ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

12 years, 5 months ago - Tim iloobia

Without wanting to offend Paddy or Dan, I think that this is a very good question and one which should be taken quite seriously. Ideas, concepts and scripts do get plagiarised, often by the most unexpected of people, and there is nothing insulting about asking someone to sign an agreement saying you wont share the ideas of the work before the author wishes it to be, in the same way as it is not insulting to ask people to sign simple contracts with one another when embarking on a project, especially when there is any money involved.
NDA's are a professional norm, I and most of my professional peers sign them all the time, so if one is aiming to work in a professional manner it is a good habit to get into and be comfortable asking people to do it.
And surely you only want people talking about projects when the time is right - there is such a common practice of splurging every detail about a project (a lot of which is tiresomely uninteresting and self indulgent) way too prematurely and if its a good idea, and you basically give all the details of how to do it, don't be surprised if someone else turns up before you with a carbon copy of what you have been toiling over for months (or longer).
Protecting oneself and ones ideas is a good idea - and you have to ask the question, if someone thinks it is insulting or silly or not to be taken seriously, are these the attitudes you want to work alongside on your project?

12 years, 5 months ago - Dan Selakovich

Absolutely not. This, I think by most crews, would find this really insulting or just plain silly. Why would you do it anyway? You WANT crews talking about what they're working on. It's free publicity. Now if you're making the next "Amazing Race" where contest outcomes need to remain secret, then by all means. NDAs of this type typically last 3 years.

12 years, 5 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

No, not if you have professional crews - they need it to do their job and a degree of professionality is expected from professionals. I've worked on any number of projects of commercial confidentiality, crews only get NDA'd if it's something quite special (eg a royal visit, etc)

If it's a bunch of mates, will they take it seriously anyway?

In short, sure you'll be alright.