Legal side of making a movie

[salim]

Crossing my finger, going to shoot my first short narrative in 2 weeks. It's about a 20-25 minutes long.

The project has two main actresses and 2-3 additional voice parts (but they're off the camera). I'll have an assistant who will do the sound and slate. So  this is very low budget. 

The actresses are both professional but will perform for no fee. 

 

My question is, what types of legal paperwork should I have the crew sign. Is it just a basic model release work? 

I must also add I'll be shooting this in Russia. So not sure, if I should get something that is legally binding in Russia or in US, where I hope to enter a few different festivals maybe. 

 

I wrote the script myself, but I had a friend translate it into Russian, do I need to get some kind of a release from the translator? 

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful and first-hand experiences. 

[Geoff CB]

Written permission and usage from everyone in the acting AND voice cast to use their image/voice.

[webrunner5]

So is that a Model release on steroids??

[salim]

10 minutes ago, Geoff CB said:

Written permission and usage from everyone in the acting AND voice cast to use their image/voice.

Thanks! Is it like a model release or is there something more robust? If you have any links or template to something you've used it would be highly appreciated. Cheers!

[IronFilm]

Yeah just an actor/model release. If you're being anal about it, then location releases too. 

But many ultra micro budget short films don't even do this. 

However with it being a 20 minute long short, that is an overly long time investment for a short film (not something I'd recommend!), so I'd suggest you cover your ass with a bit of paperwork. 

[kaylee]

2 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Yeah just an actor/model release. If you're being anal about it, then location releases too. 

But many ultra micro budget short films don't even do this. 

However with it being a 20 minute long short, that is an overly long time investment for a short film (not something I'd recommend!), so I'd suggest you cover your ass with a bit of paperwork. 

when I said I was gonna make a youtube miniseries and asked for advice, a bunch of people on here said Uhhh... maybe you should start with something shorter...

and ***they were RIGHT***

i ended up making a 4 min film – WAY WAY SMARTER IN EVERY WAY. glad i did. just throwing it out there

that being said, the more commercial your project is, the more you need to worry about shit like this. my short is, at best,  proof of concept that i can make films – im not trying to directly profit from it in any way financially. of course i have releases, but what are you going to sue me for, 30% of $0? good luck with that

my point @salim is that IF YOU MIGHT EVER SELL THIS FILM FOR MONEY, TO ANYONE, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, YOU NEED RELEASES ON EVERYTHING. that is the professional answer

the fear of course being that some a-hole sues you in the future, after your project becomes profitable. if thats a non-issue, then who cares. but you have to make that determination

finally, there is the concept in all of this that people should understand the release theyre signing. if they dont its actually worthless in court – not that that comes up, but its like a cop reading you your miranda rights, You have the right to remain silent, etc, and then asking, DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IVE TOLD YOU?

a conversation like that means a lot more to me than a piece of paper. when it comes to hardcore IP issues, have a talk with ppl, and get them to sign something. if its an actor or location release for an indie short, dont trip too hard, but at least make the actors sign a standard release

[IronFilm]

1 hour ago, kaylee said:

when I said I was gonna make a youtube miniseries and asked for advice, a bunch of people on here said Uhhh... maybe you should start with something shorter...

and ***they were RIGHT***

i ended up making a 4 min film – WAY WAY SMARTER IN EVERY WAY. glad i did. just throwing it out there

Glad to hear that! :-) And you're welcome ?

People need to always keep in mind what are they wanting to get out of a short film? The "return" (not a financial return! Ha. No, but rather some kind of "non-financial" return) will almost certainly be near on exactly the same if it is a 4 minute or a 20 minute short film. Yet the cost (in time/money/effort/missed opportunity cost / etc) will be far far higher!

 

1 hour ago, kaylee said:

my point @salim is that IF YOU MIGHT EVER SELL THIS FILM FOR MONEY, TO ANYONE, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, YOU NEED RELEASES ON EVERYTHING. that is the professional answer

the fear of course being that some a-hole sues you in the future, after your project becomes profitable. if thats a non-issue, then who cares. but you have to make that determination

Odds of a short film being sold:
0.0000000001%

 

[sanveer]

5 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

Odds of a short film being sold:
0.0000000001%

Yes. And that's why shorts should be made in the lowest possible budget (without sounding or looking crap). It is indeed difficult to sell short films. 

[kaylee]

@IronFilm thank you! ?

[salim]

25 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

 

Odds of a short film being sold:
0.0000000001%

 

it's a work of passion, just something I wanted to do. but if some one likes the short and they want to invest money to turn the short in to a 90 min project, then I'm fine with that. I just wanted to create something that I had in my mind and turn it to reality and not look back one day and tell myself I wish I had done that. So this is mostly something to do, so I can avoid having regrets in the future. 

I got lucky and met a talented actress who brought another actress that they worked together. So the cast is going to be solid. So far, they like the script I wrote. So as long as I don't mess it up, it might be half decent or sow mething that I wont be embarrassed to show to friends. 

Of course, I would love to enter a few festivals just to show what I've done and if it goes anywhere form there, the more the better. 

BTW, @Andrew Reid - I'm planning to shoot the entire thing with your profile (Sony A7Riii). So if you have any advice for color balancing, etc. would appreciate it outside of your PDF. 

[kaylee]

good for you, @salim, i think thats fantastic, and i wish you the absolute best of luck!!!

 

[kaseybonez]

On 9/19/2018 at 10:06 PM, IronFilm said:

ultra micro budget

i love this term! XD i relate...

[IronFilm]

If you're paying your crew less than a hundred bucks a day each then it is an exaggeration to call it a micro budget film, either just flat out call it a "no budget film" or an ultra micro budget film

[salim]

On 9/23/2018 at 2:32 PM, IronFilm said:

less than a hundred bucks a day

still cost money to buy food for the crew, rent a bigger place to house them during the shoot and there is additional location cost, etc. So it's not zero budget. But yes, I'm not paying money to anyone and they understand. 

 

[IronFilm]

People will often call a $50K or whatever feature film a "zero budget" or "no budget" film, as it is all just a rounding error that rounds down to zero. 

[kye]

On 9/25/2018 at 11:51 PM, IronFilm said:

People will often call a $50K or whatever feature film a "zero budget" or "no budget" film, as it is all just a rounding error that rounds down to zero. 

Excellent! Can you please share the technique for me to round $50k on my next family holiday down to zero?

(Yes, I know....)

[IronFilm]

Relative to bigger budget movies which have a craft's good budget just of itself which would be many times larger, then yeah, $50K is a "no budget feature film"

[kaylee]

@IronFilm lol sure is. sometimes when im trying to explain to normals how hollywood works, im just like "They dont understand figures under 1 million dollars"