Film Production Management, 4th Edition

8

Contracts, Agreements, and Working Permits

In an industry like the film business, known for using lawsuits and litigation as an accepted way of doing business, and in a country like the United States, where the legal system allows lawsuits to be filed for all the right and wrong reasons and where obtaining justice depends to a large degree on the financial resources of litigants, it is vitally important that everyone involved in motion picture production is protected every step of the way by deal memos, agreements, and contracts that spell out in complete detail all elements involved. Although production managers (PMs) are not commonly targets of lawsuits, when things go wrong, when money is lost and egos are hurt, anyone can become a defendant, ...