Dividing Up Net Points

[Nick Royer]

Hi All - sorry if this has already been covered - but I've done some searches and haven't found what I'm looking for.

I am beginning the process of doing my first feature - and I will be using a net point system as this is a low budget work.

First - to define "net point" - I know there are several different definitions. I want to keep this as fair as possible for everyone involved, so I would define a "net point" as 1% of the profit from the film after paying the costs.


My main question here is - what percentages are normal for different roles? What should the screenwriter, actors, DP, grip, ect. get in points for their work? Obviously this is going to change substantially film-to-film, but I'm looking for a base example to work off of, i.e. Screenwriter = ~10%, ect...

EDIT: I guess what I'm really talking about here is Gross Points, not Net Points.


Thank you!

 

[Chris Adler]

Percentages are whatever you agree to. If you're running a really small tight crew then you might consider each of their contributions equal in value and give them all an equal percentage. Same goes with principal cast. I think people are smart enough to realize that a contract with no up-front $ and all back-end is considered a freebie project anyway. Of course you assume you'll make money.

If you have money up-front I'd consider paying off extras, etc. with that and not involve them in the point pool.

 

[sonofaresiii]

profit to who?

anyway, i usually see 3%-5% for your department heads thrown around, dp usually get around 7% (imo), sliding scales from there but essentially, like has been mentioned... it's whatever you agree on.

 

[PopcornFlix]

The real key to this is how you define "net" "gross" "costs" and "profit." This is the heart of Hollywood Accounting. I would suggest that you call the shares "profit participation," rather than "Net Points." Net points are often called "Monkey Points," because on professional movies, there are never any net profits, because of the definition in the contracts.