A Brief Introduction About the Actor Agreement
All the actors have to sign an agreement with their employers when they hire them for acting. Such actions can be anything such as films, TV shows, advertisements, short films, commercials, or live shows. Some of the factors are common to actor contracts, and thus agreement signed by an actor by accepting some terms and conditions is known as an actor contract. Such an agreement is between the actor and producer or production company. Most of the actors hire an entertainment attorney to assist them in whether they can accept the contract or not. Such an entertainment attorney will also assist you in getting some best deal from the producer as such attorneys are much experienced in negotiating actor contracts. An experienced lawyer will help the actor in such a way that the contract will not end as the one-side in favor of the producer. Such a lawyer will make the contract neutral to both the actor and producer.
Who Takes the Actor Agreement?
To avoid any misunderstandings between the actor and producer and other team members of the film, an actor contract is built. Film agreement is another crucial thing that will protect the rights of the film by avoiding all the risks starting from pre-production to distribution of the film. The main personalities involved in the actor agreement are an actor and the production team or producer. Both personalities have to sign the agreement by accepting certain rules. Sometimes, there is a chance in which actor will be getting less payment for his work in the film. This is due to the problem that most of the actor contracts are one-sided in favor of the producer. To handle such a situation, an actor may need an entertainment lawyer to assist in the things that are biased for the favor of producer. Thus, a well-drafted actor contract should be in such a way that both actor and producer will get mutual benefits.
Purpose of the Actor Agreement
The temporary contracts will mean various things to an actor, and the purpose of this agreement is to make the actor understand the various things required from him/her for the film. In short, different rules to be followed by an actor while shooting the film given with conditions in the actor contract which will be read and signed by an actor. In an actor agreement, the term of employment will be mentioned by the producer, which will give information about how long an actor needs to work for the film. Start-dates and end-dates of the temporary employment are given in the contract. For example, in an actor contract template, per day how many hours an actor has to work for the film will be mentioned. Similarly, the contract will request the actor whether the production team can use the actor’s name and image for the acting job and for other advertising purposes to promote the film. Likewise, to get the access and permission of the actor along with some rules followed by him/her, the actor contract is built. Such an agreement also mentions the crucial point that the actor has to face when he breaks the contract rules.
Contents of the Actor Agreement
There are some common components involved in most of the agreement which can be anything such as films, short films, TV shows, etc. Such components are the same for the actor’s contract too. The first point will be the availability of the actor to the production team for acting in the film. For example, some of the celebrity contracts will mention certain hours each day, as such celebrities are busy with another schedule too. Most of the time, such celebrities or actors will accept to work in one film at a time.
Another thing that the acting contract will mention is the actor’s compensation. There are different methods of compensating actors such as Flat-Rate for the job, Hourly rate, Per-Performance rate, or Percentage of Proceeds. The next point is the already mentioned above, which means limiting the actor’s rights to engage in other employment while working for your film.
The next component is based on the actor’s rights to provide the employer whether to use the actor’s name and image to promote the film or other related activities. In the actor contract pdf form, this point will be mentioned by the employer that they need the permission of the actor to use his image for the film or other merchandising purposes. Such merchandising potentials include the t-shirts, posters, action figures, books, etc. involved with actor’s images. For which the actor has to sign an additional contract known as an actor release form for providing rights to use any actor’s image, voice, or performance for the film’s distribution.
Acting contracts will also specify other details like whether the production team wills provide the food and refreshments on-set for the actor while working in the film. It will also include other services such as travel expenses and the actor’s wardrobe etc. Finally, the acting contract will also mention the remedial measures taken by the producer when the actor violates the contract.
Points to Consider Before Signing the Actor’s Agreement
When the actor wants to sign the actor’s agreement, he/she should ensure certain things are proper in the agreement to accept for signing it. Here are a few tips to consider while signing the actor’s agreement.
