Wow I had no idea this was taking place. It reminds me a little of the fight hollywood screenwriters have fought to get equal billing and recognition. I always assumed that the writer got the most money!
Yeah, writers have been kinda screwed. That goes for screenwriters, too, but I think they have actually done a fairly good job of standing up for themselves.
The one relationship that immediately springs to mind, when I think of this type of thing, is Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
I understand that they split up for a while, and that Elton John's music lost its lustre during that period.
Although I like some of Elton John's work, I am not enough of a fan to speak in more than a fairly vague sense. I just remember people complaining about it, when it was happening.
Keith Reid was also given top billing, for Procol Harum. He usually showed up in group photos.
The EJ and Taupin collaboration is one of the greatest in pop music history, only Lennon/McCartney exceeds the quality and quantity of hits the team produced.
I'm sure it's not as cut and dry on every song necessarily but Elton writes the music and Taupin writes the lyrics. Of course EJ performs the songs.
Neither would be what they are without the other, certainly, the same as Lennon and McCartney's solo work was great but didn't come close to their collaboration.
Anyways just want to point out EJ isn't one of the "manufactured" pop artists who had others write his songs for him. He's a true artist and musician in his own right even though Taupin is obviously hugely important to his success.
Maybe in Christopher Nolan's case that may be true. Even in the rare case of an original script i doubt that the writers get any significant slice of the pie. It would be interesting to know more about how the film industry pays its contributors.
I don't remember all the details but as a long time listener to Scriptnotes (if the industry of screenwriting for Hollywood interests you highly recommended) it gets pretty complicated. First people get paid for the initial draft. Then they can get paid for rewrites (many contracts come with provisions to give the writer some number of drafts back and forth with the studio/director). Sometimes these can be negotiated into yet more drafts if things are close and the studio is happy with the writer.
More commonly, at some point a different writer is brought in to update it, sometimes heavy rewrites, sometimes just tweaks. Once it gets filmed, the writer's guild has a process of arbitration to determine who gets credit, based on roughly who is believed to have contributed the most original material. The person or persons who are considered the primary creators get residuals based on % of money made (actual money made not the Hollywood accounting bullshit).
Screenwriters have a good union and are paid pretty well for movies that get made. Not star money, and usually not director money, but more than just about any other roles. Their residuals can also be substantial for a successful show/movie.
They also have very prominent credits, second only to the director (notice it's the second to last in opening credits or second if it's closing credits).
Their biggest issue is all the unpaid work they get asked to do. They can do months and even years of work without any compensation with projects that aren't really moving forward.
