SSP/FST New Standard Play Contract FAQs

A play commission should be given when a company wishes to ask a playwright to write a play based on an idea by either the writer or the company. This applies whether the idea is new or an adaptation/reimaging of an existing work. It also applies if a company wishes to further develop and produce an existing play that has been written speculatively by the writer and has never been commissioned.  This includes plays that have been licenced by and/or presented as part of A Play, A Pie And A Pint.

If you are a member of FST or receiving Creative Scotland funding or receiving any other form of public funding in Scotland, you should always use this contract and SSP rates to commission a writer/play, even if you are also a member of ITC or UK Theatre/SOLT, who have negotiated different commission contract terms with the Writers Guild of Great Britain (WGGB). The terms of the FST/SSP contract reflects the specific producing and touring contexts in Scotland, which do not always apply across the wider UK. 

If you are co-commissioning a play by a Scotland based writer, for performances in Scotland, with a company not based in Scotland, it is still best practice to use this commission contract and terms. On occasion, if you are required as part of a partnership to use an alternative commission contract, the terms must not be less favourable to the writer than those contained within the SSP/FST contract.

Each play should be commissioned separately, but the commission contracts reflect that they will be presented under the banner of one production and that each writer will therefore only be due a share of the 10% royalty, divided equally between all the writers. Rights for each play are bound together for the purpose of options, but once the option period has expired, rights to each play will therefore revert to their writer.

It doesn’t; a wide array of factors decide whether a play will be produced. A commission is just one part of that picture. 

The Producer/Commissioner is usually responsible for securing/optioning the rights for the Writer to write an adaptation of an underlying work that is still under copyright. This usually takes the form of the underlying rights holder being paid a fee, either as an advance against, or as well as a royalty. This means that the total 10% royalty payable under a play commission is shared between the Writer and underlying rights holder. This needs to be reflected in the royalty section of the commissioning contract.

The agreement to proceed is an opportunity for the Writer and Producer to confirm that their views of what the play should be are aligned. At this point, if the visions for the play diverge and feel irreconcilable the commission can be retired. 

A treatment is a pre-draft step giving a clear indication of what the play will be about, who the characters will be and what the panned scene structure is. A template treatment agreement will be available as a best practice guide on the SSP website. 

If you are commissioned to write a treatment this payment will be subtracted from the first payment instalment of your commission if your idea proceeds to commission. The treatment fees and calculations can be found here under Resources.

If a writer feels that they will not be able to meet any of the deadlines in the contract, please let the producer (and if relevant your agent) know as soon as possible. Usually there is some level of flexibility and open communication is the best way to keep everything running happily. 

This is to ensure that any changes agreed upon at the previous stage have been embraced in the redraft. If by any chance, the play was submitted unchanged or a completely different play sent in, this gives The Producer a chance to enter into a dialogue with the Writer before agreeing the next payment instalment.

Nope! There may be more, smaller redrafts before rehearsals start and there may be rewriting that comes out of the rehearsal, dress or preview process. Every project is different. 

It’s usually possible to change a title before the production has been announced; once it has been announced it is not possible. Any change of title will also need to be agreed with the Producer, if they loved the initial title it might be tricky.

These are updated regularly and rates can be found under Resources. A full length play is defined as 90 minutes or more and all shorter play commission rates are calculated as a proportion of the full length rate. Recent additions are an “up to 15 minutes”  rate and an “up to 45 minutes” rate.

The rates are updated yearly and come into effect on 1 April of each year. The new rates will published the prior June/July giving commissioners at least 8 months’ notice for any rates increase.

Yes! A day or weekly rate will be agreed with the writer. During Rehearsals, writers can attend any time but the amount of time they’ll be paid to be in the room will be decided with them in advance of rehearsals. The minimum rate for this payment can also be found under Resources.

Yes, as these are minimum terms for an individual play. However, co-writing is often more time consuming, so best practice is to increase the fee to better reflect each contribution.

At the point of commission, the commissioner should be clear with the writer about their expectation or need for a play to run to a specific length (i.e. it has to fit into a festival slot, it needs to have an interval etc) and pay the associated fee.  If the play delivered does not adhere to the specified length, the company is within its rights to end the commission or ask the writer to make changes accordingly.  If the commissioner does not require the play to be a specific length, or does not request changes related to running time, and the resulting play does not run to the length dictated by the fee,  then no portion of the fee is recoupable from the writer.

If the same producer is remounting a subsidised production for an additional subsidised run in the UK, then yes.  If they are remounting with commercial partners in a commercial production, then the writer’s royalty is subject to renegotiation.

Absolutely not! These FAQs are in part to help unrepresented writers understand what they’re signing.

If play commissions are announced before a production is announced, it can make it hard to gain interest and traction with audiences and the press once tickets go on sale.  It’s better for everyone in the long term to keep the powder dry!

If a play is based on a film, book, play, poem or anything that is another person’s intellectual property (which can include characters or storylines), there will need to be a license to allow that work to be adapted for the stage. Most older work is now out of copyright so can be adapted without a license, as a general rule in UK copyright law, a written work is available to be adapted unencumbered 70 years after the writer’s death. Always check though!

Where an option has been secured by a producer, to commission a new version of an existing copyrighted work, the underlying artist/rights holder will usually have right of approval of the play, and approval of director, designer and cast.

The process of commissioning is a negotiation, so all parties are able to ask to renegotiate any terms as long as these do not go below the minimum terms outlined, and be less favourable to the writer.