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March 19, 2021
A Crew Deal Memo is, in essence, a contract between the Producer (and/or Production Company) and the hired crew member.
The creation and production of a film is a temporary project. Therefore, most crew members will be hired on a temporary basis. The Crew Deal memo will outline the duration of the hire, the compensation, and other important factors that need to be agreed upon by the Producer/Production Company and the individual Crew Member.
If the production is a union shoot, union rules per the crew member’s union must be taken into consideration, especially regarding compensation, overtime, meals, and time off.
We are going to outline the basics of what your Crew Deal memo “should” include, and you are welcome to download our sample Crew Deal Memo, which you can use and customize.
The Parties
The first section is where you enter your information and contact info. It is also where you enter the name of the crew member and their title/position and social security number. There is a space here for Rate, and if it is simply a flat rate or the same weekly rate, enter it here. If there are different rules for compensation, enter “See Below” and enter that information in the Compensation section.
Also, make sure you get the crew member’s address and phone/e-mail info.
Compensation
If you did not enter a rate in the above section, this is where you outline the compensation for the crew member. If this is a union shoot (for example for a 1st Assistant Director), refer to the DGA (Directors Guild of America) for specific rules and guidelines for compensation rates for directors. You can also check out The Gorilla Ratebook, which gives you up-to-date rate information for thousands of crew positions, including the DGA and many of the other film unions.
Grant of Rights
This section you will find standard in many ‘for-hire’ contracts. It protects the Production Company.
Status of Parties
This clause outlines that this agreement is in no way a partnership or joint venture and that the Production Company will withhold any federal and/or state taxes. See our Film Payroll Companies post for more information about hiring a payroll company to take care of your cast and crew’s payroll needs.
Services
This is a general clause that explains the duties to be performed should be in accordance with the title/position of the crew member. If any specific information needs to be entered or specified here that is not common for that crew member’s position, enter it here.
6. Work Day and Work Week
This clause specified a standard 6-day work week. If it is a non-union shoot and you want the work week to be 5-days, specify that here. If this is a union shoot and the crew member is part of a union, refer to the specific union’s guidelines regarding work days, overtime, and time off.
Turnaround
It is standard to allow at least a 10-hour turnaround between shoot dates. So, if a production day ends at 12 midnight, the next day’s shoot should not start until at least 10 AM.
This is why Call Sheets are usually created at the “end” of the day by the Assistant Director or the Production Manager. We have an excellent post on Call Sheets (where you can also get a FREE Call Sheet Template!).
Meals
The crew needs to eat! This is one of the most important aspects (and one of the most important perks) of working on a film production: free food! It is customary (and sometimes mandatory on union shoots) to provide at least one (not including breakfast!) complimentary meals per day. With non-union shoots you want the crew to be happy. On union shoots, you have no choice! Check with the union regarding meal compensation rules and guidelines.
Petty Cash & Expenses
If any crew member needs to purchase something (even food) for the production, this specifies that it must be cleared with the Producer and/or Line Producer. You don’t want the Boom Operator to show up unwrapping a $5,000 microphone he just got on Amazon and hand the receipt to the Producer without clearance! (This happened to me, that’s why I am mentioning it – it wasn’t $5,000, but still…)
Employment Rentals
Similar to the above clause, this goes for renting equipment, too.
12. Employee-At-Will-Termination
If, for any reason, the Producer/Production Company needs to terminate the crew member, let it be known here, that you can do so.
Credit
This is very important on both non-union and union shoots. The crew member wants Credit on the film! This clause expressly points out that the Crew Member will receive a credit at the end (and sometimes the beginning) of the film. See our post on Film and Movie Credits for more information on this.
14. Insurance
This clause explains that if any damage it to occur to the employee’s property due to negligence of the employee that it will not be covered by the Production Insurance.
Non-Union Clause
If the production is a non-union picture, keep this clause here. If not, remove it.
Confidentiality Clause
This is standard in most contracts. This points out that the employee agrees not to disclose any creative information (story, pictures, audio, etc.) about the production without written consent.
Arbitration
This is also standard in most contracts and states that if there any disagreements between the Production Company and the employee that both parties agree to arbitration. Now, if this is a union production, refer to the union. Many unions have their own method of arbitration. No one want to go to court!
Get Your Free Crew Deal Memo Now
The Gorilla Ratebook can give you up-to-date guild rates for Assistant Directors and all other Crew Titles in the Director Guild of America (DGA).
For a complete working demo of Gorilla Scheduling click here for Macintosh or here for Windows.
We have 3 options for Call Sheets! Get your Free Call Sheet template here. Download Free Template Why do films have so many Producers? Looking
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