How much will I get paid? The Writer''s Guild standard pay for a half-hour episode of network television is $17,076.
Keep in mind that your agent gets 10%, and the government gets roughly another 20%. Pay varies for weekly staff
writers (who don''t necessarily write their own shows, but work on the shows that others wrote), but the minimum is around $1200 a week. Of course, it goes way up from there.
Do I have to live in Hollywood? Chances are,
yes, eventually. It just happens to be where most of the sitcom writing work is. Even if a show shoots out of New York, it''s generally based and staffed in LA. Furthermore, there are tons of connections to be made in Hollywood that you just can''t get anywhere else. This is where blind luck plays a part. You meet someone in the grocery store checkout line, talk a little bit, suddenly find out that he''s a TV producer, and he''d like to see your work. He''ll give you the right name to put on the envelope to make sure that the right people give it consideration. By no means will it guarantee you anything, but it''s better than a poke in the eye. However, you should also keep in mind that if you''re just starting out, you can start from anywhere. You don''t have to be in Hollywood to tape a show, know it, get a
script software program, and write a spec (that is, your "try-out" script). First get noticed, then worry about moving.
Is it a stable job? OK, this is where confusion often enters the picture. If your script gets bought, you will get paid for that one script. It''s just like freelancing. This almost
never happens. Rather, your script will function as a sample of your capabilities, and if someone likes it, you''ll be asked to join the writing staff of a show. That means that you become a full-time writer for the show, working on your own scripts and scripts that other people send in.
But think about how many shows are on TV . . . many of them are on the air for only an episode or two, many never make it to the end of the season, and even more never get renewed for a second season. Furthermore, when a show isn''t doing well, writers are often the ones that get blamed (and fired). So as you''ve probably figured out,
IT IS INCREDIBLY UNSTABLE. Most sitcom writers live in a perpetual state of fear, never knowing when their show will be cancelled and if they''d be able to get another job afterward.
What kind of writers get hired? Several reports have come out recently talking about the characteristics of sitcom writers. Most sitcom writers are white males between 21 and 35 years old. Because advertisers value young dollars, the TV industry is constantly on the lookout for young writers (to bring young eyeballs to the screen) to up the "edginess" factor. Women tend to have a tough time breaking into the business because of an idiotic Hollywood stereotype that "women aren''t funny." While women should never be deterred from trying to become a sitcom writer (it''s estimated that ¼ of TV writers are women), they should nonetheless be prepared to face an incredibly male-dominated (and often misogynistic) industry. Our advice: stay strong, and use the power of your ovaries.