The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers

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ISSUES IN FILM CONTRACTING

DEAL POINTS

Deal points are those points that everyone must agree on before negotiating the rest of the contract. These are the terms that would appear on a deal memo or short form contract. Major deal points are usually the points that are negotiated first by the producer and, as a result, these are the clauses that this book will spend the most time on.

For a description of common contract clauses found in production agreements, see Appendix C:The Clause Companion, p. 291.

DEAL MEMO

A deal memo is a short memorandum outlining the major deal points of a contract. Signed by both parties, the deal memo is a binding contract. It is often used as a quick agreement to get the parties working together until a more complete ...