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Everyone knows what a director does: they are the captain of the ship and establish the creative vision of a project, whether it be a movie or a TV show. What about their agreement with their employer: the studio? How does a director determine how much they will get paid, the rights and control they have over their work, or their attachment to sequels, spin-offs and more? How does the director know they are getting the deal they deserve? The director has their wants and their employer has theirs, so let’s break the deal down and see how the two meet in the middle:
Services
This section specifies competent services -- what is expected of every director in the industry -- and studio-specific tasks and expectations of the director. Typically, the studio will request the director’s consultation throughout the entire term of production, spanning from pre-production to production to post-production for dubbing, editing, cutting and more. The director is involved throughout the entire production process to ensure their creative vision comes to life on-screen. Therefore, if the film or show needs further editing or dubbing, the studio expects the director to consult on those changes for no additional cost, which is customary.
Term
The term section shows the director when their services begin and how long they are exclusive to the project. The most important part of this section is that the director can only work for a maximum amount of days based on the minimum amount they are paid. For example, for a 1-hour network primetime drama, a director can work a maximum of 24 days for a minimum payment of $90,500 (which is subject to change). If the studio needs the director for more days, they have to pay the director a higher rate to ultimately extend his/her time during production. A studio typically does not hire a director on a daily basis, unless it is a 2nd unit crew or there are terms and conditions listed under “daily employment for where permitted” in the WGA.
In terms of exclusivity, directors typically do not want to be exclusive to one project throughout pre-production, production and post-term, because they could be directing multiple pilots at once, especially during pilot season. However, studios want the director to focus on their particular project to ensure the show’s success. Therefore, they typically compromise and the director is exclusive only during production, meaning they could only be shooting one show at a time, but they are available to work on other productions after production wraps.
Fee
If a director fulfills all their services throughout pre-production, production and post-production, they earn 100% of their upfront fee that is typically distributed during a payment schedule. For instance, a director could receive 25% of the total fee for the start of pre-production, 25% for the start of production, 25% for wrapping production and 25% for final delivery of the project, but the payment schedule is at the discretion of the studio. This fee only covers the production’s first-run, the first time the show is aired, per DGA minimums. After the first-run, the DGA also sets minimums for residuals, which are additional payments for every domestic and foreign re-run, theatrical exhibitions and more. Directors are entitled to an up-front fee and residuals for every time the show is aired afterward. However, beware of overscale. Per DGA, there are minimums for upfront payments and residuals. This is typically scratched from contracts, but sometimes studios try to pay overscale for the upfront fee and use the difference between the minimum and the overscale payment to cover future residuals. If this is in your contract, take it out, because the director deserves proper payment plus residuals on top rather than built-in. For example, as stated above, the minimum for a 1-hour primetime drama was about $90,500 (which rate subject to change). Studios will propose $150,000 in overscale and use the $60,000 difference to cover residuals. This doesn’t seem too fair, because it only allows the director to make a maximum of $150,000 rather than building on top of the flat fee. [To be Continued...]
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