ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

9 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

I suggest plain English, and lay out the broad terms and any specific details that are important, both sign it, and that'll do for now. When things have some money behind then, you can get it ratified/upgraded.

If you start trying to copy and paste legalese, or use sometime else's agreements, you're just making trouble for yourself. Whilst a wall of Latin looks cool, it can contain words with specific, non-obvious meanings which will trip you up later. Clear, frank English is far more use all round. In fact large swathes of the motor racing industry moved entirely too plain English agreements as they were spending too much translating everything via legalese, just enriching their lawyers

9 years, 4 months ago - David Haseler

Paddy, that is the most sensible and sound advice I have heard for a very long time! Thank you for taking the trouble to help, greatly appreciated.
Best wishes
David

9 years, 4 months ago - Marlom Tander

By way of example :-

"Endeavour", "Best endeavours", "Reasonable endeavours" and "All reasonable endeavours" all mean different things in law, though what, exactly, each means, is a matter of legal debate. But if you copy/paste legalese any one of them could hang you.

Plain english is the way to go.

9 years, 4 months ago - John Lubran

I'd second Paddy and Marlom on that. Paddy's 'letter of intent' will stand up in court. With even the most straight forwards of agreements a witness to every signature is always a good idea. There's a fundamental entity in Law called the 'spirit of an agreement'. Where the small print or 'cleverness' of legalise is evidently counter to that spirit, clever legalise is often undone. Less is very often more.

9 years, 4 months ago - Dan Selakovich

I agree with everyone, but would also add this: base your contract on your budget. For example, the DGA here gives a director 10 weeks or 1 day of editing for each 2 days of shooting, whichever is longer, to finish the director's cut. But if your budget is 100k, that's probably too long unless there is a pay cap.

These types of contracts are pretty complex. What if a producer hires a director that is horrific? Under what circumstances can he be fired, for example? If he's fired after 4 days, does your contract cover the possibility of him getting a screen credit? Or is fired after he delivers his first cut? What then?

Yes, I would keep the language simple, but I would also use the DGA or whatever the U.K. union contract equivalent would be, as a guide. Work through each of the points in the Union contract and adjust or reject them as it pertains to this specific project.

9 years, 4 months ago - John Lubran

The depth of necessary contractual detail is usually commensurate with scale of the project. Clearly there's a need for all the i's to be dotted and all the t's to be crossed. If the scale of a full and detailed agreement is going to be bigger than the initial resource is able to furnish then that's when a 'letter of agreement' helps bridge that gap. It's basically an agreement to make a contract. The letter of agreement should declare that standard norms of obligation, remedies or 'what if's', in the event of a parties failure to uphold imperatives, will be specified in the intended contract. Notwithstanding any such failure however a clear spirit of agreement should be outlined in which the final clause declares that any argument will be arbitrated under the jurisdiction of English Law, or any other Common Law jurisdiction.

That's only in the Queens realms and the USA where most law is broadly compatible. For other jurisdictions God only knows; so don't rely on this suggestion where barbarian law, Napoleonic Civil Code or Roman Law prevails. Indeed avoid making any formal agreement elsewhere. This is not a joke.

9 years, 4 months ago - Yen Rickeard

Look at the contracts given in the resource sections of Production in shooter, these give a broad outline of what you should be aiming at. In simple English, and covers the important bits. And a way to terminate the agreement is important too.
Keep it simple, you can formalise it with all the details later when/if you have the money.

9 years, 4 months ago - David Haseler

Thank you everyone, some very good and helpful advice.
Best wishes
David