Title says it all. I think it's quite alright not to charge much or anything at all from student filmmakers who are just starting out, but what about an established producer?

Thx.

I always start the conversation about short sales with "Do you have a budget to purchase the script" and go from there.

But I always try and charge soemthing as I beleieve there is value in what we've written.

So far this year I've not given any away for free, most going around $50-100 mark.

A little cash for your efforts is never bad for anyone, but be clear on whether or not you're selling the rights to the story or just giving permission to film it. If you sell the rights, you're done with it. And if it turns out to be a great short film, like Mama or Lights Out that get turned into big budget features, you'll miss that payday if you no longer own it. I like to let anyone shoot my stuff for free so long as I maintain ownership of the characters and story.

James

I just usually sell it with clauses covering remakes, sequels etc... not always though, just depends.

Have not sold a short per se - only granted non-exclusive options - mostly students

I always ask them how much... cause you never know what someone will offer you.

I had someone contact me about a script i wrote in a day. He was like"How much to buy this script so I could film it?"

I was thinking maybe $50 but asked him what he thought?

He was like "Hows $250?"  

i said "Make it $300 and you can do what you want with it."

Sold.

Weeeeeeeee!

Exactly Penoyer... you don't get if you don't ask...

Dave, I ask students too

I never ask for anything other than credit.

Although I did write a script on consignment from Reddit, 5 pages for $100. I thought that was pretty good. Then they never even ended up making it.

Alright guys, thanks for the feedback. Deal is sealed at 150$
Won't make me rich, but it's still nice to get something for your work.

Just to weigh in here.

Yesterday, I was contacted by a filmmaker that wanted to film a script I wrote a while back.
He asked how much I'd sell it for. I asked what was his budget, to which he replied 10,000.

Is five percent of the overall budget an acceptable amount to ask for?

I think feature scripts are often 2-3%... but everything is open to negotiation!

Students I give permission to shoot for free as long as it's just part of a student project, I maintain full rights and they remove it from Youtube (or wherever) if I ask them to.

Although I've had a few inquiries from producers it's never gotten to the stage where money has been discussed but if I'm ever lucky enough to be in that position, I'll refer back to this thread so thanks for the examples!