Top writer-producer John Wells and writers Tom Schulman and Nick Kazan have come up with a promising idea that may change the the role of scriptwriters in the film industry (and eventually in TV and other media as well).
They have assembled 19 major writers into a Writers Co-op who will write at least 18 scripts over the next four years. Instead of taking their usual large writing fees up front, they will go for a small fee plus first-dollar gross (meaning they get a percentage of every dollar the picture takes in, not just of "profits" defined by the studios), the right to participate as producers, and the guarantee that their work will not be rewritten without their permission.
These are benefits writers have been lusting for, but the studios have never had enough incentive to give them. Under this plan, Warner Brothers, the studio that hosts the co-op, gets scripts from some of the biggest name writers for a relative pittance and, if a script is never made or it is, but flops at the box office, WB is not out much money.
I met John Wells a few times when we were both talking at the "Pilots" workshops in Spain, and found him to be incredibly intelligent and a really decent and nice guy. I'm sure that he's motivated more by wanting to improve the creative standing of writers than by making a killing through profit participation himself.
A longer article about this plan is found in Variety, here.
