Rates for Dramaturgy
The SSP has created a set of payment guidelines for Playwrights working in a devising setting, as a Dramaturg, as part of the devising process or in any capacity where the traditional FST/SSP commissioning contract is inappropriate.
These rates of pay were agreed by our AGM on June 27th 2009 and are not ratified by the FST at this time.
What we propose is a dual approach, based on the professional status of playwrights being equivalent to others involved in the theatre making process.
a) A time based approach
Where a playwright is being employed on a consultation basis, whether in rehearsals, workshops or otherwise, and where the primary role of the playwright is NOT the SOLE production by the playwright of a script, we would recommend that our members accept fees between
£120-£300 per day or
£500-£1250 per week or
£2500-£4,000 per month.
b) A script based approach
Where the playwright is engaged in a process of collective devising or adaptation where it will be at some stage the SOLE responsibility of the playwright to produce a script, then the engagement should follow the structure of the commissioning agreement, but with altered participation being negotiable in first, the initial treatment stage, and, the script having been produced and paid for through the normal stages of First Draft, Acceptance of First Draft and Agreement to proceed, Delivery of Final Draft, second in the area of royalties, providing that the playwright's participation in the initial treatment and royalties phases of the agreement be not less than 50% of current rates as per the commissioning contract.
The model upon which this is based is the separation of the notion of authorship of the IDEA, on the one hand, and the professional work of producing a script on the other. The SSP position is that the professional work of producing a script is not of diminished value no matter the origin of the material that is being worked into a script.
Therefore, it is in the area of rights and ownership that flexibility is required on behalf of the writer if the show is "authored" by a collective process.
Douglas Maxwell
August 2009
These rates of pay were agreed by our AGM on June 27th 2009 and are not ratified by the FST at this time.
What we propose is a dual approach, based on the professional status of playwrights being equivalent to others involved in the theatre making process.
a) A time based approach
Where a playwright is being employed on a consultation basis, whether in rehearsals, workshops or otherwise, and where the primary role of the playwright is NOT the SOLE production by the playwright of a script, we would recommend that our members accept fees between
£120-£300 per day or
£500-£1250 per week or
£2500-£4,000 per month.
b) A script based approach
Where the playwright is engaged in a process of collective devising or adaptation where it will be at some stage the SOLE responsibility of the playwright to produce a script, then the engagement should follow the structure of the commissioning agreement, but with altered participation being negotiable in first, the initial treatment stage, and, the script having been produced and paid for through the normal stages of First Draft, Acceptance of First Draft and Agreement to proceed, Delivery of Final Draft, second in the area of royalties, providing that the playwright's participation in the initial treatment and royalties phases of the agreement be not less than 50% of current rates as per the commissioning contract.
The model upon which this is based is the separation of the notion of authorship of the IDEA, on the one hand, and the professional work of producing a script on the other. The SSP position is that the professional work of producing a script is not of diminished value no matter the origin of the material that is being worked into a script.
Therefore, it is in the area of rights and ownership that flexibility is required on behalf of the writer if the show is "authored" by a collective process.
Douglas Maxwell
August 2009