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Above-the-Line Costs:
Portion of the budget that covers major creative participants (writer,
director, actors and producer) including script and story development
costs.
Adaptations:
Derivative works. When a motion picture is based on a book, the movie
has been adapted from the book.
Adjusted
Gross Participation: Gross participation minus certain costs, such as
cost of advertising and duplication. Also called "Rolling
Gross." If many deductions are allowed, the participant is
essentially getting a "net profit" deal.
Administrator:
Person appointed by a court to manage the assets of a deceased person.
Advance:
Up-front payment that counts against monies that may be payable at some
time in the future. Non-recoupable advances are payments that are not
refundable even if future monies are never due.
Affirm:
To ratify or approve.
Aforesaid:
Previously said.
Amend:
Change, modify.
Answer
Print: The first composite (sound and picture) motion picture print
from the laboratory with editing, score and mixing completed. Usually
color values will need to be corrected before a release print is made.
Art
Theater: Shows specialized art films, generally in exclusive
engagements, rather than mass-market studio films.
Aspect
Ratio: (A.R.) The proportion of picture width to height.
Assign:
Transfer.
Assignee:
Person receiving property by assignment.
Assignor:
Person giving or transferring property to another.
Assigns:
Those to whom property has or may be assigned.
Attorney-in-Fact:
Person authorized to act for another.
Auteur:
A French term; the auteur theory holds that the director is the true creator,
or author, of a film, bringing together script, actors,
cinematographer, editor and molding everything into a work of cinematic
art with a cohesive vision. Anyone who has worked on a movie knows what
nonsense this is. Filmmaking is a collaborative endeavor and the
director is only one of the contributors.
Author:
Creator, originator. Under U.S. copyright law, the author may be the
employer of the person who actually creates the work. See “work for
hire.”
Back
End: Profit participation in a film after distribution and/or
production costs have been recouped.
Balance
Stripe: A magnetic stripe on the film, which is on the opposite edge
from the magnetic sound track.
Below-The-Line
Costs: The technical expenses and labor including set construction,
crew, camera equipment, film stock, developing and printing.
Blind
Bidding: Requiring theater owners to bid on a movie without seeing it.
Several states and localities require open trade screenings for each
new release. Guarantees and advances may
be banned.
Blow-Up:
Optical process of enlarging a film, usually from 16mm to 35mm.
Box
Office Receipts: What the theater owner takes in from ticket sales to
customers at the box office. A portion of this revenue is remitted to
the studio/distributor in the form of rental payments.
Break:
To open a film in several theaters simultaneously, either in and around
a single city or in a group of cities, or on a national basis.
Breakout:
To expand bookings after an initial period of exclusive or limited
engagement.
Cause
Of Action: The facts that give a person the right to judicial relief.
Cel:
A transparent sheet of cellulose acetate used as an overlay for drawing
or lettering. Used in animation and title work.
Color
Correction: Changing tonal values of colored objects or images by the
use of light filters, either with a camera or a printer.
Color
Temperature: The color in degrees Kelvin (K) of a light source.
The higher the color temperature; the bluer the light, the lower the
temperature, the redder the light.
Completion
Bond: A form of insurance, which guarantees financing to complete a
film in the event that the producer exceeds the budget. Completion
bonds are sometimes required by banks and investors to secure loans and
investments in a production. Should a bond be invoked, the completion
guarantor may assume control over the production and be in a recoupment
position superior to all investors.
Consideration:
The reason or inducement for a party to contract with another. Usually
money, but can be anything of value. The right, interest or benefit to
one party, or the loss or forbearance of another. A necessary element
for a contract to be binding.
Contrast:
The density range of a negative or print. The brightness range of
lighting in a scene.
Convey:
To transfer or deliver to another.
Covenant:
An agreement or promise to do something or not to do something.
Cross
Collateralization: Practice by which distributors off-set financial
losses in one medium or market against revenue derived from others. For
example, the rentals obtained from France are combined with those from
Italy, and after the expenses for both are deducted, the remainder, if
any, is net revenue. Filmmakers don't like to have revenues and
expenses pooled because it may reduce the amount of money they receive.
