Negative pickup deal

Negative pickup deal

In film production, a negative pickup is a contract entered into by an independent producer and a movie studio wherein the studio agrees to purchase the movie from the producer at a given date and for a fixed sum. Depending on whether the studio pays part or all of the cost of the film, the studio will receive the domestic, international, DVD and/or TV rights to the film, with net profits split between the producer and the studio.

By selling the rights to distribute the film in territories not covered in the negative pickup ("pre-selling") or making other deals collateral to the production, a producer will usually cover all his costs and make a small profit before production has begun. But financing of the production up until its completion date is the responsibility of the producer—if the film goes over budget, the producer must pay the difference himself or go back to the studio and renegotiate the deal. This happened on the films Superman, The Empire Strikes Back and Never Say Never Again.

Most negative pickup contracts, either from motion picture studios or television networks, are bankable at pretty much dollar for dollar (less fees); if you hold a negative pickup contract, you essentially hold a check from the studio for the cost of your film, post-dated to the day you deliver your film to them. So, while the studio technically doesn't pay the producer until the film negative is officially delivered (thus "negative pickup"), the producer can nonetheless get a bank loan against a negative pickup contract, which helps the producer to pay for production of the film.

Studios, on the other hand, typically don't like their contracts being factored at banks or shopped around to independent investors and financiers, as this ultimately gives the producer significant creative latitude over the production. With the money assured, a producer has a free hand to make the film however he pleases, and he is only answerable to his investors, which in this scenario are unknown to the studio at the time of the contract. If creative disagreements arise between the studio and the producer, the studio has little contractual recourse as long as the film meets certain general contractual requirements, such as duration and technical quality. An example of this is a Terry Gilliam's Brazil, a negative pickup for Universal Pictures produced by Arnon Milchan. In this particular case, the studio had creative disagreements with the director over choice of star, content and duration, and failed to resolve these issues to its satisfaction, because the negative pickup had essentially granted Milchan final cut.

The studios and distributors will contain this risk by offering the negative pickup contract only to a production that has financiers, a script, and key creative personnel, particularly the director and stars, already attached. Thus the conundrum: unless a film has U.S. distribution, a lot of investors and foreign buyers won't pre-buy a film and unless the film is already financed, the studios don't want to guarantee distribution . This Catch-22 is often resolved by attaching a major actor to the film; the mere appearance of an American movie star's name on a film's poster is often enough to drive box office to cover distribution in many foreign markets.

Further reading


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Film finance — is a very secretive and little understood aspect of film production. It is a subset of project finance, meaning the film project s generated cash flows are used to repay investors, and generally not from external sources.The main challenge of… …   Wikipedia

  • The Thief and the Cobbler — Arabian Knight redirects here. For other uses, see Arabian Nights (disambiguation). The Thief and the Cobbler An unreleased poster made near the end of the film s production, before it was taken from Richard Williams …   Wikipedia

  • List of film topics — This is a list of film related topics. National cinemas | glossary | Lists... | genres/plots | personnel | details | success | recognition | links | geography | other | see also National and regional cinemas: *African Cinema *Cinema of Albania… …   Wikipedia

  • Day of the Wolves — Directed by Ferde Grofe Jr. Produced by Ferde Grofe Jr. Writte …   Wikipedia

  • Superman (film) — Superman Theatrical release poster by Bob Peak Directed by Richard Donner Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • Red Scorpion — Infobox Film name = Red Scorpion image size = caption = Theatrical release poster director = Joseph Zito producer = Jack Abramoff writer = Jack Abramoff Robert Abramoff Arne Olsen narrator = starring = Dolph Lundgren M. Emmet Walsh Al White T.P.… …   Wikipedia

  • Embassy Pictures — Industry Film studio Fate Sold Successor De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (theatrical) Nelson Entertainment (home) Founded 1942 Defunct 1986 Produ …   Wikipedia

  • Economic Affairs — ▪ 2006 Introduction In 2005 rising U.S. deficits, tight monetary policies, and higher oil prices triggered by hurricane damage in the Gulf of Mexico were moderating influences on the world economy and on U.S. stock markets, but some other… …   Universalium

  • Business and Industry Review — ▪ 1999 Introduction Overview        Annual Average Rates of Growth of Manufacturing Output, 1980 97, Table Pattern of Output, 1994 97, Table Index Numbers of Production, Employment, and Productivity in Manufacturing Industries, Table (For Annual… …   Universalium

  • motion-picture technology — Introduction       the means for the production and showing of motion pictures. It includes not only the motion picture camera and projector but also such technologies as those involved in recording sound, in editing both picture and sound, in… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”