As already discussed, an entertainment attorney for an actor is needed to ensure the things are proper in the contract to sign or not. Such an attorney will check whether all the parties of the film are properly identified and also the scope of work addressed by the producer? Then he will also check the payment related stuff along with the number of hours; an actor has to act per day, etc. These things will be monitored by your attorney, and he will assist you in all those things.
Now the actor has to understand what he/she is signing the film. Because not all the jobs or parties are the same to work with. A good contract will specify the various things expected firm an actor. Here the producer also plays a major role in mentioning all his needs in an agreement properly. When the actor can do all such things, he can sign the agreement, for which he can also negotiate to ask for some favors from the producer.
But make sure that you are dealing with all the contract related stuff with the guidance of an entertainment attorney, as many actors think about the money and don’t appoint an attorney for their work. It is always better to consult an attorney before signing a contract, as he will also compare your contract with other actor contract sample for finding some crucial points.
Negotiation Strategy
Negotiation strategy will be perfected played by your entertainment attorney to help for getting some favors from the producer. An actor should not feel afraid to negotiate things. As the contract is a recitation of an agreement between you and your producer, you can’t accept simply difficult things mentioned by the producer in a contract related to acting. Such unfavorable or unclear terms are noticed by your entertainment attorney, and he will help to negotiate the most favorable terms available for what you are going to do in a film. Though the actor will not get all the favors, there is a chance to get at least 50% of what he asks the producer.
Benefits & Drawbacks of the Actor Agreement
There are some advantages and disadvantages of the acting contract, which are given below:
Pros:
An acting contract is a binding contract between an actor and producer where the important aspects such as compensation, benefits, breaching of actor’s contract and other duties of the actor are mentioned, which will help the actor to get an overall idea related to the film. An actor’s contract will allow actors for the high level of specificity regarding the details of the film. Such a contract will also mention the compensation paid to an actor upon completion of the film. Here the actor can negotiate the producer when the film involves daunting tasks. Such a contract is proof for an actor when any dispute arises with your producer in the future. Thus, the actor contract acts as a sense of stability and security for both an actor and producer.
Cons:
Some of the acting contracts will limit the flexibility of the actors in the shooting set. Mostly such limitations one can expect in actors agreement for short film. But nowadays, some of the strict directors will recommend such conditions to the producer for the film. Such conditions will also be mentioned by the producer in an acting contract. Actors feel it difficult to breach the contract if they have agreed to those strict conditions in the contract. To deal with such issues, it is necessary to hire an entertainment attorney to guide the actor.
What Happens in Case of Violation?
This is another important thing that will happen in some of the film shooting. When the producer finds an actor is not proper to the shooting set like being absent or late to a set or poor performance or other issues, the producer has the right to ask the actor and ask for penalties for the same. To avoid this in the future, an actor will try to negotiate and limit such penalties before signing the contract.
A breach of the contract occurs when anyone of the parties forgets to keep up their promises of the acting contract. There are four main types of contract breaches, such as a minor breach, material breach, fundamental breach, and anticipatory breach. A small breach happens when the party fails to do a part of the contract but not the whole. A material breach is a serious one, which will lead to the court for collecting damages from the breaching party. A fundamental breach is almost similar to material breach where the party is allowed to end the acting contract and ask for the losses in the breach event. Finally, an anticipatory breach happens when one party finds the other party is not fit for the job. Thus, if an actor violates the acting contract, he/she may lose the contract value and responsible for the expenses imposed by the producer as a result of breaking the contract.
[Also Read: Endorsement Contract]
An actor contract is not just a paper to quickly sign by an actor, as it involves various essential things to be considered by an actor before signing it. If the actor fails to follow as per the rules of the contract, then it will even lead to spoiling his/her career. So, it is better to hire an entertainment attorney when you want to sign a new film contract. As there are different parties in the film industry, you will get different rules in a contract which you have to accept and fact in the future. Whenever the actor enters into an acting contract, it will be much helpful to have an entertainment lawyer for reviewing the agreement, and guiding you with some important points mentioned in the agreement. He will also help for negotiating the terms favoring the actor. Thus, a lawyer will help you the best while signing the actor contract for achieving the best value for the same.