How much should I pay my scriptwriter?

"What does a YouTube script actually cost?"

It's something I'm asked constantly - by writers trying to price themselves, and by YouTubers trying to hire.

I wrote this article showing the spread of what I've charged over the years...

...but today, I want to talk about some of the nuances.

A subscriber recently emailed me asking how pricing changes if:

1. The writer comes up with the idea, does all the research and writes the script.
2. The client (YouTuber) already has the idea and the research, so the writer only writes the script.

Check out this 9 min video where I answered these questions (and more) - all related to pricing and client-writer relationships 👇

Click To Watch

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Or, if you want the answers QUICKLY...

...here are all 5 questions from the video, and my answers summed up in a sentence:

Should the CLIENT provide the video's framing?

Ideally, yes - but even if they do, the best scriptwriters will assess the framing in relation to the channel's target audience, and challenge the client's choice of framing if necessary.

Do I (George), prefer it when the CLIENT provides the framing? And how does this affect the price?

It makes no difference because I'll think about the framing either way and incorporate this into my pricing.

How is pricing affected if the CLIENT provides the research vs the WRITER doing the research?

If trawling through a massive research pack (or doing a tonne of research) adds a non-trivial amount of extra time and effort to the writer's job (i.e. 4-8 hours), they should add ~50% to their pricing (in either case!)

What does it cost to pay a WRITER to ideate, research, and write a script?

Depends on experience (and the client's price sensitivity), but a fair range (from a Eurocentric economic perspective) is ~$200-$800... although on some bigger scripts, I've been paid as much as $1500, and friends of mine have charged $2000+ in some cases.

What does it cost to pay a WRITER to write a script (no research or ideation)?

Again, somewhere around the $200-$800 mark for a 10-15 minute video is usually reasonable for a writer with 0-2 years' experience.

Pleeeeeease note - take everything with a pinch of salt. Money is a funny topic, and the list of caveats to these opinions is as long as my arm! The more experience you get paying/charging, the easier it gets to figure out your "hell yeah" numbers.

That's all for this week.

Any questions, just let me know!

Speak soon,
George 👋