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Takes
Insight + analysis on indie film legal issues
The SAG-AFTRA strike and independent films: What indie producers need to know and what they can do.
SAG-AFTRA announced yesterday that a strike of the Producers-SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Contracts of 2014, as amended by the 2017 and 2020 memoranda of agreement, will begin at 12:01 a.m. on July 14. The work stoppage will impact 160,000 union members whose contracts have now expired. While work for studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (“AMPTP”) will stop, however, members may be able to work on indie productions under an interim agreement. Here is what indie producers need to know.
Continue readingFinancing independent films: How to use equity and debt to fund an indie production
Funding for an independent feature production usually comes from a variety of sources. This post will introduce two that are most frequently used to raise the capital needed to produce a full-length motion picture: investor, or “equity”, financing and lender, or “debt” financing.
Continue readingDo WGA writer-producers have to cross picket lines to keep working for the studios as producers during the strike?
Most major studios recently informed WGA writer-producers that work done in a “producer” capacity is still required despite the ongoing writers’ strike. But is the position taken by the studios a correct interpretation of this aspect of the WGA Minimum Basic Agreement? Probably not.
Continue readingDeepFocus to speak on entertainment law at University of Oregon School of Law intellectual property panel
DeepFocus Entertainment Law founder Dane E. Johnson will speak on a panel session at the University of Oregon School of Law titled, “Entertainment Law Q&A”. The panel will be held in Eugene, Oregon on April 7, 2023, from 12 to 2pm PST.
Continue readingFilmmakers + Friends
Nothing keeps your project moving forward like momentum, and regularly sharing updates with other indie producers, directors, screenwriters, and more is a great way to get it. Join this month’s DeepFocus Entertainment Law virtual gathering. Bring your own coffee and talk film finance, business and legal affairs, whatever you want to share with other industry professionals about your productions or scripts.
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