Here's what I should have thought out. Let's say I write ten cases and submit them. I go through the re - write process and then are told that the company is accepting only one case. Wait one little minute. Are you telling me this whole writing effort is purely speculative? Yes, that is what she was telling me. The Writers' Guild of America takes a real dim view of that activity.
After performing all necessary writing work on the scenarios and submitting them, I invoiced the software company. Dr. L called me back and told me that my consulting fees were too high and they were terminating the contract. She hung up. After thirty days, I invoiced again. A Mr. M. from their business department contacted me and told me that they were not going to pay me. However, they were only going to pay the writer I had hired. As of the writing of this article the writer still had not been paid. A little tidbit for Dr. L and Mr. M that you missed in your Business 101 class, when someone has a contract with you and performs labor for you they get paid.
As the amount of effort I made in regards to this company was minimal (about 12 hours) and the amount of money invoiced less than $3,000.00, legal action on my part would not be worth it. It's a small claims action and with small claims it is up to the plaintiff, if they win, to get the judgement. Besides, I do not (normally) sue people.
The moral of this tale is that when a production company comes to you pouring sweet words into your head make sure you get a signed contract and money on the barrel head.
For the legal record, I did invoice this software company for my up - front fee and got paid. I do not start work on any project until I get earnest money. Demanding an earnest fee allows me time to research the scope of the work and determine the intent of the company. Based on this experience, maybe I should double the fee.
A note for producer Dick Wolf: If this software company treats you comparatively, I would re - consider my contract with them.
