Glossary of Industry Terms
By: Mark Litwak
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.
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.
