How much did Seinfeld writers make?

I was reading Newsweek today and came upon a 527 article discussing who is funding these shadow groups.

One of the people funding Moveon.org was Daniel O’Keefe, listed as a “onetime Seinfeld writer and Kerry fundraiser.” He contributed $100,000 within three days of an “emergency” call by Moveon.org.

Now, the article is unclear as to whether he personally wrote the check or acted as a “bundler”, collecting many individual checks.

IMDb lists only a writing credit for Married With Children for O’Keefe ,but it raised the question in my mind as to how much a sitcom writer makes.

If he is a fundraiser, he likely has some funds of his own.

How much would a writer be paid writing for a show like Sienfeld. I have always heard that sitcom writers make far less than one would imagine, even on a superstar show like Seinfeld.

Any ideas? What are the royalty rights for when the show goes into syndication?

Could a sitcom writer of a hit show have that kind of money?

What would a Seinfeld writer (not Larry David, just a guy who wrote an episode or two) make per episode?

Well, there was that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and George were offered $13,000 (total, not each) to write the “Jerry” sitcom. Considering how realistic (at least by television’s standards) the show was, I’d say that’s probably a general ballpark. WAG, though.

Here’s a link to a more complete overview of O’Keefe’s work. He was a producer (all sorts of producer) on the “The Drew Carey Show” from 1998-2004, a job which I imagine pays well, at least on top of the writing money. He’s written a lot for Carey’s show, more than for “Seinfeld” or any of the other shows he’s worked on.

From the Writers Guide of America, the union that all tv writers must belong to.

http://www.wga.org/annual/2002/market.html

Look at the last table. In 2002, the highest 25% of writers reported more than $217,000. The highest 5% reported more than $567,000.

O’Keefe would certainly be in the top 25% and probably in the top 5%.

He’s not just a writer, avccording to ZeroGyro’s link, but also a high level producer, which would probably give him a five-figure weekly salary.

Just as a writer, however, he would earn additional money for each episode he wrote, plus residuals.

Obviously, experienced writers make more than beginners and I don’t know what O’Keefe got. However, the Minimum Business Agreement of the Writers Guild lists $19,603 as the minimum payment for Story and Treatment for a Network Prime Time show.

That’s 2% of what Seinfeld got, but it ain’t hay.

It also appears he created Festivus!