Guest Speaker: Doug Wellman

Former USC Film Dept.

• 1. Acquire a Property
• Purchase (both need consideration).
• Option-allows you the right to control or exploit property for specific amount of time for specific amount of consideration.
• 2. Full Script
• Producer is always responsible-acquire breakdown of budget
• Unit Production Manager- Asst. Director, know every component that goes into production.
• Line Producer- relatively the same thing but a lot of below the line experience.
• Producer- creative genious, car salesman, voodoo doctor.
• Below the line can be reduced to days, people, equipment.
• Insurance- certain companies sell specific production insurance policy- media/film/general liability. Per project, short term.
• Read the insurance policy. (Documentary Industrial Commercial Education).
• Animal mortality- even insects.
• Errors and omissions insurance
• Stunt- anything you are not 100% sure your actor can do safely. 
• Copyright- right to copy. Property right- like a house/car.
• From the time it exists in a fixed form an idea is not copyrighted.
• Don't tell anyone until it's in a fixed form.
• Mail it to yourself, postmarked, don't unseal.
• Register with writer's guild.
• Parody-sometimes it is easier to pay.
• Directors, writers, screenwriters guild- all have contracts, need permission to use shots or property of all people especially within guilds.