Does anyone here know how much are writers in daytime paid? And by writers I mean all categories: BDWs, SWs and HWs.

I was surprised to find out recently that Patricia Falken Smith was the highest paid writer in daytime history: when she left General Hospital she was earning $1m per year.

I've always wondered that myself, considering my own writing aspirations. Not to mention some the need some head writers feel to create new characters and hope they stick because of the residuals that head writer gets for every creation that remains on the canvas even after their departure.

I believe wholeheartedly that's why AMC's head writer Megan McTavish is trying to make Babe the queen of AMC, because if she is a core character (married to the premier family of Pine Valley, running the hippest corporation in town, the town barometer of Good and Evil, etc.), then she might be too important to write out or backburn.

Like Greenlee Smythe.

I remember when it was announced "Greenlee Smythe" would be an addition to AMC, I was like "Ugh! With a horrid name like that, this character will never fly!" Agnes Nixon/Jean Passanante/Elizabeth Page created the character in 1999, and even after Nixon and Page left in 2000 and Passanante in 2001, Greenlee still became a central figure in the stories written by Richard Culliton - a mega Greenlee Pimp (2001-2002), Gordon Rayfield/Anna Cascio (2003), and Megan's horrid creation of Rylee.

But anyway, it's no secret that the writers are members of the WGA, so I'm sure the salaries are definitely comfortable considering the amount of work they do. Horribly written show or not, you do have to give these writing teams tremendous credit. Especially the scriptwriters. While breakdown writers write a general 18-20 page document for that day's episode, a script writer has to churn out at least 80 pages of dialog. They're basically responsible for polishing [!@#$%^&*] to a shine once it leaves the ass of a hack like McTavish.

I forgot to add that I find it hard to believe that P. F. Smith still holds the record of the highest paid writer in daytime (ever). Maybe she was back than and for some time, but things have changed by now. And if we compare the million back then and now... I think there would have to be a difference.

I wonder if the situation Harding Lemay described in his book is still true: that you as a head writer are given a weekly sum which you have to distribute to your subwriters. So, you can keep all the money to yourself (which Lemay sometimes did), but I doubt anyone does that any more.

R Sinclair, I'm gonna have to dig through all WGA documents to find out about the residuals. I wonder if they exist, because huge amount of money will go for those. As you know, in animation they are not present.

That practice was done away with a long time ago. Yes, at one point, a head writer's associate writers (i.e. breakdowns, scripts.... formerly called "sub writers") were employed and paid by the individual head writer. However, that often lead to entire staffs of writers leaving with a particular head writer if he or she left the show. As a result, writing staffs are now employed individually by the production companies with their salaries coming from the production companies rather than the head writers themselves.

At the height of her career Phillips yearly income was in around $250,000 Take inflation into account and it would be 2 million per year nowadays

Also if Pat Falken Smith was making a million a year when she left in 82 that's also around 2 million a year now.

I don't see any HW making that kind of money given the state of soaps currently?

Listen to this: a head writer starting November 1st (all the other data in this post refer from this date on) gets $17,233 per week, which means $896,116 per year for a thirty-minute show (eg., Bradley Bell). For a sixty-minute show he gets $31,879 per week, which adds up to $1,657,708 per year. For a ninety-minute show: $47,819 / $2,486,588.

SCRIPT FEES

For each script on which a writer, other than the head writer, performs writing services, such writer will be paid not less than:

1. 30-minute show: $1,672

2. 60-minute: $3,087

3. 90-minute: $4,642.

LONG-TERM STORY PROJECTIONS

The minimum for a long-term story projection (when written by a writer other than the head writer) for a non-prime time serial is:

1. 3 months or less: $14,785

2. 6 months or less, but more than 3 months or unspecified: $22,177

3. 12 months or less, but more than 6 months: $29,566.

Incredibly small I'd say! But an aggregate minimum for each weekly unit of five compensates for it all!

BREAKDOWNS

The minimum for a daily breakdown of a network non-prime time serial (when written by a writer other than the head writer) is:

1. 30 or less (but more than 15): $927

2. 60 or less (but more than 45): $1,739

3. 90 or less (but more than 60): $2,004.

SCRIPT AND BREAKDOWN EDITING

The minimum for rewriting or polishing a non-prime time serial script or breakdown (when done by a writer other than the head writer) is 30% of the script or breakdown fee.

Keep in mind that those minimums, while pretty hefty, wind up being chopped down quite a bit. The writers give a percentage to their agents, managers, and attorneys -- those three alone can add up to 25% or 30%. Plus tax can take up to 40% of the total. That isn't to say that daytime writers don't make good money, but it isn't like so-and-so walks away with $1.5 million a year.

Also, I'm pretty sure the rumor about residuals for characters created by a head writer has been dispelled many times over the years. It might've been an actual practice years ago, but I'm fairly certain that it's no longer valid.

Yes, but just one question: taxes, agents and attorneys add up to 40% of total? I know agents usually take 10%. And some SWs don't even have an agent.

