is that each screenwriter is judged and hired on their merits rather than just being hired because they charge less.

There are many sites where non-Union writers can bid for (non-professional) writing gigs, where lower bids often win. I don’t see how that would build your skill, reputation or confidence as a writer, but each to their own.

In both film and television, any professional gig will have a contract stipulating what is expected of you, what you will be paid, and what your rights are. The contract protects both you and the producer. It’s a two-way thing.

Film Contracts - If you sell your spec screenplay, the contract might state that the purchase price includes one or two rewrites, plus an option for further rewrites, each rewrite at an agreed price and delivered-by date.

TV Contracts / Staff Writer - When you work on a television show as a staff writer, any and all ideas that you have on their time are owned by the production company.

TV Contracts / Per Episode - The writing of episodes is assigned separately. Typically, only the senior writers who have proved themselves are assigned episodes.

It can be different on each production, but generally the story has been broken before each episode is assigned to a writer. The writer then has a meeting with the producer to go over the content of the episode and is paid to write the plot points for the episode into a scene breakdown, which is them submitted for approval.

Once approved, the writer will write the episode (script) from the approved scene breakdown. The script is then submitted and read. The writer is then given notes and within the week (sometimes less) they must submit their final draft. Then the room will read the draft and punch up the jokes. There can often be another rewrite after the table read.

Again, each show runs differently, but essentially the professional scriptwriter is paid one overall price to do the writes, rewriters and attend all related meetings.

There’s one (pretty decent) amount covering all these different jobs so that screenwriters are paid fairly for the complex web of work they do. If there’s no contract stipulating the maximum number of rewrites and maximum number of meetings, writers would have to put up with never-ending demands, and the quality of their work (and their quality of life) would suffer.

If this all sounding a bit complicated, and you still can’t really get your head around how television writing works, I’d recommend you hunt down the old Aaron Sorkin drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It’s a behind-the-scenes drama set in an SNL-type show. Many episodes of Studio 60 are set in or around the writers’ room; you get a really good idea of who does what and why. I think I learned more about the industry watching that show a few times than I did at film school.

Contracts, In Summary - It’s always best to have a contract for every project, and to know exactly what you expect of the producer, and what they expect of you.

Is it a good idea for beginners or early-career screenwriters to write on speculation?

No. If there’s no money to pay you, it means there’s no interest in the project. How’s a project going to get made and distributed if there’s zero investor interest in it?

But what if the producer has promised that a certain A-list star will sign on as soon as there’s a script?

If your Aunt Val told you she had a fabulous idea for a movie, and Daniel Craig is sure to sign as soon as there’s a script, would you write her idea for her for free? Yet you’re willing to take the claims of a total stranger at face value?

These days most actors and directors have their own development company. If they like a concept they buy it and farm it out to their own stable of screenwriters. While it’s entirely possible an actor politely nodded as yet another person pitched an idea at them, it’s unlikely that a real producer would run out and hire an inexperienced person to write a script for an A-lister.

Who asks screenwriters to write for free? And why?

A lot of people think the movie business is glamorous. They go to a film festival and notice an average sort of person, a producer, surrounded my dozens of glamorous, clamoring young creative-types.

Just as there are “screenwriters” who never actually write a word but just talk about how famous they’ll be and all the money they’ll make when they hit the big time, so too are there people who merely call themselves producers but never do the real work. These are the ones who tend to ask screenwriters to work for nothing.

A good producer will have their credits listed on IMDb and will be a registered member of the Screen Producers Association of their country. If they don’t have a steady stream of credits, they won’t have the connections and experience required to develop, make, market and distribute a project.

But some newbies must have made it rich by writing on speculation. Who does it and where has it got them?

None that I know of.

Read part two of this article next week!

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Fin Wheeler is a member of the Australian Writers’ Guild and has a feature in development.