Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1530033
WHAT LOW-BUDGET AGREEMENTS ARE AVAILABLE? The Student Film Agreement is for producers who are enrolled at an accredited college or university and who are making films that are 35 minutes or less. The total budget for the film must not exceed $35,000, and actor salaries may be deferred. The Micro-Budget Project Agreement is for live-action, scripted or unscripted projects with a total budget of $20,000 or less per picture or per episode. Terms and salaries are negotiable and the producer must not have received any compensation in exchange for distribution or exhibition rights. This agreement is a title registration-only agreement, so producers will not be assigned a signatory representative or a contracts/claims representative. The Short Project Agreement is designed for projects with a maximum budget of $50,000 and a maximum total run time of 40 minutes shooting entirely in the United States. The Ultra Low Budget Project Agreement applies to films shooting entirely in the United States with a maximum budget of $300,000. Under this agreement, the minimum rate for principal performers is set at 20% of Basic Agreement scale and will increase annually. You'll also need to contribute to Pension and Health. The Moderate Low Budget Project Agreement applies to films shooting entirely in the United States with a total budget of less than $700,000. Casting incentives included in this agreement may allow you to have an even larger budget to work with while still remaining under the maximum. Those productions that qualify for the Diversity-in-Casting Incentive increase their total allowable production cost up to $950,000. Similarly, productions that qualify for the Background Actor Incentive — by hiring an average of three background performers for each day of principal photography — may increase the total allowable production cost maximum by $112,000. The Diversity-in-Casting and Background Actor incentives also apply to the Low Budget Agreement. This agreement is appropriate for films shooting entirely within the United States with a total budget of less than $2 million. With the Diversity-in- Casting incentive, you can increase your budget up to $3 million!