Selling Rights to my short

[sfoster]

I tried bumping another thread with a related topic but it just got lost in the fray. I apologize if it's redundant, I'm usually good about that stuff.

Someone offered to buy the rights to my short and said it will be screened at the river oaks theatre before showing classics. I was only focused on the artistic side and not at all prepared for a business offer

Can anyone give me some insight or advice here?
He wants me to be the one to give him a number, instead of making an offer.

I'm probably not going to ask for much, I'm thinking enough to recoup my costs on food/alcohol would already put me ahead of my expectations.

But if it's not much money, that makes these other questions more important

-What rights would I retain regarding exhibition of the work?
-Does he only buy the rights for X years?
-Does it matter if they're going to laugh at how bad it is and that's why they want it ?


Sweetie said:

It's extremely rare that a short get the luxury of making enough to pay for the catering bill. (Yeah, I know even that never really happens). If you get any offer, grab hold of it with both hands and hold on tight. (Any Starfighters out there?)

I wish you luck. I can count the number of shorts that I'm aware of that have sold for money on one hand.

Hmm.. i still have to come up with a number for this guy. is $500 a good price ?

 

[Sweetie]

From that other thread, is still valid.

What happens is a contract/agreement is written up and signed by both parties spelling out the rights and obligations and time line of both parties. The assignment of rights are determined by the contract. All rights worldwide in perpetuity would wipe your "wash your hands" of the whole thing.

A question as a filmmaker you need to ask yourself. Do you want to do self distribution?

When it comes back to you, do you envision yourself being able to do anything with it? If not, don't really spend the time worrying about it. There are more important things to concentrate on in filmmaking than worrying about what you'll have to do with a short of yours 5 years from now.

-Does it matter if they're going to laugh at how bad it is and that's why they want it ?

That's a personal question you'll need to ask yourself.

Hmm.. i still have to come up with a number for this guy. is $500 a good price ?

Good price for you, yes.

Good luck!

 

[rayw]

Hmm.. i still have to come up with a number for this guy. is $500 a good price ?

$30 per page.

 

[directorik]

Sweetie covers it. I just thought I’d back him up with a second
opinion.

What rights you retain should be spelled out in the contract. A
contract is a negotiation - they tell you want they want, you tell
them what you want and then you work together to find a place
where you both are comfortable.

Does it matter to you why they want it? Do you feel you can
control how an audience will react?

Make a high offer. You’re okay with $500 so ask for $960. One
year of unlimited screenings for $80 per month. That’s $20 per
week. Then ask him what he can afford.

 

[Phil Gary]

The fact that he's asking you to propose the number is already a red flag as to his trustworthiness. If his business is acquiring rights to movies, he should be the one proposing the terms in a deal memo. More than likely, he's either hoping to distribute your film to earn a profit, and/or he's hoping that, however remote the chance, he could parlay his purchase into a deal with a studio, who in turn will acquire the rights and adapt it into a feature film -- and he'll further hope to attach himself as a producer. Of course, as you no longer have the rights to your film, you'll receive zero remuneration and minimal, if any, notoriety. Deals of this nature -- ie: Someone wanting to purchase the rights to a short film -- are more complex than most people imagine, and have far-reaching legal and financial consequences. Be careful. And good luck.

 

[IndiePaul]

Interesting points by the folks above, particularly Phil...

The folks over at DDP (Done Deal Pro forum) have a lot of posts regarding sells but from a script (not short film) perspective. Yet, you'll probably find a lot of the posts helpful.

http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/boards/

You say it's a short. Do you think it has commercial value more than that? Ie could the premise/story be used as the basis for a great movie?

How much do you know about the person you are dealing with? Do a lot of searches on google and done deal pro, IMDB Pro etc. There are a lot of sharks out there, and some people that play fair too.

Can you afford to engage an entertainment lawyer to review the contract, or add a few clauses for your benefit - such as a payment if the short is used to bootstrap a feature. Since the initial payment is likely going to be under $1k, the legal fees alone would eat all that and more... Worst case, look on the internet and copy a similar clause.

I think your buyer will likely want to purchase the rights in perpetuity - ie forever.

I would have a clause entered that states if the short premise, storyline or characters are used as a basis of a feature film that you receive a six figure payment: say $200,000. But could your short be used in such a way or is it say a visual feast as opposed to story-centric? And obviously the buyer may not agree to such a clause but that could be telling in itself...

Someone offered to buy the rights to my short and said it will be screened at the river oaks theatre before showing classics.

Why would they buy the rights just to do that? Do they own the theatre, supply pre-show shorts to the owners? If that's all this person does then the short-to-feature film aspect is probably out the window so to speak. They just want good shorts to show people prior to the main event - the feature people have paid to watch. If that's the case, make sure the credits are shown with your short and maybe include a website address too - free marketing and publicity for you: you never know, it could lead to more work...

