Screenwriting : What about these credits for the WGA or other organizations? by Elisabeth Meier

Not idiotic at all. Contracts are convoluted, very word-specific, and legally binding. If someone has offered you a contract, then your best option is to consult a lawyer (or, solicitor I think is correct in Europe). I strongly suggest you do so. I look at the text you've provided above and see zero payment for you -- there are never any "net profits" in the film business (at least in the US). Personally, I'd push back on the "death and disability" clause. Why shouldn't myself (if disabled for some reason -- and what if it's only temporary disability?) or my heirs (who would need it) not benefit from what I'd get if I where hale and hearty? How do you know what the Producer's net profit definition is? (But I'm not a lawyer - there may be reasons these are in there.) You can view standard WGA contracts here: http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=1027 But again, your best course of action is to have a lawyer familiar with entertainment deals take a look at this. Barrign that, a good agent. You're going to do a LOT of work on this project if you're starting with someone else's three line pitch, so don't end up burned in the process. Unless it's in your contract, your work could end up owned by someone else and completely useless to you.

Thank you Shelley. I tried it with an entertainment lawyer from NYC, a contact I found here. For reasons I don't know he first said he would love to have a look on it and when I wrote what I would like to change and what he would think about it he never replied again. This is exactly what nobody needs in my situation. Couldn't find another one and tried to find an agent in Europe. I asked a good agency in London, but they didn't get back to me yet. Can't find entertainment lawyers here in Germany who have sound knowledge of international business. It's a really difficult situation for me and the other side is waiting now. Concerning the net profits I asked them how I would know the net profits and what is meant by "the producer's definition of net profit" because I have university degree in economy and know only one net profits which is the profit after tax. Hence, I already thought the whole paragraph is complete nonsense. Concerning your last remark... very interesting as I asked for the copyrights to be able to submit the script to script contests and have a chance to make a little extra money with it - the producer denied and said this was not possible, mainly because he hired me. To me anything is possible and negotiable. Hence, I need help! So I thought maybe here I could find someone who could advise and help me.

Contingent comp is standard and typical. (The other type of comp is Guaranteed comp.) Under a WGA contract, the WGA will make a final credit determination when the movie has been produced. You will be given a chance to arbitrate within the WGA. If the WGA determines that you are the sole credited writer, you get X. If they determine that you share credit, you get a lesser amount, etc. For example, you write the first draft, but the Financier hires Steve Zaillain to write the 2nd Draft. You may end up sharing credit: Screenplay by Elisabeth M and Steve Zaillian. Therefore, you would not get the max amount for sole credit, but you would get the lesser amount for shared credit. If you have previous quotes and multiple job offers, you can use them to try to negotiate a better deal. If you don't, it's harder to negotiate. Agents and attorneys deal with these offers every day, and they will have a much better idea of the "going rate" for your type of deal. Congrats and good luck!!!

"Someone told me these percentages shall be for the WGA, but I don't know." The "percentages" aren't "for the WGA." They are coming from the Financier making the deal. If the Financier is signatory to the WGA, they must use the WGA to determine credit, and they must use the WGA MBA (Minimum Basic Agreement), i.e. they must not offer you a deal below WGA Min.

Here's an example from a movie I worked on as a studio exec. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381971/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_wr#writers See where it says "Writing Credits (WGA) Ken Kaufman ... (screenplay) Ken Kaufman ... (story) and Mike Werb ... (story)" This script was rewritten by several writers. When the movie was made, the Producers/Studio make a recommendation to the WGA of who we believe deserves credit. Then we send every draft over to the WGA. The WGA assigns a committee of WGA writers (a jury of your peers so to speak, like the criminal justice system!) to read the scripts and determine credit. After reading every draft, the committee issues a credit proposal, and then the writers involved in the credit determination are given a chance to arbitrate within the WGA (not an outside court). In the end, the WGA credit arbitration committee decided that Ken Kaufman deserved sole screenplay credit, and that Ken and Mike Werb deserved to share "story by" credit. Ken and Mike are then paid their contingent comp accordingly by the studio, per their contracts. (By this late stage, their guaranteed comp has most likely already been paid in full, unless they are due a certain bonus, for example.)

Lastly in terms of the percentages you reference, when the movie is released, the revenue (box office receipts) starts to come in. Only then can Net Profits be calculated. You get your share of the Net Profits. You get a bigger share if you were awarded sole credit, a smaller share if you were awarded shared credit, etc.

Regina, thank you so much. I reply to you in a private message.

I just reread your post. I'm confused. I thought you said this was "for the WGA" and I thought you were being offered a WGA contract, but now I'm not sure if you're being offered a WGA contract. If you are not being offered a WGA contract, please disregard the WGA stuff that I typed as it won't apply to non-WGA contracts.

I'm sorry for my confusion. I really thought you were asking about a WGA contract. Non-WGA deals are not my area of expertise. I'll bow out of this conversation. Please consult with other S32ers who have experience with non-WGA deals. In any case, congrats and go get 'em!!

In short, if it's a non-WGA deal, I don't know how the Financier/Producer will determine credit. It could be arbitrary. OK, I've wasted enough of everyone's time now. Good luck!!

Regina, thanks again, I replied to your private messages. I have no idea if it's a WGA contract or not as this is the first international contract for me. If it was all in German I would know what is meant, what to do, whom to call etc. So, if I get you right then you mean it looks like a WGA contract because they mention the paragraph which I copied here, right? I'm getting more and more confused by this contract the more I learn from you. Please get me right, it's not you who confuse me, but the contract.

Is there anyone here who could advise me - anything? Like how to find a serious international agency for screenwriters and a good entertainment lawyer??? I'm really usually good in negotiating but this stuff is so complicated and broad that I can't handle this alone. Plus, it totally hinders me because I'm thinking about this all the time and can't concentrate on my job which is writing and being creative.

Hi yes, I was under the impression it was a WGA contract because of your paragraph that you wrote in the Original Post. "What about these credits for the WGA or other organizations?" I thought you meant the contract was a WGA deal. Are you prepared to pay an entertainment attorney per hour? Or are you looking for a commission-only attorney? Where is the employer located? I do not know any attorneys in Europe. I fear a US attorney would not have the expertise that is ideal for you, because the US attorney is probably not familiar with the typical rates that your employer pays. Ideally, you should find an attorney who knows what your employer's deals look like. Only then could the attorney know if you are being presented with a fair offer.

If you are willing to pay for an attorney by the hour, you can also look at the employer's credits on IMDb and try to cross-reference to determine which attorneys do business with them. For example, let's say the employer is Studio Canal in France. You look at Canal's credits, you see who they do business with, you figure out which attorneys represent those players, and you approach those attorneys who do regular business with Canal.

You should also call the Screenwriters' Guild of Germany and ask if they have resources for you or if they have any attorney referrals. Writers' guilds are usually very focused on helping writers.

Well, the producer runs a company named Coopfilm. He seems to be European with roots in Italy and Portugal but said he actually live on the Seychelles. His lawyer is American - at least I think so by his name and the kind of contract he designed (which of course can be a standard US thing downloaded somewhere) - and I have no idea whether the US or the European Law has to be taken for this contract. If it all were that easy to take the German law then I would not need any advice because with my background I know business contracts and would know who to ask. The payment this producer offers me has no basis in Europe. There is nothing like the Basic Schedule of the WGA in Europe or in its countries as far as I know. For sure not in Germany. Then, the "Writers Guild" in Germany feels only responsible for contracts between people in Germany. Hence, their rules are only following the German law which is only to take if it is between Germans of course. So, you are all alone as soon as you work international. There is no European Guild yet as law still is differs from country to country and each country is of course responsible for its own law. So, Regina, no studio and I of course first checked the producer via imdb, he has very few credits so far, and no Guild which I could call. This is why I thought I try to ask the lounge here. Further, an entertainment lawyer in Germany usually don't know about international contracts following US law and if there is any who does how could I find him now? Then, I don't know if I could pay a lawyer from this payment and a lawyer would only check the law and not negotiate the details. I think what I firstly need is someone who can negotiate this contract for me and for my understanding this can an agency do. Maybe I'm wrong. So, all your last hints are well meant, but you see it's very difficult if not even someone like you who's dealing with these things everyday knows what exactly is to do. How can I, the beginner in international contracts, know then.

Regina, I will get back to your private messages a little later - it's 5:40 am here. Maybe we can keep it there because I think it's complicated to switch between this lounge discussion and private messages... See you later.

Does the contract say that disputes would be arbitrated in the US? If not, which country would disputes be arbitrated in? You don't have to answer me in public, but is this deal a big enough deal that it would be worth an agent's time? For example, in a WGA film script deal is typically over $100,000 so the agent will make $10,000, and that is worth his/her time. For small deals, an agent might not be willing to spend hours to make a few hundred dollars. As I've said, I am not doing international, non-WGA deals, so this is not my area of expertise.

Elisabeth and I have PMed, and I've tried to help her as much as I can. I just want to note 2 quick things for those who are following this thread. NET PROFITS: "Net Profits shall be defined, computed, accounted for, and paid on the same basis as Producer’s definition of Net Profits." "How do you know what the Producer's net profit definition is?" "Concerning the net profits I asked them how I would know the net profits and what is meant by "the producer's definition of net profit" because I have university degree in economy and know only one net profits which is the profit after tax. Hence, I already thought the whole paragraph is complete nonsense." - It is not "complete nonsense." The Net Profits definition is typically found in a separate Addendum/Appendix/Exhibit attached to the main employment contract. The definition is how the Financier defines Net Profits for all their deals. You will not be able to change how this Financier has chosen to define Net Profits. You might be able to negotiate a higher percentage for yourself (especially if you have previous quotes), but you will not be able to change their definition. "Hey, Amazon, please redefine profit-sharing for me, this one person who doesn't agree with your profit definition." It's not going to happen. You might say, "In my last deal, I got 6%, so I want a higher percentage than what you offered me." "Unless it's in your contract, your work could end up owned by someone else and completely useless to you." - That's right. This job is "work for hire." Elisabeth is being hired and paid to write an idea that was originally generated by the Financier/Producer. She cannot own the copyright. Like I told Elisabeth, if I hire and pay her to paint my house or to paint my portrait, she is being paid for her painting services. I retain ownership of the paint, the house, and/or the painting. As a "writer for hire," she is being paid for her writing services, and the Financier retains ownership of the property, especially since it was their idea in the first place. She is a "writer for hire" in this situation. - If this were a WGA deal (and it's not), the WGA protects the writer by instituting a WGA Re-acquisition Period (http://www.wga.org/subpage_member.aspx?id=1052). The writer can BUY BACK her script under certain conditions. Or the writer can have another party BUY BACK the script for her or for their group. (There are other ways to buy back a script, and I can't give examples of each and every way in which it can happen. One example: Fox can buy a script from Disney, or HBO can buy a script from AMC.) But you usually have to buy back the script, including expenses and interest. - If you were hired as the Architect of a building, maybe they give you only a one paragraph description of how they want the building to be designed. You get paid to draw up all the plans. You're an architect for hire, paid for your design services. Do you own the building? No. - Maybe try to negotiate an acquisition after a period of inactivity. If the Financier does not produce the movie within a Term (e.g. 7 years), you get the chance to pay them back for their fees, and take the script away to do with however you please, or try to resell to another Financier. Before you sell it to someone else, maybe they have a chance to match the new offer. If after 7 years of inactivity, maybe the Financier no longer wants your script, and they might be very happy to let you buy it back for 50 cents on the dollar. Who knows.

Copyright. Does the director own the movie he/she was hired to direct? No, the studio/financier owns the movie. The director might get a piece of the Gross Profits or the Net Profits. Elisabeth has been offered a piece of the Net. (I think in Asian countries, oftentimes the filmmakers do own the movies. If a movie is independent, then who knows who owns it because it depends on the specific deals that were made between multiple parties.) But work-for-hire typically means that the Financier owns the movie and its copyright.

If a movie is independent the writers usually are the filmmakers. Hence, they own the copyright themselves and finance it with money from everywhere. If an independent filmmaker hires somebody to write a script for his next independent film he will own the copyright because he hired and paid the writer. Maybe the independent filmmaker finds a producer. Then it also depends on who wrote the script on spec and sold it to them or who was hired to write what they want and need. So, I don't see any difference. Do you? Maybe I missed a point?