Legislation presented by U.S. Senate Banking Committee chairman, Chris Dodd is working its way through the legislative process. The proposed “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2009” could make it significantly harder for film producers to utilize some of the most common investor-financing models to fund the budgets of their films. The bill is viewed by ...
I've just read that L.A. city council member Richard Alarcon has asked city officials to report on the steps needed to create a film commission to persuade production companies to shoot in L.A. I'm stunned that the city, historically home to the TV and Movie industries, hadn't already had such ...
Q: Is it possible through an entertainment attorney, for the screenwriter to have control of rewriting, changing, adding or eliminating scenes, etc.?
Yes, it is possible, in a collaboration agreement, to separate rights in certain components of the work, so that a composer retains all rights in the songs, while the parties share equally (or according to some other formula) in the other components. Unfortunately, each situation is different, so there’s no set ‘form’ or ‘standard’ way to handle this wording.
Last month, just hours before the scheduled start of production on Columbia Pictures' "Moneyball", starring Brad Pitt and directed by Steven Soderbergh, the studio pulled the plug on production, putting the project into "limited turnaround" With an A-list star like Brad Pitt, and ...
In recent weeks, I’ve begun to see more and more independent filmmakers and theatre producers using forums, chat rooms, and other internet-services to seek out investors for their projects. In most cases, these inquiries are couched in plain language: “Seeking investors for independent film” or similar. Unfortunately for these producers, their use of ...
The LA City Council is once again contemplating changes to the City's location permit rules that stand to make much more difficult for Location Managers, especially those working on short timelines. The agenda for the March 31 Council meeting includes consideration for new rules would impose longer lead-times for permit requests to be submitted ...
L.A. approves incentive package: "Runaway Production: City aims to keep film, TV productions in town -- There's no tax credits in there yet, but the Los Angeles City Council has approved a package of incentives aimed at keeping film and TV productions in Los Angeles ." (Via Variety.com - Runaway Production.)
In recent weeks, I’ve had a number of clients express their view that the current down economy means that they won’t be able to find investors to finance their films and/or shows. As a consequence, they’re sitting back, waiting things out.. not trying to make it happen. Meanwhile, I’ve had others tell me that investors are ...
Further follow up to my post on Wednesday regarding YouTube's automated audio-muting of user-generated videos containing unlicensed music..... According to this piece at the Hollywood Reporter.. YouTube is taking things a step further... allowing users to REPLACE offending music in video soundtracks with pre-cleared music.... (automatically?) I ask you again... does ...