Agents take 10%, managers often take 15%, and entertainment lawyers tend to take 5%. With rare exception, all these writers should have either an agent or a manager (having both in daytime is probably rare).

Keep in mind that those minimums, while pretty hefty, wind up being chopped down quite a bit. The writers give a percentage to their agents, managers, and attorneys -- those three alone can add up to 25% or 30%. Plus tax can take up to 40% of the total. That isn't to say that daytime writers don't make good money, but it isn't like so-and-so walks away with $1.5 million a year.

Usually it's 10% to the agent and 1.25% (or whatever it is now) to the WGA union (plus taxes, of course). Very few writers (if any) have managers. No one has an agent, manager, and attorney. That's just nuts. (Some have an attorney negotiate a contract instead of an agent.)

And yes, those are minimums. But VERY few writers make minimum. Yeah, some writers' assistants who were just promoted or who are doing vacation cover scripts/outlines may make scale. However, any agent worth their salt is going to negotiate at least 10% above scale for their client.

Also, remember that many writers can, no pun intended, write-off a good amount of expenses because they work from home... a nice perk when Uncle Sam wants his cut.

A few other random thoughts:

--Some scriptwriters work on a 1/2 -- essentially meaning a script every other week. Those guys don't make much.

--Although it seems, based on the minimums, that scriptwriters make more than outline writers, they usually (key word is usually) don't. (Of course, a new outline writer may make less than a SW who has been writing for many years).

Usually it's 10% to the agent and 1.25% (or whatever it is now) to the WGA union (plus taxes, of course). Very few writers (if any) have managers. No one has an agent, manager, and attorney. That's just nuts. (Some have an attorney negotiate a contract instead of an agent.)

There are a sizable amount of writers in television who now have both agents and managers, though having both AND an attorney is ridiculous, definitely. It's becoming more common to have a manager/attorney team instead of an agent, though (since the manager can't negotiate contracts).

--Some scriptwriters work on a 1/2 -- essentially meaning a script every other week. Those guys don't make much.

Good point. Though if you're not being given individual assignments for an extended period of time, chances are you're not sticking around!

Listen to this: a head writer starting November 1st (all the other data in this post refer from this date on) gets $17,233 per week, which means $896,116 per year for a thirty-minute show (eg., Bradley Bell). For a sixty-minute show he gets $31,879 per week, which adds up to $1,657,708 per year. For a ninety-minute show: $47,819 / $2,486,588.

Those are minimum, right? So, if someone, let´s say Reilly, has been HW for two shows, plus had a producer credits on DAYS, plus a creative and consultant credits on Passions, that means he could easily make 5, or even 6 milion $ per year?!! For stories which can be easily summarized using ten paragraphs?!!

Really, all these other writers have to work really hard to make their money, yet HW gets wealthy just making the easiest job from all? How hard it is to write outlines like "character A falls in love with character B, who is hypnotized to believe that character C is character A, so she sleeps with him, character A sees it and angry gets involved with character D." And so on, and so on. It seems very unjust to me.

There are a sizable amount of writers in television who now have both agents and managers

Television writers, yes. But daytime television writers are a very different animal. For the most part, two agents represents a big chunk of soap writers.

Really, all these other writers have to work really hard to make their money, yet HW gets wealthy just making the easiest job from all? How hard it is to write outlines like "character A falls in love with character B, who is hypnotized to believe that character C is character A, so she sleeps with him, character A sees it and angry gets involved with character D." And so on, and so on. It seems very unjust to me.

It really isn't that easy of a job, especially not when done well. The head writer oversees the whole process -- script assignments, breakdowns, long-term plotting. It should be WAY more than just describing the events that happen; the head writer takes it as far as what happens in every specific episode before handing it off to the breakdown writer to break the episode into acts and scenes.

Television writers, yes. But daytime television writers are a very different animal. For the most part, two agents represents a big chunk of soap writers.

Very true!

Also, remember that many writers can, no pun intended, write-off a good amount of expenses because they work from home... a nice perk when Uncle Sam wants his cut.

I can't speak for any of the individual soaps, but as far as the practice of writing from home goes: I kind of wish they'd force the writing staffs of soaps to be in the office during the day, rather than just coming in (or phoning in) for meetings. I think it creates an accountability that too many of the writing staffs seem to lack. There's a definite "easy paycheck" feeling about daytime.

I guess another factor in these salaries, if they seem high, is to consider that they're based on cost of living in the places in which these shows are made (LA and NY). Still, these people make excellent money for doing, at times, not-so-stellar work...

The head writer oversees the whole process -- script assignments, breakdowns, long-term plotting.

I always thought this is a work of EP. I mean, the only soap I´m really familiar is DAYS, and I believe this is exactly a job Langan used to do and now Wyman does. I know on other soaps it is probably different, but I´m willing to bet all Reilly had to do on DAYS was create a long term outlines and held these weekly long-distanced meetings with writers.