Pay Rates for Rewrite/Polish

[Maryn]

This is odd.

I frequent a screenwriting board which has just produced an offer which raises all kinds of questions. The person making the offer is an aspiring screenwriter who does not want to write in his native language but in English. However, his English is pretty bad, although understandable. (Not as good as Borat's.)

He wants pay me to do a rewrite, essentially taking his poor-English version, sticking to it pretty much line-for-line but correcting its English and making the dialogue seem natural, like a native speaker's. I'm not sure if that counts as a rewrite or as a polish, or if it's more like a translation.

I'd like to quote him current WGA rates for such services, plus the rates for heavy copy editing (which I have). And I'd like to pose serious professional questions about the transaction which he should be prepared to answer to the satisfaction of whoever he eventually hires (which probably won't be me), because it's entirely too easy for someone to get ripped off.

Questions I've thought of include
What's the total amount you're offering for this rewrite?
How is the payment broken down? Half up front-half on completion, writing steps, weekly installments, or what?
How will payments be made from his country to mine?
If the screenplay sells, will I receive credits?
Who determines whether the work is satisfactory?
I haven't done this sort of work before, so I'm sure I've missed some basics. Can anyone clue me in?

Maryn, clueless as usual

[Joe Calabrese]

WGA rates do not apply since you are not doing it for a producer, but rather a newbie forign screenwriter.

In the past, I have done such animals and I have charged anywhere from two to five grand for a broken English to English translation (the higher prices also included tweaking structure and formating to a more acceptable standard.

As for how to get paid. Western Union is one option, paypal is another if his/her country has it.

I normally charge a third up front and another third upon completion and the remainder after the polishes (see below).

Unless you are changing the script's content, you wouldn't get credit, but I would have in contract an additional amount (let's say another 100% of what you were paid or a flat five grand extra)

If you do a lot of changes that would make it a co-written thing, then you should get second billing on screenplay credit and as such 25 to 50% of sale proceeds, depending on how much is your contribution.

Working with screenwriters to polish, edit, rewrite their work is a leap of faith. First pass would be to put it in English, then the original writer should have the option to request an additional two polishes based on his/her notes.
Ultimately the decision of whether it is good should be yours since that person doesn't know English from a whole in the wall.

[xhouseboy]

This is odd.

I frequent a screenwriting board which has just produced an offer which raises all kinds of questions. The person making the offer is an aspiring screenwriter who does not want to write in his native language but in English. However, his English is pretty bad, although understandable. (Not as good as Borat's.)

He wants pay me to do a rewrite, essentially taking his poor-English version, sticking to it pretty much line-for-line but correcting its English and making the dialogue seem natural, like a native speaker's. I'm not sure if that counts as a rewrite or as a polish, or if it's more like a translation.

I'd like to quote him current WGA rates for such services, plus the rates for heavy copy editing (which I have). And I'd like to pose serious professional questions about the transaction which he should be prepared to answer to the satisfaction of whoever he eventually hires (which probably won't be me), because it's entirely too easy for someone to get ripped off.

Questions I've thought of include

What's the total amount you're offering for this rewrite?
How is the payment broken down? Half up front-half on completion, writing steps, weekly installments, or what?
How will payments be made from his country to mine?
If the screenplay sells, will I receive credits?
Who determines whether the work is satisfactory?I haven't done this sort of work before, so I'm sure I've missed some basics. Can anyone clue me in?

Maryn, clueless as usual

It's not just odd, it's loaded with pitfalls.

Regards how the payment will be broken down, if it was 50% up front, 50% on completion, what's to say that on delivery he may not be satisfied and refuse to pay the balance. That's why most contracts on commission are designed along the lines of staggered percentages of the entire fee. 10% of the script fee for the treatment (set against the script), 40% to undertake the first draft if treatment acceptable, a further percentage on delivery of first draft (figures vary from company to company), and again on the second draft, until roughly a final 10% remains outstanding for the polish.

The matter of payment from country to country also raises some issues. This is not a problem with established people in the industry, but with individual to individual, a bank transfer could see you paying him as he empties your account. This would have to be thought out very carefully.

For that sort of work, whoever undertakes it would most certainly not receive a credit. If it's kosher, he's paying for a translation of his work, not for another writer to come on board on a project that has already been completed. However, should it need more than a translation, this situation could change.

He determines whether the work is satisfactory; he's paying for it. But again, this could be fraught with problems.

[Maryn]

Thanks, guys!