Title page
Contents
Preface 6
About the author 11
Acknowledgments 12
Glossary 13
Chapter 1. Eye of the Needle - the Disciplines of Development 19
Digging for gold - the search for the perfect script 19
Passion and eloquence - attracting funds for development 20
Buying time - how to negotiate an option 22
The big jump - purchasing underlying rights 25
Nothing like real life - films based on real-life people or "true stories" 28
Into the void - commissioning a script 30
The art of war - producers, writers and their agents 34
Development - the real stories 35
Chapter 2. Financing Films - On the Merry-Go-Round of Debt, Equity and Distribution Rights 45
Sink or swim - the trials of debt financing 46
Participation/deferred payments 49
Cutting the cake - the basics of equity financing 50
Message in a bottle - the rise of film crowdfunding 53
IP rights as the most strategic source of financing 55
Into the rights jungle - the film distribution agreement 63
The rights jungle thickens - a strategic look at television rights 74
The role of IP rights in film/television financing - the real stories 84
Chapter 3. The Talent Maze - Rights and Engagement Terms 88
Actors' rights - an uneven patchwork 88
Hollywood stars, their agents and inflationary effects 92
In the director's chair - author vs. technician for-hire 96
Licensing by numbers - collective management and talent rights 99
Talent maze - the real stories 102
Chapter 4. Managing the Risk of Production 105
Types of risk 105
Completion guarantees 106
Chapter 5. Crossing Borders - the Art of Pre-Selling and Co-Producing 110
The patchwork of international pre-sales 110
The world is not enough - the role of the sales company 112
The producer/sales agent agreement 115
Through the pain barrier - international co-productions 116
A closer look at official co-productions 119
Pre-sales and co-production - the real stories 121
Conclusion 123
Table 1. Film exploitation cycle: the "windows" system 61
Table 2. Distribution of revenues in the theatrical market pre-2000s 65
Table 3. Financing sources for a low-budget Telugu or Tamil film (India) in 2010 (illustrative only) 68
Table 4. Breakdown of the pre-acquisition of the television rights to GriGris by broadcasters (2012) 85
Table 5. Film talent contracts: the legal infrastructure 91
Boxes
The Lord of the Rings' long journey to the screen 36
The gestation of Gemma Bovery 39
Oh la la! - an original script 42
GriGris - a Chadian film made possible by television financing 84
The Collection - an Anglo-French television series 85
A real actor's contract story - Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) 93
A French lead actor contract with remuneration scale 102
A rights and remuneration structure for a mid-range Anglo-American star 103
Russian Dolls - a case study in European co-production 121