Distributor wants non-Sag Actor release on a 19 year old film .HELP!!!!

S

Stevenote

New member
Hello to all Forum Members.I have a major situation and any help from Forum Members would be appriciated.I Directed a film in 1991 that never went thru Distribution.In 2005 the person who had the non-Sag Actor's releases threw them away because they were moving and never thought anything would become of the film. A few months ago the Producer of the film called me and stated that he finally had a Distributor who wants to take on the film for Distribution.At first they only wanted Sag Actor's releases which was not a problem since there was only four Sag Actors in the film and all were easy to locate.Now the Distrubutors want the non-Sag Actors' releases.The problem is that trying to hunt down these people after 19 years is an almost impossible task.Does anyone know of a way around this???Thanks
 
I'd be highly suprised if they nixed the deal for that...especially if you have the SAG stuff right...possible, but unlikely if they truly want it...
 
Think about having someone else sign their names then delete this thread. If all else fails.
 
ChipG said:
Think about having someone else sign their names then delete this thread. If all else fails.
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Chip, forgive me, but ... do you want to re-think making that post? Recommending forgery? So, not only does the company distributing the film get sued, but so do you?

To the o.p. -- forget all the forgery suggestions, that's just ridiculous. Tell the distributor you don't have them, if you don't have them. Tell them you'll look up as many of the people as you can.

But ... in the end, just man up. If you guys tossed the signed releases, you probably also tossed any chance of selling it. But be up front and tell them exactly what the situation is. Do your best to get as many as you can, and if you can't get them all, tell the distrib about it. Let them decide if they want to take the risk on errors & omissions.
 
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Sorry Barry, please forgive me for my bad advise however, I did say 'if all else fails' which is code for putting it off on the distributor so they will do it for you.

I'd Tell the distributor you don't have them, if they want it somehow their people will find those people, crazy how it works.

Ohh, thanks for quoting me so I can't delete what I said, now I'm gonna get sued. :)
 
That really sucks, man.

One director I worked with had a film he did over a decade ago, had a decent distro deal, but also ran into the same release form problem and couldn't find the original actors anymore. Sadly, he lost out on the deal for good. :(
 
Thanks for the replys and advice.I wish there was a better way around it.It really is a shame that something like this can hold back a distribution deal.
 
If I read this correctly, someone Other that the Producer had the original releases instead of the film's Producer.

Lesson #27: The producer should always keep all the paperwork they have for a project together, and under their control.


To paraphrase The Matrix:

Would the film have ever had a distributer wanting it, if the releases hadn't been thrown out?
 
GND said:
I'd say Richard's way would work. Facebook first, but forgery would work. Due to what Stan said - I doubt they really care about having it.

I sold a couple short films to distributers and they wanted actor releases for everyone in the cast ....problem is, I credited my teddy bear (who was in the film briefly) as a joke. They though he was a person and wanted his signature and all that on a release form. So, I forged away. Retarded, but now he's even on IMDB!
= Tagy Bub

And one actor moved away and left on bad terms, we really did not want to speak with him again, and he wasn't on facebook (or was but didn't use his real name...we couldn't find him), so I got my dad to forge his signature. (so it wouldn't be my hand incase they went hardcore and got handwriter analyzers). ha


and I hope no one from IMDB is reading this, if so, please leave Tagy Bub's credits alone. He was one of the best actors I've worked with, people love his scenes the best and it's not thanks to me, it's thanks to his Daniel Day-Lewis like commitment to the role.
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hahahaha, that was awesome. I guess there's a reason not to put your teddy bear in the credits huh.

As for paperwork, the best thing you can do in today's day and age, not saying this will help anyone with an existing problem, but it's what I do, is scan every document into the computer. It's far better to back up files digitally than with paper, which gets misplaced and lost and frankly takes up too much space. For the most part I scan everything and then throw it away. Sometimes, I keep originals, but it's rare, I usually just scan the stuff and back it up to several hard drives. For one, it's on the primary hard drive, which is then time machined onto a second drive, and besides that I back up all paperwork to a RAID unit as well. If you're super paranoid, which you should be, then take all paperwork for each project and put it on a DVD and put that DVD somewhere important, like a different physical location entirely. You'll never lose important documents that way.
 
He was one of the best actors I've worked with, people love his scenes the best and it's not thanks to me, it's thanks to his Daniel Day-Lewis like commitment to the role.
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You know, GND, it is very unprofessional to sleep with one of your actors. No matter how cute and fuzzy they are. :shocked: :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

Hey, it had to be said. It was begging to be said. So............ I said it.
 
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JonathanLB said:
As for paperwork, the best thing you can do in today's day and age, not saying this will help anyone with an existing problem, but it's what I do, is scan every document into the computer. It's far better to back up files digitally than with paper, which gets misplaced and lost and frankly takes up too much space. For the most part I scan everything and then throw it away. Sometimes, I keep originals, but it's rare, I usually just scan the stuff and back it up to several hard drives. For one, it's on the primary hard drive, which is then time machined onto a second drive, and besides that I back up all paperwork to a RAID unit as well. If you're super paranoid, which you should be, then take all paperwork for each project and put it on a DVD and put that DVD somewhere important, like a different physical location entirely. You'll never lose important documents that way.
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This is a a really good suggestion.

-Nate
 
Look in the phone book and find someone with the exact same name as the actor to sign the release. It wouldn't technically be forgery. But it would be dishonest and the distributor could still get sued.
 
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Rashdan said:
Look in the phone book and find someone with the exact same name as the actor to sign the release. It wouldn't technically be forgery. But it would be dishonest and the distributor could still get sued.
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LOL. And I doubt the person would sue because to their knowledge they did sign on to the film. You're crazy man. LOL.

-Nate
 
I shot a feature film and after spending six weeks filming the mother of the main actress (under age) said she wasn't going to sign the release form and that I can just re-shoot the film. After talking to my friend Paul who is with Sag he said that I own all copyrights to the film footage even if the talent decides not to sign. They spent six weeks filming without a hitch. I can do anything with the film I like.
 
New_Zealand said:
I shot a feature film and after spending six weeks filming the mother of the main actress (under age) said she wasn't going to sign the release form and that I can just re-shoot the film. After talking to my friend Paul who is with Sag he said that I own all copyrights to the film footage even if the talent decides not to sign. They spent six weeks filming without a hitch. I can do anything with the film I like.
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There's what you legally control, but take note of the position this puts you in. A friend of mine made a deal with IFC and had spent months ramping up to an exclusive DVD launch at Borders and one angry letter from a disgruntled participant (who HAD signed a release, mind you) killed the deal. They had to sue IFC to get their rights back, which I'm sure was tons of fun.
 
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