Screenwriting Contract Basics (Part 2)

Welcome back!

If you missed last week’s article which was an introduction to the concepts I’ll be discussing here, feel free to go back and read Part 1. In that article, I talked about the differences in spec sales/options and work-made-for-hire/term contracts and how those relate to the ownership of intellectual property. I also briefly explored some of the differences between WGA writing contracts and non-union writing contracts.

This week, I’ll touch on:

• Associate Membership in the WGA

• Various types of compensation structures

• Onscreen Credit clauses

• Writing/Reading timelines

• Standard Terms and Conditions

  And I’m also including a sample non-union writer’s WMFH agreement later on in the article, so be sure to visit the link.

  

  Image by Freepik

Let’s dig in!

Associate Membership in the WGA

In Part 1, I explained how one receives enough units (24) to become eligible to join the Writers Guild of America, so this week I’ll go a little further in depth on what happens if you earn units but not enough t…