Independent Filmmaker’s Guide to Film Production Non-Disclosure Agreements

Let’s face it, you work hard for your money. You spend countless hours working on the fundamentals of your business and you certainly don’t want just anyone to be able to take what you’ve worked so hard for and claim it as their own. But people hear and see things that could be sacred to your business, especially when they’re on set for long hours and have a straight shot of all the behind-the-scenes action as it occurs. You want to trust your cast and crew, but without legal protection, you’re taking a BIG risk. In film production non-disclosure agreements protect your proprietary works and trade secrets when other protections can’t.

Film production non-disclosure agreements offer unique protections against a variety of different potentially serious concerns for filmmakers, particularly for film producers and production companies.

If you’ve never encountered a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) you’ve probably not worked on any productions that were competitive in nature – but the bottom line is, NDAs prevent others from leaking trade secrets and, in this industry – they’re vital.

What is a Film Production Non-Disclosure Agreement?

A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legally binding contract which prohibits the signing party from sharing trade secrets or other information about a business with others.

Essentially, an NDA prevents someone from sharing the secrets of your film production with the outside world or, it at least limits this from occurring by imposing legal consequences for anyone that chooses to expose details that should not otherwise be shared with an outsider.

Thus, a film production NDA is an agreement between a film crew worker or cast member that states they will not share any of the information that they acquire while working on set or behind-the-scenes, with any other parties outside the business. 

Why is an NDA so Important?

You’re probably wondering why a film production non-disclosure agreement is so important. Perhaps you’re thinking that you don’t really have any major trade secrets or proprietary information that could be leaked?

The reality is, you may not realize the kind of details that a cast or crew member may come up with. In regards to your production company just by working behind-the-scenes with your business. 

NDAs are not only an industry standard, but they’re typically used in most trades. The way the NDA is worded can invoke serious protections for underlying works such as your intellectual property, trade secrets.

Or other information that you might not immediately consider “secret” or “private”. But if it were to get into your competitor’s hands? It could negatively impact your brand. 

A Scenario for a Film Production Non-Disclosure Agreement

Consider the following scenario:  You hire a camera operator to work on the set for your upcoming pilot production. It’s a new show that has yet to air. But you’re expecting that not only will it amaze the audience.

It’s going to result in a multi-six-figure distribution deal. That’s the first of its kind for your production business. The story is set, the production underway. All you have to do is keep the details private until it’s time for the big release.

The only problem…your camera operator has a big mouth! They are so excited about their role for this upcoming sitcom that they can’t help but to share the details of the day’s shoot with their best friend. Sounds reasonable enough right?

WRONG!

The best friend works for a competitor in the industry. And now has details of not only what the show is going to be about. But also finer details about the individual operations taking place behind-the-scenes of the production. And, they’re sharing it ALL with their boss.

If you had a film production non-disclosure agreement then you would at least have legal recourse? But since you never got the camera operator to sign the NDA, what can you really do? Not much!

As you can see, having a film production non-disclosure agreement signed by the people that will work on your set is not only important. It’s absolutely vital to your success and growth.

Another Scenario

You’ve hired a new crew member to help with a shoot in the Big Apple. You realize that competition there was fierce. And this particular crew member said they didn’t feel comfortable signing an NDA.

You figured, it’s just a one-off shoot in the Big A. Why not just let it slide? Just this one time.

You figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. So you let the crew member into the shoot, absent of a signed NDA, expecting that nothing would go wrong.

The only problem is that while you were thinking nothing could possibly go wrong, your new crew member was checking the finer details of your schedule and upcoming plans for the production – seems fair enough right?

Consider This

The crew member recognizes an actress on schedule for later in the week. She’s one of your leads and you spent a lot of time, negotiation and your own money to make sure she would be part of your production.

But, the crew member is scheduled to work another shoot next weekend, for another production company, and knows that the other company really wanted to have this particular actress for their project.

But by the time they reached out to her, she had said she was already booked for that weekend. She was booked for YOUR shoot.

The Result

So the new crew member can’t help but to let the producer for his upcoming shoot know that he has crossed paths with the girl and knows why she couldn’t come to the shoot this weekend. Because she is booked at your shoot. Harmless right?

It would seem that way, until that other producer called the actress and offered her double the pay to be a part of his production this weekend but the offer is only good if she accepts immediately and drops everything she’s got booked for this other shoot.

She does.

And you lose your lead. Just like that. But it wouldn’t have happened like that if the other producer didn’t know she was already in the city scheduled for the shoot. It’s these tiny details, about schedules, trade secrets, or other information which can be leaked causing great harm for your business. 

Why Do Independent Filmmaker’s Use NDAs

The film industry is definitely a competitive environment rich with excitement and new tactics and tricks that are introduced by filmmakers on a regular basis. As an independent filmmaker, whether you’re shooting in a big city or a small town.

You’re bound to hire outside professionals that will help out with the projects that you’ve got on hand. You can’t trust everyone. And you can’t count on your work to be fully protected by intellectual property rights laws or similar regulations all of the time. 

You know you’re going to have crew members that can access a lot of important details about your business at any given time. Your job is to protect all of that information.

Including the details of your scripts, schedule, and other important data. A film production non-disclosure agreement can provide protection for your personal business details. And initiates legal consequences for those that disclose the details to others.