Crossover
Film: Film that is initially targeted to a narrow specialty market but
achieves acceptance in a wider market.
Dailies
(Rushes): Usually an untimed one-light print, made without regard to
color balance, from which the action is checked and the best takes
selected.
Day
and Date: The simultaneous opening of a film in two or more movie
theaters in one or more cities.
Day
Player: An actor who works on a daily basis. Usually used for
actors with small parts.
Deal
Memo: A letter or short contract.
Decedent:
A deceased person.
Defamation:
A false statement that injures another’s reputation in the community.
Default:
Failure to perform.
Deferred
Payment: When writers, directors, cast, crew or others accept some or
all of their compensation later in order to reduce production costs. A
deferred fee is generally paid from revenues generated from a completed
motion picture, and if a movie is not finished, or it does not
generate significant revenue, then the deferred payment holder may not
be paid for his contribution.
Depth
of Field: The distance range between the nearest and farthest objects
that appear in sharp focus.
Development:
The process by which an initial idea is turned into a finished
screenplay. Includes optioning the rights to an underlying literary
property, and commissioning writer(s) to create a treatment, first
draft, second draft, rewrite, and polish.
Direct
Advertising: Direct outreach to consumers such as mailing flyers.
Usually targeted to a specific interest group.
Direct
Broadcast Satellite (DBS): A satellite broadcast system designed with
sufficient power so that inexpensive home satellite dishes can be used
for reception.
Display
Advertising: Advertising which features art work or title treatment
specific to a given film in newspapers and magazines.
Dissolve:
An optical or camera effect in which one scene gradually fades out at
the same time that another scene fades in.
Distributor:
A company that distributes a motion picture, placing it in theaters and
any media, and advertising and promoting it. The major studios nowadays
are mostly in the business of financing and distributing films, leaving
production to smaller independent companies.
Distribution
Expenses: May include taxes, residuals, trade association dues,
conversion/transmission costs, collection costs, checking costs,
advertising and publicity costs, re-editing costs, print duplication,
foreign version costs, transportation and shipping costs, and
insurance.
Domestic
Rights: Usually defined as U.S. and English-speaking Canada.
Double
Distribution Fees: Occurs when a distributor uses a sub-distributor to
sell a film. If multiple distributors are allowed to deduct their full
fees, the filmmaker is less likely to see any money.
Double-System
Sound: The recording of sound on tape and picture on film so that they
can be synchronized during editing.
Downbeat
Ending: A story that ends unhappily or in a depressing manner.
Droit
Moral: French term for Moral Rights. A doctrine that protects artistic
integrity and prevents others from altering the work of artists, or
taking the artist’s name off work, without the artist’s permission. For
example, the doctrine might prevent a buyer of a painting from changing
it even though the physical item and the copyright are owned by the
buyer.
Dubbing:
The addition of sound (either music or dialogue) to a visual
presentation through a recording process to create a sound track that
can be transferred to and synchronized with the visual presentation.
Dupe:
A copy negative, or duplicate negative.
Edge
Numbers: Sequential numbers printed along the edge of a strip of film
to designate the footage.
Exclusive
Opening: A type of release whereby a film is opened in a single theater
in a region, giving the distributor the option to hold the film for a
long exclusive run or move it into additional theaters based on the
film's performance.
Execute:
To complete; to sign; to perform.
Executor:
A person appointed to carry out the requests in a will.
Feature
Film: Full length, fictional films (not documentaries or shorts),
generally for theatrical release.
Film
Noir: Dark, violent, urban, downbeat films, many of which were made in
the 40's and 50's.
Film
Rental: What the theater owner pays the distributor for the right to
show the movie. As a rough rule of thumb, this usually amounts to about
half of the box office gross.
Final
Cut: The last stage in the editing process. The right to final cut is
the right to determine the final version of the picture. Usually the
studio or the financier of a picture retains final cut.
First-Dollar
Gross: The most favorable form of gross participation for the
participant. Only a few deductions, such as checking fees, taxes and
trade association dues are deductible.
First
Monies: From the producer’s point-of-view, the first revenue received
from the distribution of a movie. Not to be confused with profits,
first monies are generally allocated to investors until recoupment, but
may be allocated in part or in whole to deferred salaries owed to
talent or deferred fees owed a film laboratory.
