This might be a simple question, but how do the people who make the story make money. Like lets say you have this story and you go to a company to have it made into a tv show, do they just pay you a lump sum for the rights? Or do they keep you on and give you a salary? Or does the creator get like a % of the profits. And if so how big is the percent.
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Depends.
Sylvester Stallone wrote Rocky. But wouldn’t sell it outright unless he got to star in it. So he did, but the movie company paid a lot less.
Same thing with James Cameron and The Terminator. He wanted to direct, so he took less money for the opportunity.
Story rights are generally sold a few different ways. There are others but these are the most notable
First is just a flat fee. You can just sell, forever, the content. That’s it. You walk away with money. No matter what.
The next are time based. You sell them the show for say 10 years. They offer you a decent flat fee, or a smaller fee but if they actually make it you get a fat bonus that makes it much more than the decent level flat fee . This is because while many stories are bought, many less are actually made. Some people will take the risk hoping it gets made, others may just sell it and say that’s ok. After X years (say 10 in our example) if they don’t make it then you get the rights back and can resell it, if anyone is buying. This happens a lot. Many many scripts and shows get bought and go nowhere.
The next is “work for hire”. You’re on staff to write, whatever you write is owned by your employer. There is no sale.
The creator Rarely would get a cut off the profits, whatever that even means in the context of making a tv show which is highly nebulous. If you’re some ultra writer maybe you get a piece of the pie. But most, hell no.
Now the writer may also be a director or producer or anything. This doesn’t address that, only selling the story or script rights. These are separate events.
Any of the above, depending on their exact role and what other roles they may have. They could get paid a single lump-sum for the development, a per-episode fee if they also write and/or produce, and they can get residuals for streaming or syndication. The specifics depend on the the contract.
How does one even make a meeting to get to that level? I’ve got plenty of show ideas.
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