What paperwork do I need to deliver to my Indiefilm Distributor? (Deliverables 3/4)
Distribution deliverables are far more than simply technical requirements. As we saw last week, there are also substantial marketing materials that you’ll have to provide to the distributor and more that they may have to generate themselves. This week we’re covering the basics of legal distribution deliverables.
This list is thorough, but not exhaustive. There may be things required outside of this list for legal, and there may be things on this list that are not required, depending on who you’re dealing with. Also, I’m not a lawyer, this isn’t legal advice. Check with your attorney to get some advice if anything is unclear.
1. Key Production Agreements
These are essentially legal documents from key cast and crew saying that you have the right to use their work in your film. Essentially, you’ll have to prove that either you’ve paid out all of the filmmakers, or that they have no claim on the intellectual property of the film. Essentially, you’ll have to prove that whatever work they did was “For Hire” or that you will take on the liability of ensuring that all deserving stakeholders are paid appropriately
Generally, you’ll have to provide agreements proving this for key cast and crew. Most of the time, those appearing in the main title sequence are a good measure. The preferred form of delivery for this is fully executed contracts or deal memos. A lot of times you won’t need to deliver these unless it’s asked for.
You’ll also have to provide separate agreements for composers, or any other songs or assets that you’ve licenced. For the composers, you’ll need to make sure you have the right to use their work in any way you see fit. This can include trailers, promo spots, DVD extras, and anything else in conjunction with promoting or marketing the film. This is particularly important and must be treated separately from a standard crew agreement.
If you used source music, you’ll also have to provide that you have the right to use any and all of that source music under similar terms to the composer’s original music listed above. there’s slightly more wiggle room on this here, but not a whole lot.
2. Certificate of Origin
This is a certificate stating where the film was shot, and essentially stating that the film had the right to be shot there. This is important in all cases, but particularly important in the event that you took tax incentives to finance your film.
3. Chain of Title Summary
This deserves its own blog, which it will get. However, in summary, the chain of title outlines the passage of intellectual property between source material, Script, and Production company. It’s generally a document summarizing all of the associated rights agreements.
4. Rights Agreements
These are essentially documents proving that you have the rights to all the intellectual property used in the film. These documents can include options, proof of option payments, assignments, licenses, certificates of authorship, written permissions, powers of attorney, and other similar documents.
Often, if the name of the copyright owner is different from the owner of the picture, you will need to write up a transfer letter as well. Most of the time you’ll need to generate a chain of title summary for your sales agent to track the rights across multiple documents.
5. Copyright Registration Certificate
This should be fairly self-explanatory, but you’ll need to include the copyright registration of both the picture and the screenplay. Yes, you do need to copyright your work, a WGA registration will not suffice. And yes, you need to have copyright certificates for both the screenplay and the film.
There are other deliverables that can suffice if the copyright is pending, however, those vary by sales agency so I’m not going to go into them here. Additionally, if you shot your film internationally it’s generally wise to file for a US Copyright as it tends to have the most standing in international courts as not every country has a well-staffed copyright and patent office.
6. Additional Agreements/Statements/Letters
There are a few other documents you may have to provide under certain circumstances.
6A, If the Film is Not Originally in English
A deliverable you might need would be an English translation if the film is not in English originally. Most of the time, buyers prefer a film to be in either their native language or in English. It doesn’t matter if they have to translate the film anyway, they prefer to be translating the film from English.
6B, If you worked with Children
Another ancillary document would be some degree of documentation that all children were treated legally on set. Most of the time you can find relevant documentation from the Screen Actor’s Guild, even if your shoot was not a signatory. if the film has any children in it. You’ll also need to provide some documentation that you abided by local child labor laws as they pertain to the film industry.
6C, If the film contains nudity or sexual content
In the event that the film contains sexually explicit material, then you’ll need to provide proof of 28 C.F.R. Compliance and record-keeping responsibilities and documentation of those record-keeping responsibilities.
Similarly, you’ll need to provide additional documentation from any actor appearing nude or partially nude on screen consenting that their nudity was meant to be widely disseminated among the public.
6D, If it was a union picture
If the film is union, you’ll need to provide all your agreements and proof that you’re in good standing.
6E, Other Contractual Obligations.
There may be a whole host of other releases from governmental, technical, and legal entities that prove this film can be distributed, but there’s such variance, it goes far beyond the scope of this blog.
Thanks for reading! This one ended up being a bit scary. Check the other posts for more. Also, Grab my free Indiefilm Business Resource Package to get a free e-book, templates, and a monthly blog digest to increase your ability to find meaningful distribution, and check the tags below for more information on filmmaking.
