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Sony shares the wealth
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February 5, 1999: 8:48 a.m. ET
Movie unit offers select group of screenwriters 2% of film's gross
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - In a groundbreaking move that may set a new standard for how Hollywood pays its writers, Sony Pictures Entertainment has agreed to offer top screenwriters a share of their movies' gross receipts, Daily Variety reported Friday.
The Sony studio will receive up to 30 scripts over the next four years from 30 of the film industry's top writing talents and in exchange will pay each of them no less than 2 percent of a movie's gross receipts, the entertainment industry newspaper said.
Sony Pictures Entertainment, a division of Sony Corp. (SNE) and well known for its extravagance, is widely thought to have begun the trend of huge payments for leading stars such as comedian Jim Carrey ("The Cable Guy"), and this latest arrangement has piqued the not-so-idle curiosity of rival studios.
"This comes at a time when profitability is under siege in the movie business. So, I ask you, where are they getting the money? With stars and directors (already) taking points, there aren't any additional ones to give away," one executive told Variety.
The newspaper noted that gross deals for talent on major motion pictures can run as high as 40 percent of a film's gross, so another 2 percent is not negligible. But Sony executives told Variety the arrangement is financially sound because it provides the studio with the industry's best writers.
As for screenwriters, the opportunity to receive a share of gross receipts has long been aspiration but hadn't been realized.
The initial lucky 30, each of whom must provide the studio with at least one script over the next four years, include Ron Bass ("My Best Friend's Wedding"), Don Roos ("The Opposite of Sex"), and Richard LaGravenese ("Living Out Loud").
But Sony said it will make the same arrangement with any writer who meets its qualifications over the next seven years, according to Variety.
To be considered, a writer must have earned at least $750,000 as an upfront payment for a feature, sold a script on spec for at least $1 million, or received a nomination for an Academy Award or Writers Guild of America (WGA) award, Variety reported.
The studio will pay its writer "no less than 2 percent of worldwide gross receipts, in all media, in perpetuity, for a sole credit" and 1 percent when credit is shared, the newspaper reported. And the writers will receive their payments before the studio or other gross participants get their fees.
"I'm optimistic that this agreement will, in the years to come, significantly improve the back-end economics for all writers at all studios," the writers' attorney, Alan Wertheimer, told Variety.
WGA President Daniel Petrie Jr. agreed, telling the newspaper, "What the top tier earns is the engine that pulls everyone else along." 
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Sony
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