Highest-Paid.net

For feature length films, Hollywood screenwriters initially earn an average minimum of $40,000 for a screenplay. Some writers, however, can earn substantially more. Joe Eszterhas, for instance, became the highest paid screenwriter in 1992 when he was paid $3 million for the script to Basic Instinct. Fifteen years later, though, that title has changed hands. Who is currently Hollywood’s highest paid screenwriter?

The screenplay for Déjà Vu (2006), the science fiction crime thriller starring Denzel Washington, brought in $5 million between the $2 million guarantee and the $3 million production bonus, making it the most expensive screenplay ever. However, the movie had two screenwriters, Terry Rossio and Bill Marsilii. The screenplay for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) earned $4 million, but this was also split between two writers, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Panic Room (2002) earned its single writer, David Koepp, $4 million but this includes his services as producer of the film.

The title of highest paid screenwriter belongs to Shane Black. Black wrote the screenplay for The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), a thriller starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. The screenplay earned $4 million and Black shares the writing credits for this movie with no other writers.

Hollywood’s highest paid screenwriter has most recently written Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and A.W.O.L. (2006).

Anchoring broadcast news isn’t exactly an old profession. The term “news anchor” has only been in use since 1952. It was coined by CBS News producer Don Hewitt to describe Walter Cronkite’s role in the National Conventions. Traditionally, unlike other news presenters, anchors are television personalities capable of improvising live commentary for breaking news events although the term has more recently been expanded to include all broadcast news presenters. Like any celebrities, anchormen and anchorwomen can rake in vast sums of cash. Currently, the highest paid news anchor is CBS News’ Katie Couric.

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A University of Virginia graduate with a degree in American Studies, Couric got her start as a desk assistant at ABC News. Her career received a major boost when she joined Today in 1990 as national correspondent, becoming substitute, and eventually permanent, co-anchor over the next two years. Her Confronting Colon Cancer series won her a Peabody Award, just one of many awards she’s won throughout the course of her broadcast career.

In 2006, 15 years to the day since she became permanent co-anchor on Today, she announced her move from NBC to CBS News. This move, along with strife between the WGA and CBS, has led to the likelihood of Couric being the only major news anchor not to moderate a single debate in the 2008 election cycle due to the Democratic National Committee’s cancellation of the scheduled Dec 10th debate.

The highest paid anchorwoman makes approximately $15 million a year. She can be seen nightly on CBS Evening News.