Minimum salaries for union screenwriters are set by the Writers Guild of America. Non-union screenwriters may write for free; an established screenwriter may write for millions of dollars.
A typical screenwriter's purchase agreement will typically contain the following:
The guaranteed money is sometimes referred to as the "front-end."
Some of the highest amounts paid to writers for spec screenplays:
$5 million:
$4 million:
$3 million:
$2.75 million:
$2.5 million:
$2.25 million:
$2 million:
$1.8 million:
$1.5 million:
$1.3 million:
$1.25 million:
$1.1 million:
$1 million:
$800,000:
$750,000: