This Deal Point Checklist is designed to highlight areas of importance when entering into a Co-Production Agreement for your Film. Attorney Michael Norman Saleman offers these Deal Point Checklists as a courtesy to users of this website. Contact Mr. Saleman if you need help with any of your project’s legal documentation.
Download (Co-Production-Agreement-Film.docx
) and use this checklist when negotiating a Co-Production Agreement Film to assist you reaching an agreement on major deal points. Return this Word document with the details to facilitate the drafting of your agreements.
- Purpose of Co-Production
- Name of Motion Picture
- Budget Amount
- Term
- Conditions to moving forward, such as raising money and time limits.
- Term of Agreement After Money Raised.
- Term of years
- Life of copyright
- In perpetuity
- Financing
- How picture will be financed (private investor, bank, pre-sell, incentives, studio, combination)
- Fees in budget
- Producer
- Executive Producer
- Contributions Duties
- What is each party contributing
- cash
- intellectual property (e.g. the screenplay)
- services
- List who is doing what for the production of the motion picture
- producer
- executive producer
- writer
- director
- What is each party contributing
- Creative Control
- Business side
- Creative side
- Final cut as between the parties
- Approvals
- Production schedule
- Rating
- Length
- Delivery date
- Editing/looping/dubbing/subtitles
- How will deadlocks be resolved (if even number of parties)
- Credits
- First position
- Separate Card/same card
- Size of type
- Company credits
- Ownership of the picture and all elements
- Usually owned by the LLC that will be created by the parties
- Distribution of Revenues
- How will monies be divided
- Recoupments
- Deferrals
- Net Profit splits and definitions
- Fees, percentages of receipts (profits) and expense reimbursement
- Domestic
- Foreign
- Home video
- Television-pay, cable, syndication, network, etc.
- Digital exploitation and platforms
- Merchandise
- Soundtrack
- All other allied and ancillary
- Will these rights be split or divided?
- Confidentiality
- Exclusive to the project or free to work on other projects.
- If exclusive, for what period of time.
- How will conflicts of interest be handled (e.g. working on a similar project)
- Who handles books, statements and bank accounts.
- Audit rights of other parties