Creative Team Salaries

[sarahdovain]

Posted: 3/7/15 at 6:54pm

How are directors/choreographers/book writers, etc. paid for shows? Is it a set rate every week/year or does it depend on the weekly gross? Anybody have info?

Does it work the same for regional/stock theatres?

[CukorLover]

Posted: 3/7/15 at 7:56pm

Directors and Choreographers are members of the SDC union. They are paid an initial flat rate (advance) to put up the show (anywhere btw (35K-50K) and then receive weekly royalties (usually between 1-3%)

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/7/15 at 9:39pm

Writers of shows (including composers) traditionally split royalties of 2% for book, 2% for music, and 2% for lyrics. If they have received an advance, that advance is deducted from the weekly royalties until it is paid back. All of the above might be adjusted upward if the writers had sufficient commercial clout.

It used to be that writers were sometimes asked to forego their royalties in order to keep a marginal show open during a slow period; but I have read here of late that such reductions are now written into contracts at the outset.

But the above applies only to the Broadway production. Subsidiary rights (including sheet music ("publishing") and performance rights and subsequent tours, etc.) follow different conventions and may or may not include the producer or director depending on the producer or director's clout.

Bottom line: the Dramatist's Guild sets minimums, but in real life everything is negotiable.

[yfs]

Posted: 3/8/15 at 10:39am

It's true that there are Dramatist Guild minimums, but, unlike directors and choreographers, writers don't have to become members of the Guild to work on Broadway -- it's not actually a union. So the minimums don't have to be adhered to, but for the most part they function as a basis of negotiation whether or not the writer is a member.