First
Run: The first engagement of a new film.
Floors:
In distributor/exhibitor agreements, the minimum percentage of box
office receipts the distributor is entitled to regardless of the
theater's operating expenses. Generally floors decline week by week
over the course of an engagement. Generally range from 70 to 25
percent.
Force
Majeure: Superior or irresistible force. A Force Majeure clause in a
contract may suspend certain obligations in the event production is
halted because of forces beyond the control of the parties such as a
fire, strike, earthquake, war or Act of God.
Foreign
Sales: Licensing a film in various territories and media outside the
U.S. and Canada. Although Canada is a foreign country, American
distributors typically acquire English-speaking Canadian rights when
they license U.S. rights.
Four-Walling:
Renting a theater and its staff for a flat fee, buying your own
advertising, and receiving all the revenue. The exhibitor is paid a
flat fee regardless of performance and receives no split of box office
receipts.
FPM:
Feet per minute, expressing the speed of film moving through a
mechanism.
FPS:
Frames per second, indicating the number of images exposed per second.
Front
Office: The top executives, the people who control the money.
General
Partners: Management side of a limited partnership (the position
usually occupied by the film's producers) which structures a motion
picture investment and raises money from investors who become limited
partners. General partners make the business decisions regarding the
partnership.
Grant:
To give or permit. To bestow or confer.
Grantor:
The person who makes a grant. The transferor of property.
Grass
Roots Campaign: using flyers, posters, stickers and building
word-of-mouth with special screenings for local community groups.
Gross
After Break-Even: The participant shares in the gross after the
break-even point has been reached. The break-even point can be a set
amount or determined by a formula.
Gross
Participation: A piece of gross receipts without any deductions for
distribution fees or expenses or production costs. However, deductions
for checking and collection costs, residuals and taxes are usually
deductible. A "piece of the gross" is the most advantageous
type of participation from the participant’s point of view. In an
audit, it is the most easily verified form of participation.
Gross
Receipts: Studio/distributor revenues derived from all media, including
film rentals, television and home video licenses, merchandising and
ancillary sales.
Heirs:
The persons who inherit property if there is no will.
Hot:
Anyone whose last picture was a big hit, won an Academy Award or is
being lionized by the media. A transitional state.
House
Nut: Weekly operating expenses of a movie theater.
Hyphenates:
Persons who fulfill two or more major roles such as producer-director,
writer-director or actor-director.
IFTA:
Independent Film and Television Alliance, a trade association of
independent producers and distributors of motion picture and television
programming worldwide.
In
Perpetuity: Forever.
Incapacity:
Inability. Want of legal, physical or intellectual capacity. A minor,
or a person committed to a mental institution, may be legally incapable
of contracting with another.
Indemnify:
Reimburse. To restore someone’s loss by payment, repair or replacement.
Interlock:
The first synchronous presentation of the workprint and the sound track
(on separate films) by means of mechanical or electrical drive between
the projector and the sound reproducer.
Internegative:
A color negative made from a color positive.
Interpositives:
A positive duplicate of a film used for further printing.
Inure:
To take effect; to result.
Invasion
of Privacy: A tort that encompasses a variety of wrongful behavior such
as an unjustified appropriation of another’s name, image or likeness;
the publicizing of intimate details of another’s life without
justification; or intrusions into another’s privacy by eavesdropping or
surveillance in an area where a person has a reasonable expectation of
privacy.
Irrevocable:
That which cannot be revoked or recalled.
Key
Art: Art work used in posters and ads for a movie.
Letterbox:
A process of film-to-video transfer that maintains the original film
aspect ratio by matting the top and the bottom of the screen with black
bars. Standard TV’s have an aspect ratio of 1.33 (4/3), while
contemporary feature films have such aspect ratios of 1.66, 1.83, 1.85,
2.33 and 2.35. The more conventional transfer process is called
Pan & Scan.
Libel:
The written form of defamation. Compare to slander, the spoken form of
defamation.
Licensee:
Person who is given a license or permission to do something.
Licensor:
The person who gives or grants a license.
