Successfully filming a project is only half the battle. The other is ensuring you receive all the revenue you deserve from your work. Much of the process of ensuring your future revenue stream will actually start long before the camera rolls in pre-production. Today, BLAKE &WANG P.A takes a closer look at pre-production legalities you need to consider to successfully market your work later on.
Key contract considerations in pre-production
Pre-production may well be your busiest time as a producer. This is where you will begin to consolidate, as well as map out, the requirements you’ll need to make a successful film or TV pilot. It’s absolutely key to start assembling your legal paperwork at this time. Far too many producers wait until production starts before they get the documentation for the project together, and by then it can be too late.
Remember, no matter how enthusiastic you are to get started, it’s always easier to have your contracts signed earlier rather than later. It doesn’t matter if you’re dealing with writers, co-producers, crew or cast-it’s easier to have your contracts signed in pre-production. Once production starts, and especially once it’s over, members of the production staff may decide to hold out for more backend, seek deferred compensation, or otherwise not sign.
Why? Under copyright law, if someone has contributed to a copyright they gain rights to that work. Unless, of course, a valid, binding contract was signed! This means any member of the cast or crew who had not signed a contract before production started can be recognized as an ‘author’ and part-owner of the production!
E&O insurance and you
This isn’t the only reason you may need pre-production contracts, although it’s a major one. If the production is to get a commercial release, you will require E&O insurance (errors and omissions insurance). No insurer will agree to cover the film without production legal completion.
E&O insurance is key to your distribution, too. No reputable distributor will take the risk without it in place. Thus you need your completed paperwork for everyone involved in the film, and for the ‘chain of title’ for the project. You will also need an opinion letter from an entertainment lawyer. San Francisco, LA or New York, you’ll need this in place to specify that the film is:
●Complete, and
●That the production company is the sole owner of the project
Everything you need to know about Chain of Title
Of course, it’s equally as important that copyrights and trademarks for the work are filed too. This is all part of securing the rights to the project. Nor should you assume it will be simple-the process of filing copyright is no longer simple at all, especially since the process moved online and the US Copyright Office expanded its options.
The way you file copyright determines which of the following categories your work falls in:
●Original, or
●A derivative work,
●Or a ‘joint work’
This classification will help determine whether or not you even have distribution rights for your film, or whether you need to seek license from others.
The role of trademarks in protecting rights
Trademarks can also be an important part of the protection process, especially if you’re working on an animated project or a project based on comic books or other graphic works. Trademarks should never be filled through a third-party (other than a trusted lawyer), either, and neither should copyright. Don’t allow your writer or co-producer to handle this ‘on your behalf’. This is one of the leading causes of ‘chain of title’ problems we see. Works are filed only in the name of the original filer, not as an original work for the production company. You can imagine the years of paperwork and litigation that ensue.
Of course, getting your pre-production in order is only part of the process of securing your rights and ensuring your project makes maximum revenue possible. You will also need to concentrate on post-production arenas, especially securing a distributor or sales agent and ensuring the negotiation process leaves you, not them, with power over your project’s revenue. You are always best seeking the extensive experience of reputable entertainment law firms Los Angeles, San Francisco, or NYC, BLAKE & WANG P.A can assist with these matters, and we have close to 2 decades of experience in these negotiations to draw on. Feel free to contact us to discuss your project today.
As always, you will need reliable legal counsel for complex matters like this, and this article is provided for informational purposes only.
Film and Television 