Entertainment Law 101 for Filmmakers: What Every Filmmaker Must Know
As a filmmaker, you’re going to face a lot of challenges along the way when it comes to entertainment law and the legal rights and responsibilities of a film producer. Filmmakers frequently hire attorneys to handle such legal work. But before you even know whether you need to hire an attorney to handle the legal aspects of the work you do you’ve got to familiarize yourself with entertainment law 101 for filmmakers.
At Beverly Boy Productions, we’re breaking down the common ways that entertainment lawyers help filmmakers. And what every film producer should consider as they decide whether or not an attorney is necessary.
What Can an Entertainment Lawyer Do For You?
If you’re a filmmaker that’s interested in considering an entertainment lawyer for your production studio or production company. You might be wondering what exactly an attorney can do for you?
As you look to put together your film crew and establish representation for your crew. You might be surprised at the many different ways that an entertainment lawyer can actually assist along the way.
Some of the most common ways that entertainment lawyers assist filmmakers include:
- Copyright and other rights agreements and licensing.
- Intellectual property rights agreements and protections.
- Representation for writers, directors, actors, and other filmmakers.
- Deal negotiations between those involved in filmmaking.
- Contract negotiations, agreements, and planning.
- Finance, financial agreements, and financing negotiations.
Tailored to Needs
As you can see, the extent to which entertainment law 101 for filmmakers is established for you and your attorney to work together.
It will really depend largely on your own individual needs and the areas of importance that are most valuable to your project.
Every filmmaker and production crew is different. As is every film project! Which results in distinctly different needs for the entertainment lawyers you hire to work on those projects.
Areas of Importance in Entertainment Law 101 for Filmmakers
As a filmmaker, you’re probably wondering where an attorney could come into play and when you might need legal counsel most.
Attorneys are able to provide entertainment law 101 coverage on a variety of topics for filmmakers including details relative to copyrights and rights exploitation including things like trademark and copyright infringement as well as:
- Screenplay purchase options and agreements.
- Writer agreements.
- Life story rights agreements.
- Development and financing agreements.
- Multi-party financing and equity financing.
- Bank or senior lending financing.
- Interparty and security arrangements.
- Tax credits, tax structures and refinancing.
- Union agreements, and union issues.
- Distribution rights, deals, and sales agreements.
- Digital rights, ancillary rights, and formal rights agreements.
- Talent releases, actor or writer release forms, and agreements.
In Summary
The extent to which entertainment law 101 for filmmakers could be covered by the average attorney or by an entertainment attorney is really dependent upon the needs of the filmmaker and the individual skills of the attorney.
If you’re a filmmaker that’s planning a production, working with legal counsel is recommended prior to the advancement of any full-scale production project or film distribution.
