Chapter 5: Welcome to Reality: Legalities and Rights

Making the Deal: a Final Check List: Get it in writing

• Protect yourself with ample documentation

• Follow up an oral promise with a written memo or email version of the points made and agreed upon

Making the Deal: a Final Check List: Take notes

- In a meeting or on the phone, take notes and date them

Making the Deal: a Final Check List: Keep a paper trail

• Even in this electronic age, keep hard copies as well as computer backups of correspondence and memos sent and received, and dated

• Keep each draft of any screenplays

• If you’ve made some form of contribution to the story, follow that up with a brief memo outlining that contribution

Making the Deal: a Final Check List: Register your work with the WGA

- This is a valuable verification of your ownership; register it before you begin to pitch it around

Making the Deal: a Final Check List: Check out potential buyers

• Be objective and realistic about excited interest in your project. It may be wonderful, but the people may not be

• Check them out thoroughly - search the web, ask other filmmakers and do a credit check

Making the Deal: a Final Check List: Don’t make the first offer

• See what the other side has to offer first

• Never sign any binding contracts without thoroughly dissecting each point with your attorney

Making the Deal: a Final Check List: Keep each promise you make

- If you can’t keep it, don’t make it

Making the Deal: a Final Check List: Don’t be afraid of negotiation

- In most cases, it is expected

Making the Deal: a Final Check List: Always try for a win-win

- In this ideal scenario, everyone is happy, and no one sues them

Making the Deal: a Final Check List: When in doubt, hold it out

- Should you suspect that you may not get paid what you originally agreed upon, you can consider holding onto all video, film, or digital material until you’ve cashed - and cleared - their check

The major unions are...

• The Screen Actors Guild (SAG)

• The Directors Guild of America (DGA)

• The Writers Guild of America (WGA)

• The National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians–Communication Workers of America (NABET–CWA)

• The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)

• The American Federation of Musicians (AFM)

• The Producers Guild of America (PGA)

• IATSE

Negotiation for proper screen credit might include...

• How the credit is phrased

• Proper spelling

• Font style and size

• How long it stays on the screen

• Whether the person’s name is by itself or part of a group of names

• Other contractual details

• Advertising on posters

• On-air promos

Most programs give screen credits that might include...

• Produced by

• A film by

• Directed by

• Story by

• Written by

• Composed by

• Credits to executive producer(s), and associate producer(s)

Unions are the bargaining agents for the on- and off-screen talent in...

• Television

• Film

• New media

The producer’s focus is delegated to negotiating with unions and drafting and signing various agreements that outline the...

• Terms of the project

• Job descriptions

• Fees

• Contracts

• Schedules

The guilds and unions provide specific services to their members...

• They take care of payments of residuals, based on a contractually agreed-upon percentage of a project’s profits

• They make payments to the members’ pension and health plans

• They take part in negotiations and arbitrations on the part of their membership

• They have established specific rules and regulations around their members’ work rules, timetables and work conditions

If you don’t have access to an attorney and instead rely on shareware template forms, make sure they are...

• Current with legal rulings

• Relevant to your specific needs

• Written in language that you can follow

MFN

Most Favored Nation

The bond company meets with the producer and director to discuss ways the project will be produced, after the producer submits the...

• Shooting script

• Budget

• Shooting schedule

• Financing plan

• Bios of key production personnel

A traditional contract between a producer and a client specifies...

• How much money that time is worth

• How much time you all agree that it could take the project to develop, write, shoot, edit and mix