The threshold question for a producer who intends to produce a biographical film of a person in public life is whether he should attempt to obtain an exit from the subject or to produce the film without publication under his rights of amendment. As I have tried to point out, there is no such thing as an “iron” declassification, but a properly negotiated and designed agreement can be beneficial. A producer usually pays a small amount of money to the person to have time to write the literary work (i.e. script), secure funding, retain talent, and ultimately purchase the rights before the option expires. Simply put, a Life Rights Agreement (LRA), also known as a Life Story Agreement, is an agreement that gives one person or company the right to purchase and develop another`s life story. It is important to get permission to tell a person`s story, because each state recognizes a person`s “right to the public.” This means that a person has the right to prevent unauthorized commercial use of their name, image, and other recognizable aspects of their life. Download (Life Story-Rights-Option-Option Agreement.docx) and use this checklist when negotiating a Life Story Rights Option Agreement to help you reach important points. Return this Word document with the details to make it easier to create your agreements. One topic that is sometimes at the origin of the most controversial negotiations in life story agreements and which I knew would kill deals is the authorization of scripts. Often, the subject asks for script permission or some control over how they are represented.
This is something a producer should avoid at all costs. No studio or financier will accept it. If granted, a right of authorisation would give the subject the power to control the development of production and even to stop it. Even in the absence of effective authorization rights, any language of the contract that agrees to present the subject in a “truthful” or “non-pejorative” manner is in danger and should be avoided. If your script isn`t based on a story of your own creation or a non-fictional event based on your own search for public documents, one of the first steps you need to take to develop a feature film or film is acquiring the underlying story rights. Before you spend time writing and editing the script, seeking production funding, or putting talent in place, make sure you have the right to use the story you want to tell in your film.