In the entertainment industry, nothing is a “go” until you sign on the dotted line, whether that be a consent, release or contract of some sort, These legal documents are a are requirement to protect all parties and enforce what is the scope of said project. A big notation about these documents, is they are always negotiable. A document for a production is no different than said document for purchasing a car or renting a beach house for a week.
Lately we’ve seen some disturbing trends. Some production or advertising entities are using pre-fab documents pulled right off the internet with legal requests that are not even tied into the job being worked. Using these types of generic documents will cause one thing, delays. Why? Because no talent, agent or manager will approve of signing said documents unless they provide the following information:
- The end client name
- The project name
- The stated usage, which is defined as how long said project will be airing or live to the public, and what media will said project be shown or heard on, including: broadcast tv, cable, radio, internet, social media, digital media, streaming, OTT, OLV, in-store and so many other options.
- The rate that is agreed upon for said talent including any possible agent fee
- The renewal rate if the brand wishes to extend the usage
- Any and all requirements the talent may need to do or prepare or have on hand for said shoot should be accounted for, especially if there are unique situations that talent will be providing.
- The billing address, including contact names, payables contacts and any other required details such as purchase orders, blanket orders and or job numbers etc.
- The standard pay date is within 30 days of receipt of said invoice. This should be stated on all legal documents unless there is another pay system, example union, which may provide other payment details.
- Never request a talent to sign a legal document on set or while having a short time to review a legal entity. That is unfair to all parties and this could delay your shoot and cause distractions or last minute legal negotiations.
In the end, the more details, job specific to the document, the sooner you will receive signatures and no hassles or negotiations for your documents. Please, be a professional and take the time to write out as many custom details for any job as possible to avoid confusion and or losing a talent in the process.