Show me the Money!

Television pays well. Really well. And on time. And by time I mean there could be a delay of about 5-10 from the pay day but in the larger scheme of Indian Stretchable Time, it’s fine. You may miss out on a car or a housing payment because your cheque didn’t arrive on time that’s all 🙂

Writing in TV is divided into – Story, Screenplay and Dialogues. A writer may work any one or all three on a particular show. A daily show has at least 3-4 writers.

As a newcomer you can expect to earn Rs. 2000-3000 per episode for the story, Rs. 4000-5000 per episode for screenplay and ditto for dialogues.

You will be paid this money with a lag of 30-60 days from either the date of approval (from the channel) or telecast, depending upon your contract.

All, in all it works out to a tidy sum at the end of the month, once you enter the payment cycle. Plus, as you grow in experience, you can pretty much command your price. I know writers who walk home with Rs. 4 – 5 lakhs (Rs. 4,00,000 – 5,00,000) a month. But then they are good. They know the pulse of the viewers and can guarantee TRPs.

These are the kinds of writers who usually come up with winning pitches – the concept and initial story document for winning shows. And get paid huge amounts of money for the same.

Personally, I’m not a fan of pitches. I prefer to take on shows that are already on air. That’s because the success rate is 1:20, one show in twenty presented gets the nod.  And if yours is one of the shows that has been rejected, as is likely to happen, all you would have ended up doing is wasting a lot of time and money in developing the concept and story, going for narrations etc.

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