Overview
Contracts can be long and complicated or short and to the point. More often than not, though, they’ll be longer than you’d like with a lot of extra legalese. So what do you focus on? You’ve been over the clauses from week 1, and contracts can usually be analyzed by looking at each individual clause. But there are a lot of those clauses and many are just boilerplate that are used in every contract, such as force majeure. So, when you’re looking at a contract and wondering if you should sign it, what’s most important to you?
The key concerns usually come down to: time, money and control. Time– how long will you be in this contract, how long will it take to fulfill the obligations? Money– how much do you have to pay, or how much are you getting paid? And control– do you have the right to make decisions in the contract, the right to inspect the other party’s books?
What You’ll Need
- The contract you chose from week 1
Create
In a Word document, explain the following about your chosen contract:
- In the contract, assume the role of one of the parties. Which party will you be (ie. producer, musician, director, actor, composer, writer, etc.)?
- What is the time frame of your particular contract? How does this work to your advantage or disadvantage? Would you negotiate this if you could? Why or why not?
- Explain the money or consideration in your contract– how much or what will change hands if the contract is accepted? Is this good for you? Why or why not?
- Explain which party has the control in the contract (it could be both for different reasons). What do they control? How does this work to your advantage? How is to your disadvantage? Would you try to negotiate any of these aspects? Why? What alternatives would you propose?
