Key Contracts Every Production Company Must Have

In this blog, we explore the five business contracts that every newly set up production company or producer acting as a solo producer should prioritise, in order to safeguard their interests and intellectual property (IP). 

From client agreements to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and copyright assignments, we will look into the importance of these contracts in establishing clear terms, protecting confidential information, and preserving your startup's valuable assets. Discover how these foundational contracts can provide legal protection and peace of mind as you navigate the exciting journey of building your startup.

The Role of Copyright in Startup Contracts

Understanding the Importance of Contracts

Of course, as a lawyer I’m a bit biased – but trust me when I say that contracts are the backbone of every successful production company and every successful film and tv project. They provide the legal framework of everything you do, from acquiring the rights in a book, engaging talent, securing the best locations and, finally distributing and licencing your work once you have found your audience. 

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) and confidentiality agreements

You should have a standard NDA ready to send out, if required. Sometimes these are also called confidentiality agreements – they basically cover the same aspects. NDA help you protect your copyright because they clearly state what materials are being shared with another party – and crucially, they also state who those materials belong to. That means that you will have a clear track record of what you might have shared with someone else. 

For example, if you are seeking finance from an investor or financier, you might share a screenplay with them. If you enter into an NDA before you share your screenplay, you know that you’ll be able to prove that you shared it with them and that they contractually promised to treat it confidentially. Should it come to a breach of copyright, then you’ll be able to rely on your NDA to help you with your claim. 

Shareholder Agreement or Co-Production Agreement

This is the agreement that governs how you and the producers or business partners who you have set your company up with decide on the day-to-day matters of your production company: who will be responsible for which area of the business? Will you all be directors and/or shareholders? Will all decisions be made unanimously, or will there be areas where one producer’s say will prevail over the others? If some or all of you are shareholders, will you each be able to sell your shares freely, or should the other shareholders be able to buy those shares first?

Employment and/or freelancer contracts

In the initial phase of your start up aka production company, you are unlikely to be employing anyone full-time. However, you are likely to be hiring freelancers either on a more permanent basis or on a project-by-project basis. 

To ensure that the intellectual property created by those freelancers is owned by you or your production company, you need to enter into contracts with those freelancers. Those contracts will transfer any copyright created by those freelancers through the work they’re doing on your project. Apart from having a solid copyright clause, there are other key clauses that those contracts should contain, such as confidentiality, key payment and delivery milestones etc. It’s relatively uncommon in the film and tv industry to enter into non-competition clauses (that would prevent your freelancers from working for your direct competitors) but if there are certain things that you would like you to prevent your freelancers from doing, then this contract is the place to regulate it. 

Let’s have a chat about how contracts help you manage your production

Contracts are the backbone of any successful production company and of every film or tv project. I have worked for individual filmmakers, producers and production companies and helped them create the contracts they need to protect their idea, production and company. Contact me here for a free initial chat about the contracts you might need help with.