Show Me The Money Part II - The Lawyer

You've got some vague promises of cash, but how do you close the deal? In the second part of our Show Me The Money series, Making Movies talks to media lawyer Andrew Curtis about the terms and conditions that close a good movie deal

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Andrew Curtis began his working life as a city trader before re-training as a lawyer. He first became an attorney at the New York bar, then returned to the UK to work for West End law firm Russells where he set up a Film and TV department. In 1999 he established Drew and Co, with corporate lawyer Charles Collier to create a boutique entertainment law firm in London's Soho specialising in intellectual property exploitation, commercial deal making and personal management.

When do producers tend to contact you?

Too late. The ideal time is early on. They should ring up and say, 'this is what we are doing, here's the people we are talking to and this is what they may or may not be offering'. My first question is always, 'Do you have the rights to your book or script?' You would be amazed how many producers, even with experience, say, 'Oh, don't worry, I'm mates with the writer, its fine'. It's always fine until their friendship falls apart or the money comes in. If you have all your elements in place but have no writers deal, then the writer has got you over a barrel. Also, the financiers want to have sight of your agreements because it may affect their revenue (if you have promised the writer percentage of profit, say). What I try to stress to our clients is, if someone wants to do business with you, even if they are friends, they want to take something from you. You must be clear about what you are going to give them and when.

Next page • "In reality, lawyers are the most honest people you will meet in the whole process, because we have to be."