Contractual, Legal and Ethical Obligations

in Film & Television.

- By Jack Overton

Introduction.
Within this report I will be discussing contractual, legal and ethical obligations considering the way they are used
and regulated in the film and television production industry.

Contractual Agreements.
There are certain film contracts and agreements that protect the rights
of a film production which are vital when trying to avoid
miscommunication and encountering risk at every stage from
pre-production to distribution to an audience. Contractual agreements
need to be set in place with a production team, cast and crew before
principal photography begins in the pre-production stages. (‘Pre-production
refers to the period of a film before production and shooting begins when
those in charge of getting the film up and running finalize the rights and the
script, get financing in place, put together the cast and crew and prepare for
production. The early stages of pre-production are often called “development”.
The development stage can last for many years, as rights are acquired and
cast and crew are slowly assembled.’) An agreement as such between the releaser
and the recipient in the film industry to disclose a Non-Disclosure Agreement
which agrees that neither party involved will disclose any information about
the story that is being worked on at the time. If the project moves forward,
then the film or television show can be given a 'codename' which hides any
indication of the plot or well-known project from audiences. For example:

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was known as “Blue Harvest”
And Titanic was known as “Planet Ice”.

There are many forms of contractual agreements that can be disclosed,

the following list of references elucidated examples of the way contracting
can be used in order to certify the film crew's agreement to the recipient.
Contractual agreements such as actor contracts, film finder agreements,
film non-disclosure agreements and the screenplay option agreement
allow for an industry to fit into legal protection. Every film or television
production must have some form of contractual obligation, this is needed
and required when on set when it comes to hiring people and scouting for
locations.

Legal Observations.

‘Before filming on location (in the United Kingdom specifically) a filmmaker

and their crew will make sure that it's legal to do so. When consulting with
extended researched information about the legal obligations required to
consider, I found that there were a few different sections of legal observations;
filming people, filming buildings and architecture (such as iconic structures),
media insurance and child performance licence.’
Filming People ‘Whilst there is no general ