Contracts: A Filmmakers Best Friend

So you want to make a movie but are concerned about contracts, copyright, locations, and film commissions. Well the good news is that in filmmaking there are usually several different roads which all lead to the same successful end. Also to your advantage, and sometimes disadvantage, is the fact that there are exceptions to most of what I am about to tell you. There is no way for me to hit all the important highlights in this short article but here are some important points.

I may not be an attorney but having worked on independent films (with budget and without) as well as Hollywood films, I have been exposed to quite a bit in the film industry. With contracts, you are always better off to consult a attorney. Even if it is nothing more than writing up your own contracts and have your attorney review them. But you may not have the money to do even this. If you are shooting a movie for fun or with friends and there are no plans for distribution then don't worry about contracts or locations. Have fun and learn about filmmaking. Most of us who are in filmmaking today started that way. If you do have plans for distribution, then you will need to make sure that you use contracts for cast/crew and locations.

A lot of filmmakers worry about contracts. There really isn't anything to worry about as most contracts for films are fairly straightforward and simple. If you do a internet search on film contracts you will be led to man good books and suggestions for contract templates (already made) which you just copy or print out. A good source that shows some sample contracts is the book "Making Movies" by John Russo (published by Dell Publishing for $15.95). Even if you don't like the films he has directed, he does have a lot of good advice in the book on filmmaking in general. Check your local library or order it through your local book store.

The main purpose of any contract is to get it all down in writing so there are no misunderstandings down the road. The contract shows that at one time there was an agreement on how the situation was to be viewed by all parties involved. At least at one time, everyone agreed. The main point you should have in your contracts if you are not paying actors/crew is that the person signing the contract realizes there is no payment now at the signing or at anytime in the future.

A sample day player/extra release could look like:

THE UNDERSIGNED (referred to as Artist hereafter) has agreed to act in the movie tentatively titled:________________ as a DAY PLAYER/EXTRA and will no receive no fee for their appearance upon signing this agreement/release and will not receive any payment at anytime in the future.

Artist agrees not to request neither a percentage nor interest (at any time) in regards to any future distribution or sale of this movie, be they foreign, domestic, television, cable, home video, dvd, and/or any other form or public or private viewing of any type.

Artist agrees to allow their image/likeness, voice, name, and any publicity photograph to be used by the Producer in association with this project in any way at Producer's sole discretion. Final credit of the artist in above mentioned movie is Producer's sole discretion. Scenes filmed may be cut out of the final release print of the movie for a variety of reasons including but not limited to time constraints on the overall length of the movie."

Signature of the actor
Address
phone number
date
Signature of the producer
date

If you were going to pay the actor, then you would change the above to include the $ amount but you would probably want to keep the line that says they would not receive any other payment in the future and would have no interest in any sales, etc. If you want them to have a percentage interest in sales then be sure to include it. Really depends on your personal situation/needs. This is a basic actors contract which can be several pages long. If the actor is a minor (under 21 in some states, under 18 in others) then you will also need to add a parent or legal guardian signature to the above. On movies with thousands of dollars of budget and above - child labor laws will come into effect that limits how many hours a day you can shoot with the minor. I was involved with a detective movie, Hawk Jones, that had nothing but kids in the cast playing adult roles (over 70 kids) so I do know something about that.

Some people like to add if there is a disagreement over any aspect of the contract that the disagreement goes to arbitration rather than a lawsuit. States differ on this but this is fairly pointless to include. I worked on a film ($600,000) where I got into a disagreement with the writer/my partner two weeks into the production. It was his first and my 13th or 14th film. I had the crazy notion that as director, who had in his contract complete creative control on the set, I should be able to direct the movie and that the investors should be notified of problems that I warned about from early on but my partners decided to ignore. The contract stipulated that if there were any disagreements that the matter should go to arbitration. It is cheaper than a lawsuit which is why many like to include it. I was fired two weeks into the production and the writer took over directing. This was without a doubt the best thing that could have happened to me. We went to arbitration right? Wrong. My attorney filed a lawsuit. When they complained and said it should go to arbitration as the contract stated, a judge said that I was within my rights to file the lawsuit.

This is why contracts are needed once money comes into the equation of making films. Contracts protect your rights. Contracts show a paper trail which can be very important if there are disagreements. In my example, once it was evident that the case was going to court/trial and not to arbitration, I received an offer of a out of court settlement. I actually enjoyed the entire experience because the contract was very clear about my creative control on the set. I had done most of the work setting up the production company by being a producer on the film, which involved signing the crew and Hollywood actors despite the fact that at times this work was credited to others. The type of work I did could easily be proven through the contract negotiations with the individuals and agents. And the courts frown upon people who fire someone simply to move into their job position which was quite evident in my case. Without contracts this would have been a mess to figure out. With contracts, it ended as a very positive and financially rewarding experience for me.

Many larger distributors will want copies of your contracts (actors) while many of the b-film distributors will simply ask for proof of ownership. This is nothing more than having your film copyrighted at the copyright office in Washington D.C. which anyone can do for a very small fee. If you make a movie for distribution, then you need to copyright it.

Copyright information can be found at:
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/

It is a very easy and painless process to copyright movies. You want to request FORM PA for a work of the performing arts. Fill out the two page form and submit it along with a VHS copy of your movie (I heard they may change this so you don't have to submit a video copy so check with the office for current updated requirements) and a $30 registration fee to the copyright office. They will also want you to include on a separate piece of paper - the title, running time, and a brief written description of your movie (one paragraph is good enough). Then in about 4-6 months you receive their stamped copyright registration notice in the mail. Again, if the plans for your movi includes any type of distribution then getting your movie copyrighted is a must not only for distributors but to protect yourself and your film.

The general rule for contracts is that you need them if you have plans for distributing your film and/or have investors/budget of any sort.

Film Commissions are in almost every state and are designed to help filmmakers with their movies. Notice I said filmmakers and not million dollar filmmakers. Film Commissions/offices are funded by state governments as a way to not only bring dollars into a state from actual production money but also to give opportunities to those who live in the state. They can help you cut through any red tape (in terms of closing streets, getting some locations, suggesting locations through photos, giving you a list of available crew and sometimes cast members within a particular state). Most have free production guides for filmmakers that list all of this (names and contact numbers of crew members and film services available in the state). Sometimes they charge those who list themselves in the production guides a small fee but remember that if any Hollywood productions come to your state they will do local crewing from the production guide that the film office puts out. While many of those listed require salaries to work on a film, many film students will list their name and they are a good source for the low to no budget filmmaker. Other film offices also have hotlines set up - a phone number to call to find out what jobs are available for cast/crew in a particular state. Usually it is a recorded message that gives you detailed information on who is shooting where and how to send in your resume for a particular crew or cast position.

If you need help in attracting cast/crew ask your state film office if they can list you in their monthly updates (like the hotlines) or give you a production guide. As I said earlier, state film offices are funded by the state. Most will help the low to no budget filmmaker as they get their funding for their office from the state. If you are not located in a state that gets a lot of Hollywood multi-million dollar films, then your film office should be very eager to assist you. There are always exceptions and your film office may snub their nose at your project. But most will be happy to help. Every film and filmmaker they help, show the state why they need to continue funding their film office. You are as valuable to them as they are to you. For a complete list of film commissions go to: http://www.assistantdirectors.com/Production/ProdServices/FilmCommissions.shtm

The best way in dealing with a film office is really to be straight forward and honest with them. Don't mislead them into thinking you have a $500,000 budget if it is really only $5,000. Some people would be surprised at how far honesty will get you - especially in the film business!

Locations are one of the fun parts of filmmaking. Trying to find that perfect location that will add a certain atmosphere to your scenes and actors. The general rule is that if you are planning on going onto private property to film, then permission is needed from the owner. Any public property is just that public. So set up your camera and shoot. Just make sure you don't set up your tripod on Bertha's private yard because she hates filmmakers. So set up your tripod in the public street or on the sidewalk. If you are going to use a actual name of a business as part of the plot of your movie then permission is needed from that business. Cemeteries are great locations because they are generally quiet and usually not many people are around. Permission is really only needed if you are going to be there an extended amount of time. Cemeteries are public places like a park where anyone can enter the grounds. General rule here is not to show the names on the tombstones but to shoot from the opposite side of the tombstones (the blank side without any names) or the cemetery name. Anymore with digital technology (like Lightwave animation and Photoshop) it is very easy to replace names on the tombstones with fictional names.

One thing you will learn in filmmaking, if you haven't already, is that there are always exceptions and some caretakers will complain. If you conduct yourself professionally and respect the locations, you generally don't run into problems. The one thing I have found is that if you approach people about locations for films and honestly tell them what you are doing, how long you will be there, etc. that most people are glad to help out and let you shoot there, usually for nothing or very little. Most people think of the movie business as glamorous and fun (they don't know or see the hardwork that many of us put into it). The key in getting good locations is to be professional and well prepared when dealing with anyone who can provide you with a location.

One of the best pieces of advice I have heard came while I attended the University of Southern California film school and that was "if someone tells you no - they don't mean no. They mean , no I don't understand what you want." And it is up to you then to enlighten them. Let's say you ask John Doe about shooting at his business and he says "no." He really means "No, I don't understand what you want." So you reply should be: "We will only be here for two hours. We won't interrupt your business and I'm only bringing five people along (2 cast members and 3 crew)."

The business owner then says, "Sorry kid, no I don't want you here." Now you realize that this guy still doesn't understand and you say "What can I do to make this happen?" If his response is still no, then he means it! Thank him and move on to finding a better location. Surprisingly many times this last attempt will work and all along his resistance has been about rescheduling for a different day, or after business hours, a credit of his name and his business name in the end credits of your film (tell him it's free advertising), or a little financial incentive (like $50).

I was shooting once down by a river. A police car pulled up. The older officer wanted to know what we were doing. I told him shooting a movie. His response was "what kind of movie?" If you have not had this experience before, you will at some point in making films. Rather than trying to explain the entire plot, I simply related the story to something I hoped he would understand and I said - "It's like the X-Files." The officer smiled and said, "Oh that's one of my favorite shows." Again, if you are up front with people you will find that in 99.9% of cases they will understand what you are doing. Most of the time people are only curious. Why shouldn't they be - not many people get to see a movie made in their town. Be professional and courteous. That makes all the difference.

Film permits. Check with your film office to see if film permits are required for shooting on locations. Film permits cost $$. Generally if you are a low budget filmmaker you can not afford permits so you are back to the guerilla type of filmmaking - jump out and shoot then move to the next location. But as you move up the ranks, at some point when you get larger budgets (hundreds of thousands of dollars) you may need to buy film permits depending on where you are shooting. When I was at USC, I shot one of my films in downtown Los Angeles in a outside several story mall. Mall officials approached me while I was shooting and asked if I had a permit. I said no but I am a film student. They could have cared less. Their response was well if you have a tripod (which I did) you need a permit. So I went and got a permit right? No. I simply took the tripod back to the car and shot the scene handheld (no tripod). This they allowed. Film permits vary from state to state. It is always good to know what they are in your state should you ever get questioned.

Even many years ago, when I made movies with friends for fun we would try to get permission first. Once we shot in a deserted farmhouse with zombies attacking. To do this, I made an effort to find out who owned the house and to speak to the owner about shooting on his property (even though it was deserted). Had I been turned down, I would have just found another deserted house. But the farmer said it was okay as long as no one got hurt. He was assured no one would get hurt and we shot there without incident. He even let us throw a large old television through a glass window (what production value!) This was a movie never meant for distribution but it is always a good idea to try to get permission. It's excellent practice if you plan on entering the film industry later on in life as a professional filmmaker. Generally if there are any worries from location owners is that someone may get hurt while shooting your movie at their location. All you have to do is to draw up a brief contract saying that you will not hold them liable if anyone gets hurt and you take full responsibility for your cast/crew on the set. But only do that if they request it.

Great locations can add a lot to your movies. So don't be afraid to ask about any location. In my last movie, The Shadow People (distributed by Rounds Entertainment www.roundsent.com), I wanted a scene in a football stadium with UFOs flying over. This meant having 10,000 people in the stadium and a football game going on. Actors talking about the ufos and a reporter. The people in the stadium and the football players could have been done digitally with a computer at great expense but I spoke to the local school district about shooting during one of their football games. I told them exactly what I was doing, how long it would take, not interfere with the game, etc. They graciously agreed to allow me to film during a game which happened to be the last game of the year between the two local high school teams (both undefeated) and in front of a sell out crowd of 11,000 plus (one of the largest high school crowds in the state's history).

I was able to get great production value out of a key scene. But this was only made possible by my professional presentation and the willingness and kindness of the local high school districts. People are generally excited about participating in a movie as for many it would be their first time. Most communities love to get involved with something unique. A Hollywood production would have came in and bussed people into the stadium for the scene at great expense ($50,000 plus). Total cost for me was $0.00 One funny side note to the shoot was when a local television crew kept watching us as we filmed at the stadium during the game. After a while, the reporter came up to me and said "We hear there is going to a UFO flying over the stadium tonight and we are going to go live with it on the ten o'clock news. When you are going to do that scene?" First of all, I never mentioned to the media about filming at the stadium so somebody in the school district leaked that information out. Secondly, I had to break the news to the reporter that even Spielberg doesn't have UFOs fly over locations when shooting. Spacecrafts are added as a special effect in post-production. Shocked and disappointed, he got on his phone to call the tv station to let them know there is no live event for the ten o'clock news. You have to love the news media!

I can't urge you enough that no matter what location you need and no matter how difficult you may think it is to get - simply be well prepared when speaking to a location owner and ask for their assistance in a professional manner. You may be very surprised at the answer. There are some very nice people out there who will be willing to help you. What are you waiting for - Get filming!

- Jeff Carney
March 30, 2001