Now they want to get paid for that and increasingly are.
If that does not happen, they dont get any money.
There were always buyers looking for content, giving writers and studios plenty of options.
Getty Images
Watch on Deadline
That started to change after the pandemic.
Other than Netflix, which is doing its thing, no one is really buying a lot.
So their agents started asking fordevelopment fees.
Pitches sometimes take as much work as writing an outline for a script or writing a full script.
We call it schmuck insurance.
Writers keep doing free work, and it kind of gets old, one manager said.
Still, at least one major is known to have paid writers $10K development fees.
Observers believe others would follow.
Sometimes, the development money a writer gets is applied toward the script fee if the pitch sells.
While not substantial, the development fee business has created a new revenue stream for agents who commission them.
If the pitch sells, writers get that amount regardless what price it sells for.
Its just a placeholder.
