Can you explain what exactly 'against' means in industry speak?

Yes, Michael. When you see something like "mid-six figures against seven figures," what that means: "mid-six figures": This is guaranteed up front money for the acquisition of the material and whatever fees for the writer to rewrite the script per development notes / process with the buyer. Mid-six in this case can be anywhere from, say $400-650K. "against seven figures": This money is NOT guaranteed, depending on several things including most importantly the movie getting produced. That figure can also be reduced depending upon whether the writer receives full credit, shared credit or no credit. So let's say your dream comes true, Michael, and the trade announces a deal on a spec script you've sold for $400K against $700K. You are guaranteed that $400k. If the movie gets produced and you receive sole writing credit, you would receive an additional $300K. If you share credit with another writer, you would receive $150K, half of the production bonus. The hypemeisters of Hollywood will often refer to script deals including the production bonus figure. Why? Because the deal sounds that much bigger. So if you see in the trades, "Deal is for low-six figures," that actual upfront money may be for $90K with the full deal for $175K or $200K. Obviously 'low-six figures' sounds better than $90K, so that's why those deal numbers often find their way into the press. Make sense?

Yes Scott. Thanks. I assume any points/back end the writer negotiates doesn't usually get mentioned in the trades.

Re points: Unless you're Aaron Sorkin or that ilk, points are basically a joke. The standard has been 5% of net profit, but the key word there is "net". Hollywood studios have developed myriad accounting practices over the years which virtually ensure a movie NEVER reaches net profitability. That's why all A-list actors and directors work with some sort of gross point definition. There have been cases where a movie DID reach net profits, something like My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the revenues vs. budget was so outlandishly huge, that the studio simply could not argue it had not reached black ink. But those are very rare.