6/24/2019 Bollywood: Screenwriters Association formulates plan to ensure fair remuneration for film writers

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HOME \ ENTERTAINMENT \ BOLLYWOOD \ SCREENWRITERS ASSOCIATION FORMULATES PLAN TO ENSURE FAIR REMUNERATION FOR FILM WRITERS

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Screenwriters Association formulates plan to ensure fair remuneration for film writers
By Himesh Mankad, Mumbai Mirror | Updated: Jun 22, 2019, 06:00 IST
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Screenwriters Association has formulated a plan to ensure fair remuneration for film writers; Ritesh Sidhwani is the first filmmaker to come on board.
With the dialogue around writers’ contribution to films and their remuneration gathering steam, the Screenwriters Association (SWA) has come up with a definitive plan to determine minimum wage (box below). According
to the plan, a writer’s pay will depend on the scale of a production. “If there is no script, there is no film, and no job in the industry. It’s the blueprint on which the entire project is based, and therefore there has to be a
certain value to the script, which will encourage people to write better,” explains Anjum Rajabali, Senior Activist, Screenwriters Association.
He goes on to point out that the structure will not just facilitate better pay for writers but will also help producers get better scripts. “Today, the industry needs a good script, and to get that you must give incentives to the
writers,” he reasons, adding that the association has even found the first filmmaker to adhere to the guidelines— Ritesh Sidhwani, who owns a production house with Farhan Akhtar. “I am grateful that somebody like
Ritesh, who makes truly interesting films, has agreed to this. These are minimum rates, which have been decided by the Screenwriters Association.”

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Ritesh, meanwhile, wonders aloud why writers are underestimated in the ecosystem. “I am not a writer, but I know it is a demanding job. We already have a system in place wherein writers over the last few years have
had the option of entering into a profit-sharing agreement with us. An individual can decide if he/she wants a higher base fee or a lower amount and coupled with two percent shares in the profit. Fukrey writers got
around Rs 70 to 80 lakh, as they had a profitsharing agreement with us,” he reveals, adding that he and co-owner Farhan Akhtar were instantly on board with the SWA proposal.

The filmmaker believes that the move will remove the stigma attached to the profession. “This is a reasonably good amount of money and the slabs ensure that after spending five to six months on a script, the writers will
be paid a decent amount, which can be taken higher based on merit,” he says
Pay scale is not the only issue that SWA is addressing with the guidelines, which has also outlined specific terms that must be mentioned in a writer’s contract to ensure due credit for their work. Story, screenplay, script
and dialogue have predominantly been a collective grey area so far, which lacks clear demarcation. To combat this issue, the association has devised a section in the guidelines. “The Minimum Basic Contract
guarantees credit for script, screenplay, dialogue and story separately,” Anjum reveals, adding that the new plan also discourages arbitrary termination of contract.

Next up, Ritesh intends to push Producers Guild of India to make the guidelines mandatory to make the writers’ community more secure. “This is a basic criterion that everyone should adhere to,” the filmmaker signs off.

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6/24/2019 Bollywood: Screenwriters Association formulates plan to ensure fair remuneration for film writers

Ritesh Sidhwani; Anjum Rajabali (right)

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