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Article C4 - Television Production (Other than Television Movies)

Article C4 - Television Production (Other than Television Movies)

Writers of Television Productions (other than Television Movies and Mini-Series) shall be paid at least the following minimum Script Fees (based on the broadcast length of Program):

Script Fees and Production Fees for productions with Budgets of sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) or less are negotiable between the Writer and Producer.

C401 Pilot Script
The rate for writing a Pilot Script for a Television Program of up to 60 minutes shall be at least one hundred and fifty percent (150%) of the applicable Script Fee.
C402 Television Scripts:

  1. not based on a Story or Screen Story contracted under this Agreement; or

  2. based on a Story or Screen Story contracted under this Agreement which is provided by the Producer to the Writer at the time of contracting and from which the Writer is required to provide an Outline:
2010 2011
15 minutes or less $3,716 $3,790
30 minutes or less $7,432 $7,581
60 minutes or less $14,864 $15,161
90 minutes or less $22,294 $22,740
C403 Television Scripts:

  1. based on a Story or Screen Story contracted under this Agreement which is provided by the Producer to the Writer at the time of contracting and from which the Writer proceeds directly to a First Draft Script without preparing an Outline; or

  2. based on an Outline after termination pursuant to B107 (subject to B108 or B111):
2010 2011
15 minutes or less $3,097 $3,159
30 minutes or less $6,193 $6,317
60 minutes or less $12,386 $12,634
90 minutes or less $18,579 $18,951
C404 Story or Screen Story

2010 2011
15 minutes or less $619 $631
30 minutes or less $1,239 $1,263
60 minutes or less $2,478 $2,528
90 minutes or less $3,715 $3,789
N.B.: If the Writer of the Story is not contracted to write the Script, the Producer shall negotiate with the Story Writer in accordance with B108 before commissioning another Writer.
C405 Rewrite

2010 2011
15 minutes or less $1,083 $1,105
30 minutes or less $2,168 $2,211
60 minutes or less $4,335 $4,422
90 minutes or less $6,502 $6,632
N.B.: No Rewrite may be contracted from another Writer until the original Writer has been paid one hundred percent (100%) of that part of the applicable Script Fee payable to the original Writer, or a grievance has resulted in the matter being referred to a Joint Standing Committee or to an Arbitration.
C406 Additional Polish:

2010 2011
15 minutes or less $542 $553
30 minutes or less $1,083 $1,105
60 minutes or less $2,168 $2,211
90 minutes or less $3,252 $3,317
C407 Written Narration other than by the Writer of a Television Script or Story and Television Script:

2010 2011
15 minutes or less $1,548 $1,579
30 minutes or less $3,097 $1,518
60 minutes or less $6,193 $6,317
90 minutes or less $9,290 $9,475
120 minutes or less $12,385 $12,633
Over 120 minutes calculated on the length of the program and based on the 30 minute rate
C408 A Television Script may be contracted:

  1. as an existing Script;

  2. as a complete Script with or without right of termination;

  3. as a Script from an existing Story, Screen Story or Outline with or without right of termination;

  4. as the following single elements or components of a Script: Narration, Polish, Rewrite, Story, Screen Story.
C409

When the Producer contracts for a complete Television Script with or without the right of termination:

  1. not based on a Story or Screen Story contracted under this Agreement;
    or
  2. based on a Story or Screen Story contracted under this Agreement which is provided by the Producer to the Writer at the time of contracting and from which the Writer is required to provide an Outline,
    the Script Fee shall be paid as follows:

    1. on signing of the contract                               20%
    2. on delivery of the Outline                                20%
    3. on delivery of the First Draft Script                  40%
    4. on delivery of the Second Draft Script             20%
C410 When the Producer contracts for a Television Script with or without the right of termination:

  1. based on a Story or Screen Story contracted under this Agreement which is provided by the Producer to the Writer at the time of contracting and from which the Writer proceeds directly to a First Draft Script without preparing an Outline;
    or

  2. based on an Outline after termination, the Script Fee shall be allocated and paid as follows:

    1. on signing of the contract                               20%
    2. on delivery of the First Draft Script                  60%
    3. on delivery of the Second Draft Script             20%
C411 When the Producer contracts for a single element or component of a Television Script, the Script Fee shall be allocated and paid as follows:

  1. on signing of the contract                                          25%
  2. on delivery of the material                                         75%
C412

Group Writers

A Producer may contract three or more Writers to work as a group (a "Group") to collaborate on a specific guaranteed number of Television Scripts for a Series (other than Variety, Documentary, Magazine or Panel/Game/Quiz Shows) and to be contracted under C409 or C410 over a specified term ("Term") upon the following terms and conditions:

  1. During the Term, the Producer shall pay each Writer in the Group weekly compensation as a non-refundable advance against each Writer's share of the Production Fees in respect of the guaranteed Television Scripts, the amount of such weekly compensation to be negotiated between the Producer and each Writer. The contract for such weekly compensation shall be filed with the Guild and shall be subject to standard Producer remittances and Writer deductions in accordance with Articles A12 and A13.

  2. The aggregate compensation paid to the Group during the Term shall be no less than the total minimum required Script Fees for the guaranteed Television Scripts.

  3. Prior to the commencement of the Term, the Group and Producer shall decide on how many episodes each Writer shall receive credit, which decision shall be confirmed in writing by each Writer. The allocation of credits shall be such that each Writer in the Group shall receive an equal share of the aggregate Production Fees paid for the total number of guaranteed episodes. Article A912 shall not apply to Television Scripts written by a Group.

  4. Notwithstanding Article A1109 (a), the Production Fee for each episode shall be divided equally among all credited writers of that episode.

  5. Notwithstanding C412 (iii), in the case of termination, the terminated Writer’s weekly compensation and credit (and therefore that Writer’s share of the aggregate Production Fees) shall be pro rated according to the number of weeks worked. The terminated Writer may be replaced by the Producer with another Writer.

  6. There will be no credit arbitration for Scripts written by Group Writers.
C413 A Producer may engage a New Writer at fifty percent (50%) of the applicable Script Fee. Use of this provision is limited to one New Writer per cycle of a Series.

 

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