Customer Reviews

Contracts for the Film and Television Industry

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mark Litwak's book is by far the best book available on film and television contracts. His book is a no nonsense, thorough guide to the complex world of contractual law for an industry that has a history of taking advantage of those who don't take the time or spend the money to hire good legal representation. He is an advocate for the rights of artists, writers, actors, etc., and his contracts are a good basis for negotiations and deals in the TV/Film industry. Even if you hire your own attorney, this book will help you understand the structure of your deal and alert you to details and potential booby traps in all that fine print. D. Kuspa

Litwak provides about as much as a professional could share in this throrough outing. He also shares 'boilerplate' contracts for virtally all key players in a film production. Of course, direct experience is the best teacher, but EVERY neophyte in film or television must own this book, and its a handy reference for seasoned professionals and part-timers.

Also check out his companion book, "Dealmaking..." which has priceless cues on what gray areas to avoid in negotiating with lawyers and their clients.

Essential for producers, directors, writers and anyone hoping to get financed or paid or both!

This book is a good collection of legal contracts for the industry, but it doesn't have a CD-ROM or associated website where you can download the contracts as a starting-point template.

I believe the author is gouging us by forcing us to buy the CD separately. Very cheesy business practice. I hope you have OCR software to scan these pages into your computer.

Good basic legal information oriented towards the independent feature film producer but useful for anyone who wants to produce film or other distributed video. Won't replace having an attorney but will allow you to do some things by yourself and understand what is going on when you need to hire one. Similar to "The Independent Film Producer's Survival Guide" but with enough distinct material (example contracts for instance) to be worth having both.

This is a useful and inspirational book that explains a variety of legal film production matters and provides drafts of contracts for basically every aspect of film & TV production. And it covers all major players in the colossal process of making a film, helping to make sure that whatever your role in the production is, you understand your rights.

Although he is based in L.A. and this book can throw New Yorkers off a tad, Litwak offers great information, clean and concise. Could not ask for more. Happy with the purchase and do recommend this to anyone needing these types of contracts. Although I do wish his CD (with these contracts) was alot more cheaper than what it is going for now.

Decent book which summarizes and fills pages with examples of real contracts. Great for a legal perspective on Film contracts. This is a good place to start looking if you have never seen what is involved in putting film and television contracts together. Very tough read other than using it like a dictionary. Identify a question or topic and see if you can find an example. Like "How do I sign a Writer's Deal to option a script.." etc...

I bet this is a thrill of your a Business Affairs person, but for the average Producer, this will be snooze fest.

A thousand thanks for giving us simple to use materials that cover our bases in so many situations. Just what the doctor ordered!

Comprehensive and a terrific resource. The goal is not to use the book instead of legal advice, but it is a terrific starting point.

I was led to believe that this book came with a CD. I'm kicking myself because I got the book and found no CD in it! That's primarily why I bought it. The CD with the contracts on it is much more expensive so you better be a good typist and recreate the contracts. The good part of the book though is that it really does help to explain all of the hard to understand parts of the contracts so I am still glad I bought it, but was still hugely disappointed that it didn't come with the contracts.