Unit 8 : Understanding the Television and Film Industries - Contracts

Legal Contracts:

Getting a job in any industry can be difficult, with the film industry in particular requiring a lot of effort to find work. Once a job is found, usually a person will be required to sign a contract to state their intent and willingness to work on the project, with a list of terms that they have to work with in order to make sure they're working in line with what they are asked and required to do.

This is something that generally applies to everyone, even people working in transport, medical teams, actors and directors will usually be provided a contract by a production company that they have to sign, telling them about risks, any costs necessary, what they are and aren't allowed to openly discuss and any other information necessary to relay. When JJ Abrams came on as director of Stars Wars: The Force Awakens, he likely would have had to sign a contract with some guidelines, likely telling him what he can and can't talk about in relation to the film. Naturally such a big project they would have wanted to keep secret, and it can be assumed everyone was presented with similar terms banning them from talking about Star Wars.

What this means is that everyone on set, even people like JJ Abrams and Harrison Ford, would have signed a contract assuring confidentiality on the film. If somebody approached Harrison Ford and asked him what happens to his character during the movie, he would not have been able to answer too many questions, with the most he'd be allowed to say being that he plays a good guy, which wouldn't surprise too many fans. Any information about the film can not be discussed openly to anyone, or else they'll be breaking their contractual agreement and, by extension, the law, as well as potentially ruining the film for fans, all three being terrible for anyone in the industry. Likely if somebody broke their agreement of full non-disclosure, they would have to pay a large amount of money, and it's unlikely they'd be considered for another movie by the production company in the forseeable future, meaning that, if Harrison Ford went around telling people Han Solo has a 'friendly conversation' with his son on a bridge over a pointless bottomless pit, he could have been removed from the film - Although it's likely he would not have due to his plot relevance - and then be told by Disney that he isn't allowed to work for them again. By extension, this may have made Harrison Ford be known to break his confidentiality with studios and may give him a bad reputation amongst other companies, forcing him to be unable to work for any of the larger companies, something that even an aging actor should best avoid if they want another paycheck.

The contracts cover other things as well as being told what not to say, such as disclosing information on health and safety. Harrison Ford was likely told that the company was liable should he trip on a wire or fall into some unsafe equipment, or if he got himself into an unlikely situation where a door closes on him, and will also have been given guidelines on avoiding these situations and generally staying alive on set, which will cover the company largely in the event that he did get hit by a door and want to make a claim on the company, as the contract states guidelines on avoiding getting hit by doors, meaning he can't claim he was unaware there would be doors that close on set.

His contract likely discussed other things for him, such as whether he would pay any money, who he'd have to pay money to, whether he would be paid any money, who would be paying him his money, anything to do with money and other information such as details on management and production staff, who to contact in case of an emergency and possibly some form of instruction on schedules of shooting or meetings and who will be on set at what times, although this will more likely be presented at a later date.

There are other types of contracts, though. While sometimes present in film (such as the Marvel films) it is fairly common that a TV network will ask an actor to sign a contract that states they will exclusively work for that company until a certain date. Take The Walking Dead as an example. It was stated early on that, at the very least in relation to TV, the actors for Abraham, Eugene and Rosita would be exclusively with AMC as "season regulars" on the show, meaning that the actors would only work on AMC's The Walking Dead until otherwise instructed, being required to come back every season until, most likely, their character dies and they are requested to leave. A plus side to this is that it means the crew at AMC will know for sure that these actors will be staying with them for a while, meaning they can write the characters into major roles (especially so for Abraham and Eugene) and not worry about the actor leaving (such was the case early on in the show, with the actor for Dale leaving when offered a higher paycheck). This can also cause problems should the actor grow to resent the role or wish to move on (as was the case with the previously mentioned Dale), and will cause the actor to lose interest in the show and make them difficult to work with. While the actors will obviously not be kept at AMC's headquarters until their time is up and be allowed to look around for other work or other shows/movies to work on, due to their contract they will have to stick with AMC for at least as long as it takes for their contract to run out. This may last a season, or it may last what has so far been just under 3 seasons, with the poential to renew the contract should the actor wish to remain exclusive to AMC, or a chance to change it to be less exclusive and allow them to work on other projects, too.

Exclusivity rights for a company can also apply to members of crew as well as cast, with some directors or writers working specifically for a certain company.  Many directors may sign themselves as exclusively working for a certain company for a movie or two, or may sign themselves on to help direct a single TV show for a few episodes, as it can make it easier for the company to manage and can work out with them having to spend less time and/or money working with someone who is bouncing between several projects at once, causing it to overall benefit the company and usually help the contractor with allowing to have a stable job for a period of time.

Working Contracts:

The other type of contract would be that of someone being contracted for a job. For example, a very common type of job in the industry is freelance contract where somebody would work for anyone they apply for without being tied down to a specific company. This is commonly done so as not to associate an actor or director with one movie, franchise or company to make them more free to work on whatever they want to work on at any moment. This type of contract is different to what is mentioned above. It's more that a company will hire them to do a job for them, which is what the hired person is contracted for, being hired for this specific job, any signing of contracts in this instance would be simply to state that they are working for the company, although they would likely still have to keep the project quiet. The different working contracts available are:


Full-Time Permanent
Part-Time Permanent
Fixed-Term Freelance
Shift
Office Hours
Salaried
On Completion


A full-time contract would be a 39 hour week, regular company staff member entitled to all worker benefits, such as maternity and paternity leave, sick pay and pensions. Managerial, editorial, financial and, on occasion, marketing jobs tend to be more permanent, full-time working jobs as opposed to being part-time or freelance.


A part-time permanent contract would be a set amount of hours to a full-time contract, but considerably less than 39 hours, with similar (or the same) benefits of a permanent contract, but reduced to adjust to your lower working hours. Financial and marketing jobs are most likely to fall under this type of contract.


A freelance contract is a much more temporary job which will last for a very set period of time. It may provide some company benefits, but things such as pension will and holiday pay will need arranging by the contracted worker as opposed to the company. Many creative people, like the majority of talent on-set, will fall under this category, although some freelance contracts may, as mentioned before, be more permanent, working for a company for a longer period of time. Sales and marketing teams may fall in this category, too.


A shift contract will be prevalent amongst TV broadcasters, where people have set hours of the day to work, such as news readers or presenters of, for example, the One Show, where they go to work from 7pm to 8pm every day, but may also apply to a radio crew or other jobs that require being manned 24 hours a day by different shifts of people.


Office hours will, traditionally, be filled by those that work in an office. They work a typical 9-5 and will work in administration and other office based jobs, including legal and potentially production based teams based on paperwork with many assistants filling the jobs.


A salaried contract is given in monthly payments. It would be advertised as, for example, $24,000 per year, which would be divided by 12 to give $2,000 a month. Managerial and technical careers are most likely to have this kind of career, which is somewhere between permanent and freelance., but would be fairly uncommon in the film industry compared to others.


The on completion contracts consist of a contract that outlines the job required, and will give the full pay when what is required is done. This will be very common along with freelance jobs across all talent in the industry, but may also extend to some technical and editorial positions, providing a more stable supply of freelance workers.