Aku tahu isu penulis skrip dah agak lapuk, tetapi soal penulis skrip yang dibayar macam gampang itu tetap satu hakikat.

1. This should be some sort of insight. It is based on my experience as a script writer for film, TV (documentaries, live concerts, award show etc)

2. Payments made for writers are always a one off basis.

i.e
* RM1,000 - For an award show script.
* RM400 to RM900 - For each episode of a documentary (a minimum of 13 episodes)
* RM10,000 - For a first timer film script
* RM4,000 to RM6,000 - For a telefilm / telemovie Etc etc

3. Payments are made ONE TIME no matter how many times the show will repeat on TV or any other medium/platform.

4. Producers/Asst Producers/Production Assistants/Broadcast Journalists that writes script for the TV show that they are working on normally will not get any extra income because somehow, writing script is/will be the part of the job descriptions.

5. From my experience with Finas (The National Film Development Corporation), there was one time a production company wanted to buy the rights of a famous Malay novel from a famous publisher but ended up claiming that they we shocked with the amount they had to pay which was RM250,000. They thought it was only RM50,000. In the end, they shot a shitty film (guna loan Skim Kemudahan Produksi) and Finas was the custodian of that loan.

My question:

1. How much do you actually pay for a film/TV show/TV Award show/TV Documentary/TV Drama/Telefilms' SCRIPT?

2. Would you gain extra income when your work (the SCRIPT) are turn into DVDs or the programs are sold to another TV station or the programs are sold overseas etc etc?

3. From the silver screen to you BOX at home - would you get more money?

4. Script writers - Do they sell their soul to the devil?

Answer to my own questions above (I might be wrong):

1. There are no specifics rates yet at the moment because we don't have any credible Writer's Guild or anything like that.

(SWAM? Fuck Swam - all they ever do is having AGM/EGM for nominations and selections. I can't even fucking find their websites)

2. NO, because payments are only made ONE TIME.

3. Cinema to TV means extra income for the producers but NOT the script writers.

4. Not that we sell our soul to the devil but that is just the way it is.

The Writers' Guild of Great Britain 1959 - 2009 (TWGGB) is a fucking great example on how this state could change but we need people who can make the changes.

Please look at the rates and agreement impose by TWGGB here. It includes writing for films, TV, radio, theater, video games, new media and even animations.

Ini adalah Robert Towne yang tulis skrip Chinatown, arahan Roman Polanski pada tahun 1974. Shoeshine suka sangat filem ini. Aku pesan DVD originalnya masa teman aku ke Oslo suatu masa lalu. Robert Towne dah kaya raya dah sebab filem ini agaknya kan?

Ini Chuck Palahniuk yang tulis skrip dan novel Fight Club arahan David Fincher pada 1999. Ia adalah skrip yang amat brilliant pada aku. Aku rasa mamat ni pun dah kaya dah.

Okay...sekarang aku nak cakap Melayu sebab SWAM ialah PERSATUAN PENULIS SKRIP MALAYSIA walaupun akronim mereka orang putih (SCRIPT WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA).

TV kita makin hebat. FILEM kita makin hebat. PROGRAM2 kita makin hebat.

Tapi masih ada:

1. Penulis skrip yang dibayar gaji bulan rendah untuk tulis script untuk ratusan episod drama TV.

2. Penulis skrip di stesen TV yang juga dibayar gaji bulan untuk buat script bagi rancangan hiburan mingguan.

3. Penerbit, penolong penerbit, pembantu penerbitan yang tak ada asas tulis skrip menulis skrip untuk hos-hos mereka di TV.

Terus teranglah....you (maybe not all of you) pay merely RM10,000 for a film that you claimed "menelan perbelanjaan RM1.5 juta?"

Asas sesebuah produksi ialah SCRIPT yang baik tetapi inilah IRONINYA.

Kadang-kadang penulis skrip ambil masa berminggu sampai bertahun untuk menulis tetapi akhirnya mereka dibayar sekali sahaja manakala penerbit kaut untung berkali-kali.

KEEP IT COOL