Rates for dramaturgy in scotland
In 2009 the SSP 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 the SSP AGM on June 27th 2009 - though were not ratified by the FST.
We are currently planning a comprehensive review of these rates. In the meantime, in response to demand from members and other interested parties, we have taken the intermediate step of updating the 2009 figures in line with inflation. We hope these will continue to offer some guidance in the interim:
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
£150 - £380 per day or
£635 - £1590 per week or
£3175 - £5080 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 Stephen Greenhorn
August 2009 October 2018
These rates of pay were agreed by the SSP AGM on June 27th 2009 - though were not ratified by the FST.
We are currently planning a comprehensive review of these rates. In the meantime, in response to demand from members and other interested parties, we have taken the intermediate step of updating the 2009 figures in line with inflation. We hope these will continue to offer some guidance in the interim:
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
£150 - £380 per day or
£635 - £1590 per week or
£3175 - £5080 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 Stephen Greenhorn
August 2009 October 2018