 

[Phil Gary]

If all he's doing is soliciting short films to screen prior to the feature, then he has to license the broadcasting rights to your film, the cost of which is highly negotiable.

 

[directorik]

As has been said, the rights are negotiable.

I do not believe a theater owner asking the filmmaker for a
number shows his trustworthiness or lack thereof. What sfoster
has not made clear is what the “someone” is asking for. I get
the impression it’s a theater owner asking for the right to
screen the short at the River Oaks Theater. So it could be
exhibition rights, not broadcast rights or copyright or full
creative rights.

Before we make assumptions we should know what is being asked.
sfoster, what is this "someone" asking for? The right to show your
short at the theater? The copyright of the short? The broadcast
rights? Full ownership of the short?

BTW: is this the Royal Oaks in Houston?

 

[sfoster]

You say it's a short. Do you think it has commercial value more than that? Ie could the premise/story be used as the basis for a great movie?

I think your buyer will likely want to purchase the rights in perpetuity - ie forever.

I would have a clause entered that states if the short premise, storyline or characters are used as a basis of a feature film that you receive a six figure payment: say $200,000. But could your short be used in such a way or is it say a visual feast as opposed to story-centric? And obviously the buyer may not agree to such a clause but that could be telling in itself...

I don't think it's feature film material.

Why would they buy the rights just to do that?

It's a strange situation. Basically this group of people have been internet stalking and harassing one of my actors for like 3 years now. part of that was on their own finding out about this movie and accessing the link i had put on youtube.

I think they basically want it as another avenue of laughing at the guy
One person said that if it were 30 minutes it could be the next "the room"

I'm basically just trying to make sure I don't do anything stupid and get taken advantage of out of my ignorance. The only other possible distribution for this would be that I have a connection to the guy that founded college humor and i might be able to get it on his website. but that's iffy and usually a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

the other consideration is if this is going to be shown in a theatre maybe i should ask for extra money so an audio guy can finalize the sound correctly?

directorik:

I don't know much about the guy but he lives in area code 806, texas, so i assume thats the one in houston.

our conversation went as follows:
How much are you looking at for me to buy the rights of this movie? If we can find a price, I'll have a lawyer draw up the documents.

-- I have one other producer involved I should confer with before giving you a number, I'll send him an email right now. Can I ask what your plans are with it? If it finds an audience that is appealing to me.

I'd show it a river oaks theater before screenings of cult classics.

///

I could ask him for further elaboration but all these distinctions you mention are exactly what i am ignorant of and need to educate myself on

 

[Phil Gary]

It sounds as though he is indeed soliciting your film to screen before his features, in which case you should definitely license the rights, not sell them. @directorik: I used to be an entertainment attorney. We often used the terms Broadcast and Exhibition rights interchangeably. Sorry.

 

[sfoster]

Someone wanting to purchase the rights to a short film -- are more complex than most people imagine, and have far-reaching legal and financial consequences. Be careful. And good luck.

that was really interesting

make sure the credits are shown with your short and maybe include a website address too - free marketing and publicity for you: you never know, it could lead to more work...

this is a great point that i will make sure not to forget

It sounds as though he is indeed soliciting your film to screen before his features, in which case you should definitely license the rights, not sell them. @directorik: I used to be an entertainment attorney. We often used the terms Broadcast and Exhibition rights interchangeably. Sorry.

is this the same as copyright law, licensing rights instead of transferring?
https://www.graphicartistsguild.org/tools_resources/to-sell-or-to-rent

 

[directorik]

No need to apologize, Phil. I didn’t realize the terms
were interchangeable. In my experience (and I was
never an entertainment attorney - just a filmmaker)
I have sold the broadcast rights (TV, cable) separately
from exhibition rights (theaters).

Many years ago the River Oaks Theater in Houston
showed three of my short films on a rotating basis for
16 months. I don’t remember the name of the contact
- this was a while ago - but I think we ended up with
four large. I suggest you ask him what he means by
“buy the rights of this movie”. If he wants to own all
rights to the film then $500 isn’t good enough. If he
wants to “rent” the movie (buy the right to show it for
a set period of time) I gave you what I think is a
reasonable breakdown.

You’ve added another issue. If you feel this guy wants to
show your movie so people will make fun of it (like “The
Room”) and you don’t want that, then do not give him
the rights to show your movie. If you feel you that showing
this short in a theater in Texas will subject your actor to
more harassment then do not give him the rights to show
your movie. However, if this guy thinks your movie is another
“The Room” and you can make a deal of $15 to $20 every
time he screens it and it runs for three years, once a week...

You do the math.

 

[Blade_Jones]

ANY money you can make from a short is blood squeezed out of a rock. Take whatever you can get! Make sure you are credited. You could ask for a clause that you get a little more if the short grosses above a certain ceiling. Chances are it will never make any money so don't back out if they want to pay you a flat payment to own it in perpetuity. If you think the story is really great then you might want to retain rights to make a book out of it. Sell them JUST the rights to make motion pictures out of it.