Pay for adult screenwriting?
May 5, 2008 10:43 PM Subscribe
About how much can a writer expect to make for an adult screenplay? $400? Less? More? Anyone?
A friend who wrote a few screenplays for Playboy says they used to pay $5000-$10,000 for a script out of a film budget of about $300K. My understanding is that these were films with an actual storyline, intended to be palatable to girlfriends/wives. (For instance, he wrote one about a woman who is invited to her dead aunt's mansion to hear the reading of the will. Other potential inheritors are there, too. Various combinations of folks hanky and panky. A mysterious peeper creeps about through secret passages, spying on folks. In the end, our heroine learns she is to inherit the mansion, sort of... the aunt isn't dead. Rather, she's the madame of a high-priced brothel. The aunt wants to retire, and used the death ruse to observe and select a worthy successor. Our heroine gets it on with the maid, and credits roll.)
He also says the soft-core market doesn't exist to speak of anymore. Not sure what that means.
He doesn't know anything about hard-core porn.
Hope that helps.
posted by thinman at 12:01 AM on May 6, 2008 [1 favorite]
He also says the soft-core market doesn't exist to speak of anymore. Not sure what that means.
He doesn't know anything about hard-core porn.
Hope that helps.
posted by thinman at 12:01 AM on May 6, 2008 [1 favorite]
That sounds like an awesome movie, thinman. It's like Porno-Clue.
I would assume that hardcore is an auteur's medium. That is, writer-directors dominate.
posted by paperzach at 12:23 AM on May 6, 2008
I would assume that hardcore is an auteur's medium. That is, writer-directors dominate.
posted by paperzach at 12:23 AM on May 6, 2008
according to ron jeremy in a q&a from his standup (found on some random porn site), there is absolutely no money to made in writing porn anymore. in fact, he pretty much echoes all the responses thus far - the script is whoever is working on the movie that'll do it for free except for big budget porn films, but that's not a market you can really break into.
he also said that many legitimate (hollywood) directors got their start in porn, but he wouldn't name names. furthermore, he said that generally in the US a woman walks on the set and decides if she wants to work with the guy that's there for the scene. if she doesn't she really has her pick of other guys on the set. in europe it's exactly the opposite.
fascinating half hour, really.
posted by nadawi at 1:40 AM on May 6, 2008
he also said that many legitimate (hollywood) directors got their start in porn, but he wouldn't name names. furthermore, he said that generally in the US a woman walks on the set and decides if she wants to work with the guy that's there for the scene. if she doesn't she really has her pick of other guys on the set. in europe it's exactly the opposite.
fascinating half hour, really.
posted by nadawi at 1:40 AM on May 6, 2008
he also said that many legitimate (hollywood) directors got their start in porn, but he wouldn't name names.
OK, I've heard this multiple times, usually with the same "can't name names caveat". Is this actually true?
posted by mkultra at 7:11 AM on May 6, 2008
OK, I've heard this multiple times, usually with the same "can't name names caveat". Is this actually true?
posted by mkultra at 7:11 AM on May 6, 2008
Not much money to be made writing soft-core porn any more, unfortunately; I can verify that. When General Media was around, you could make some decent money through their Penthouse line, but now that's defunct. I know nothing about hard-core porn or movie writing, sorry.
posted by misha at 7:14 AM on May 6, 2008
posted by misha at 7:14 AM on May 6, 2008
Response by poster: All right -- here' s the thing. I'm writing scripts for hard core films as a project. I have had one film produced, years ago, and I made, I think, about $200 for it. I know companies still buy scripts, and I know they still pay next to nothing. I just want to make sure I know precisely what that next to nothing amount is. Anyone sell a script lately, or know someone who did, who can tell me what they made?
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:59 AM on May 6, 2008
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:59 AM on May 6, 2008
mkultra, I believe that it was true in the 60s or 70s. I don't think it is so much now as music video is a much easier route. I can't recall any directors off the top of my head who've done it but for some reason I think either Jerry Schatzberg, Paul Mazursky or Monte Hellman may have been one of them. I have a vague recollection of it being mentioned in either A Decade Under the Influence, Easy Riders and Raging Bulls (the not so hot flick, not the pretty great book) or maybe The Other Hollywood.
posted by dobbs at 9:26 AM on May 6, 2008
posted by dobbs at 9:26 AM on May 6, 2008
I wonder if Gram Ponante (NSFW) of Fleshbot might be able to help you. I think he's written a few screen plays, and I'm sure he'd know the going rate anyway.
posted by crabintheocean at 2:28 PM on May 6, 2008
posted by crabintheocean at 2:28 PM on May 6, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
One site I recently worked for was more or less improv, where the scene was roughly sketched out and any dialogue was ad libbed.
I guess that doesn't really help much, but I have to think that the pay can vary quite a bit.
posted by ISeemToBeAVerb at 11:05 PM on May 5, 2008