Limited
Partnership: Form of business enterprise commonly used to finance
movies. General partners initiate and control the partnership; limited
partners are the investors and have no control of the running of the
partnership business and no legal or financial liabilities beyond the
amount they have invested.
Litigation:
A lawsuit. Proceedings in a court of law.
M&E
Track: Music and Effects Track.
Magnetic
Track: Audio recorded on a film or tape that has been coated with a
magnetic recording medium.
Master:
The final edited and complete film or videotape from which subsequent
copies are made.
Merchandising
Rights: Right to license, manufacture and distribute merchandise based
on characters, names or events in a picture.
Mini-Multiple:
Type of release which falls between an exclusive engagement and a wide
release, consisting of quality theaters in strategic geographic
locations, generally a prelude to a wider break.
Multi-Tiered
Audience: An audience of different types of people who find the film
attractive for different reasons, and who must be reached by different
publicity, promotion or ads.
Negative
Cost: Actual cost of producing a film including the manufacture of a
completed negative (does not include costs of prints or advertising).
It may be defined to include overhead expenses, interest and other
expenses, which may inflate the amount way beyond what was actually
spent to make the film.
Negative
Pickup: A distributor guarantees to pay a specified amount for
distribution rights upon delivery of a completed film negative by a
specific date. If the picture is not delivered on time and in accordance
with the terms of the agreement, the distributor has no obligation to
license the film. A negative pickup guarantee can be used as collateral
for a bank loan to obtain production funds.
Net
Profit: What is left, if anything, after all allowable deductions are
taken. This usually amounts to zero. Typically expressed in terms of a
portion of 100% of net profits, such as 5% of 100%.
Novelization:
A book adapted from a motion picture.
NTSC:
National Television System Committee. The standard for North America,
Japan and several other countries, which is 525 lines, 60 fields/30
frames per second. Compare to PAL.
Obligation:
A duty imposed by law, courtesy or contract.
Off-Hollywood:
American independent films made outside the studio system.
Officer:
Person holding office of trust or authority in a corporation or
institution.
On
Spec: Working for nothing on the hope and speculation that something
will come of it.
Optical
Sound Track: A sound track in which the sound record takes the form of
density variations in a photographic image, also called a photographic
sound track.
Original:
A work that has not been adapted from another work.
Original
Material: Not derived or adapted from another work.
Overexposure:
A condition in which too much light reaches the film, producing a dense
negative or a washed-out reversal.
PAL:
Phase Alternation Line. The standard adopted by European and
other countries, which is 625 Lines, 50 fields/25 frames per
second. Compare to NTSC.
Pan:
A horizontal movement of the camera.
Pan
& Scan: Used to transfer a film to video for use on standard
television because of the different image aspect ratio (the ratio of
the width versus the height of the image). The transfer camera
focuses on a portion of the total film image. Compare with Letterbox.
Pari
Passu: Equitably, without preference.
Platforming:
A method of release whereby a film is opened in a single theater or
small group of theaters in region and later expands to a greater number
of theaters.
Player:
Actor.
Playoff:
Distribution of a film after key openings.
Positive
Film: Film used primarily for making master positives or release
prints.
Power
Coupled with an Interest: A right to do some act, together with an
interest in the subject-matter.
Print:
A positive picture usually produced from a negative.
Pro
Rata: Proportionately.
Processing:
A procedure during which exposed photographic film or paper is
developed, fixed, and washed to produce either a negative image or a
positive image.
Quitclaim:
To release or relinquish a claim. To execute a deed of quitclaim.
Raw
Stock: Motion picture film that has not been exposed or processed.
Regional
Release: As opposed to a simultaneous national release, a pattern of
distribution whereby a film is opened in one or more regions at a time.
Release
Print: A composite print made for general distribution and exhibition
after the final answer print has been approved.
Remake:
A new production of a previously produced film.
Remise:
To remit or give up.
Rescind:
Rescission. To abrogate, annul or cancel a contract.
Right
of Privacy: The right to be left alone, and to be protected against a
variety of intrusive behavior such as unjustified appropriation of
one’s name, image or likeness; the publicizing of intimate details of
one’s life without justification and unlawful eavesdropping or
surveillance.
