Like any project, contracts are an important tool to ensure that every member is on the same page, especially when it comes to film production.
In the film industry, contracts are one of the important components needed to ensure a smooth production. The reason contracts are necessary for the film industry is because it’s essentially a melting pot of intellectual property rights.
From your costume designer down to the make-up artist, your scriptwriter down to your director of photography, all of these creative individuals will need to provide their creativity and knowledge to help produce a fantastic film. How do you protect their rights? With a contract, of course.
With that said, all the creatives and artists you’ll work with when producing a film will demand a contract to see the scope of their job and to ensure that they get credited and compensated fairly. Not to mention, contracts are also needed in post-production, making film marketing and distribution a crucial aspect.
The Required Different Film Industry Contracts Are:
Pre-Production/Development Contracts: What are they?
Pre-production refers to the period before the production of the film starts. At this stage, different departments conceptualize the film, finalize the script, put together a team, cast their leads, and more. Because you’re assembling the ingredients of your film, you need to ensure that every area and person is already protected by a contract.
Also Read: The Ultimate Proof of Ownership for Every Artist and Creator
But what kind of contracts and agreements do you need at this stage?
- Production Entity: To raise the finances for a film, it’s important to form a film production company so you can work with investors so they can buy shares and interests of your company.
- Business-Entity Security: Since the production entity is a form of business organization, it is applicable to security and investment laws, which the producers and promoters should carry out.
- Rights Purchase Agreements: These agreements safeguards against future claims of infringement of rights where you may be accused of copyright or plagiarism.
- Life Right: A life rights contract allows you to purchase the rights to use the story of someone’s life if you’re creating a biopic or documentary. With this contract, the subject grants the right to the filmmaker to produce a film based on their life.
- Option Agreement: This refers to the agreement with a writer to obtain rights to a script for future use. This agreement enables producers to purchase the rights of a script exclusively until a future date.
- Writer Agreement: Writer agreements are needed when a producer wants to work with a writer to convert an idea into a script or modify an existing script.
- Director’s Employment Agreement: Since a director is in charge of selecting the crew members, cast, location, set, etc., he has creative control for the film. Because of this, his responsibilities need to be laid out to ensure that all things are covered, and he gets what’s fair on his end.
The Bottom Line: Having Contracts for Every Stage of a Film Production is Crucial
Every stage of producing a film will require some contracts, and rightfully so. This is because you’ll want to protect every member of your team and mitigate any damages and legal issues that you may encounter in the future. That’s why you must have all the contacts—from life story rights contracts down to your director’s contract—to ensure a smooth sailing film production.
Also Read: Everything You Need to Know About Film Industry Contracts Pt. 2
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