ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXSuggestion for screenwriter how to sign a contract.
2 years ago - Max Khan
Hello there,
Anyone here understands how a contract between a production company and a screenwriter works. They like my script, so we go on to email exchanges and online meetings. They send me the contract, but I find out later that they will provide me with their services for roughly $1500. I checked their IMDB metre, and everything appears to be in order. What should I do? Do you have any suggestions?
Regards,
Max
Only members can post or respond to topics. LOGIN
Not a member of SP? JOIN or FIND OUT MORE
2 years ago - Alwyne Kennedy
A production company should be paying you, not you paying them. This stinks of scam.
Response from 2 years ago - Alwyne Kennedy SHOW
2 years ago - James McCann
Hi Alwyne,
Not necessarily a scam, but I think Max has spoken to a production company for hire, as opposed to a studio who will finance the film.
However, if it is for a feature, then it could be that they're asking Max to cover legal costs etc, which absolutely would be a scam.
Response from 2 years ago - James McCann SHOW
2 years ago - Max Khan
Hi Alwyne,
Thanks for the suggestion. They have a top meter on IMDB and have produced some amazing films recently.
Response from 2 years ago - Max Khan SHOW
2 years ago - Alwyne Kennedy
What services would $1500 buy? Very, very, very little. If this isn't an outright scam, then it may be the film equivalent of vanity publishing, with the writer receiving a shoddy film – for anything to be shot for profit on a $1500 budget it would have to be a short with one easy location and very low production values.
Don't be overly assured by an apparently sound IMDb page. Not too long ago, someone posted here as a film financier person but who proved to be a scammer. He had an IMDb page that ostensibly looked reassuring, but a little digging showed that things weren't quite what they seemed. Fortunately SP eventually removed his posts.
Perhaps you could share the name of the production company?
Response from 2 years ago - Alwyne Kennedy SHOW
2 years ago - Peter Spencer
Alwyne, I wonder if I just referenced the same person you did.
Response from 2 years ago - Peter Spencer SHOW
2 years ago - James McCann
Hi Max,
I've got some work behind be as a writer, and also hold a L3 in Contract Law.
Send me a message with the details and I'll tell you what's going on.
However, it sounds as though you've contacted a production company that hires itself out (kit/talent/studio) as opposed to a studio that will buy scripts from you/raise the funds to produce the script.
Can you tell us the name of the prod comp so I can have a quick check of them, please?
Thanks,
James
Response from 2 years ago - James McCann SHOW
2 years ago - Max Khan
Hi James,
Thanks for the reply. I just texted you.
Mac
Response from 2 years ago - Max Khan SHOW
2 years ago - A.L. Nott
Hey James,
Just wanted to say looks like what you're doing for Max is an incredibly decent thing and I applaud it.
That's what my vision of independent filmmaking community looks like.
Respect.
Anton
Response from 2 years ago - A.L. Nott SHOW
2 years ago - James McCann
Hi Anton,
Thank you. It's no big deal, if you're in a position to help someone you help someone.
Unfortunately this site has attracted some scam artists in the past (and will no-doubt continue so in the future), but as Alwyne above pointed out we can chase these people off the site, if not out of the industry.
Thank you again for the kind word,
James
Response from 2 years ago - James McCann SHOW
2 years ago - Paul W Franklin
Hi,
Link to their IMDB page please?
Short or feature?
P.
Response from 2 years ago - Paul W Franklin SHOW
2 years ago - Marlom Tander
RULE 1 - the Production company PAYS YOU!
Run away from anything that means you pay them.
RULE 2 - if you are being asked for money you are becoming a PRODUCER, in this case a Writer Producer, who is hiring in a production company. There is nothing wrong with this, but only if you want to be that role, and can afford to pay. If you do, then it's actually quite sensible.
$1500 is NOT ENOUGH. At best, for a small project and an honest company, it's the fee they charge for doing admin and advice re other aspects for something that perfectly fits them. On top of that will be the cast, crew, locations, post etc
Response from 2 years ago - Marlom Tander SHOW
2 years ago - Max Khan
Thank you all for your thoughtful suggestions. It means a lot to me. Let me sort it out, and then I'll write everything down for you.
Regards,
Max
Response from 2 years ago - Max Khan SHOW
2 years ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc
I’m surprised this is on this bulletin but - I need a coproducer in Austria (and Hungary) (I’m writing an Austrian-Hungarian equivalent of The Crown where there were FIVE DEATHS separating that last two emperors!) and my only contact to represent me wants a SEVEN YEAR contract! I’ll be 80 next year. A seven year contract???
Response from 2 years ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc SHOW
2 years ago - James McCann
Hi Franz,
I'm happy to take a look at the contract, but would need more details if you don't want to share the contract.
Is your contact an agent, a lawyer, a manager?
If the terms of the contract are okay to you, then I don't see why you shouldn't sign it (from the minimal info you've put).
As long as the contract doesn't insist that you work, there shouldn't be a problem.
Even within a 7-year contract, there should be stated how many projects the contact expects you to work on/provide within that term.
How many years would you be expecting to sign a contract for?
Thanks,
James
Response from 2 years ago - James McCann SHOW
2 years ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc
I wanted a coproducer for my Austro-Hungarian drama The Two Crowns - an equivalent of The Crown, historically accurate and based on much research, where the last two emperors were separated by FIVE deaths! The only one I found in Vienna wants a 7 year contract! I’m 79 now - you do the maths!
Response from 2 years ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc SHOW
2 years ago - James McCann
Hi Franz,
If you sign a seven year contract and you retire, the contract is nullified.
If you sign a seven year contract and die, the contract is nullified.
I'm not seeing the problem as you've explained it so far. You need a co-producer, you've found a co-producer, and one who clearly wants to work with you for awhile to come.
If we're being completely honest here, most people at the age of 79 aren't getting offers for anything in this business. I would suggest (based solely on the details that you've provided) that you double-check that the contract is specifically for you, and that responsibilities don't roll-over to your family, and then sign the damn thing and make your drama.
To take your own advice, you're 79, how much longer do you have left to sit around waiting for the right co-producer to show up?
James
Response from 2 years ago - James McCann SHOW
2 years ago - Peter Spencer
What films have they produced, Max? I agree, a production company that wants to produce your script should be paying you. I'm not saying this is a scam, but... a friend of mine was recently approached by a 'producer' who has his name on films (though of course 'producer' can be a pretty loose net) he agreed terms, only to learn when he received the contract that HE was hiring the 'producer'. Another friend was approached by a producer who would 'get involved' for seven thousand five hundred dollars. Puts me in mind of the person who posted on Shooting People some years ago, looking for scripts, and said they had 'access to 100 million, but then told me he had a friend who could 'do a budget' for me for £1500. In your case, Max, I would ask the question: "So, you're optioning the script?" The ask what the fee they are charging you is for. Perhaps they are a service provider and not a producer. Be wary. It's a biz populated with more than a few chancers.
Response from 2 years ago - Peter Spencer SHOW
2 years ago - James McCann
Guys, start naming these people.
Response from 2 years ago - James McCann SHOW