Right
of Publicity: The right to control the commercial value and use of
one’s name, likeness and image.
Roll-out:
Distribution of film around the country subsequent to either key city
openings or an opening in one city.
Rough
Cut: A preliminary assemblage of footage.
Run:
Length of time feature plays in theaters or territory.
Sanction:
To assent, concur or ratify. To reprimand.
Scale:
The minimum salary permitted by the guilds.
Sequel:
A book or film that tells a related story that occurs later than the
original. A continuation of an earlier story, usually with the same
characters.
Shooting
Script: A later version of the screenplay in which each separate shot
is numbered and camera directions are indicated.
Sleeper:
An unexpected hit. A film that audiences fall in love with and make a
success.
Slicks:
Standardized ad mechanicals, printed on glossy paper, which include
various sizes of display ads for a given film, designed for the
insertion of local theater information as needed.
Sound
Track: The portion of a film reserved for the sound.
Specialized
Distribution: As opposed to commercial distribution, distribution to a
limited target audience, in a smaller number of theaters, with a
limited advertising budget and reliance upon publicity, reviews and
word-of-mouth to build an audience for the picture.
Stills:
Photographs taken during production for use later in advertising and/or
publicity. Stills should be in a horizontal format, and should list
such information as film title, producer/director and cast below the
photo.
Stock:
General term for motion picture film, especially before exposure.
Film stock.
Story
Analyst or Reader: A person employed by a studio or producer to read
submitted scripts and properties, synopsize and evaluate them. Often
held by young literature or film school graduates who don't know a
great deal about filmmaking, but then again their bosses sometimes know
even less.
Story
Conference: A meeting at which the writer receives suggestions about
how to improve his/her script.
Stripe:
A narrow band of magnetic coating or developing solution applied to a
motion picture film.
Sub-Distributor:
In theatrical releases, distributors who handle a specific geographic
territory. They are contracted by the main distributor, who coordinates
the distribution campaign and marketing.
Successors:
Persons entitled to property of a decedent by will or as an heir.
Successor-in-Interest:
One who follows another in ownership or control of property.
Survivor:
One who survives or outlives another.
Synchronization:
The positioning of a sound track so that it is in harmony with, and
timed to, the image portion of the film.
Syndication:
Distribution of motion pictures to independent commercial television
stations on a regional basis.
Talent:
The word used to describe those involved in the artistic aspects of
filmmaking (i.e., writers, actors, directors) as opposed to the
business people.
Target
market: The defined audience segment a distributor seeks to reach with
its advertising and promotion campaign, such as teens, women over 30,
yuppies, etc.
Television
Distribution Fee: Typically 10-25% for U.S. Network broadcast sales,
30-40% for domestic syndication and 45-50% for foreign distribution.
Television
Spin-Off: A television series or mini-series based on characters or
other elements in a film.
Test
marketing: Pre-releasing a film in one or more small, representative
markets before committing to an advertising campaign. The effectiveness
of the marketing plan can thereby be assessed and modified as needed
before the general release.
Theatrical
Distribution Fees: Generally between 30% and 40% of gross film rentals.
Trades:
The daily and weekly periodicals of the industry, such as “Variety” and
“The Hollywood Reporter.”
Translation:
The reproduction of a book, movie or other work into another language.
Treatment:
A prose account of the story line of a film. Usually between 20 and 50
pages. Comes after an outline and before first draft screenplay.
Warranty:
A promise. An assurance by one party as to the existence of a fact upon
which the other party may rely.
Wide
Release: The release of a film in numerous theaters usually 800-3,000.
Window:
Period of time in which a film is available in a given medium. Some
windows may be open-ended, such as theatrical and home video, or
limited, such as pay television or syndication.
Work-for-Hire
(or Work-made-for-hire): Under the Copyright Act this is either 1) a
work prepared by an employee within the scope of employment; or 2) a
specially ordered or commissioned work of a certain type (e.g. a motion
picture, a contribution to a collective work), if the parties expressly
agree so in a writing signed by both before work begins.
Workprint:
A picture or sound-track print, usually a positive, intended for use in
editing only so as not to expose the original elements to any wear and
tear.
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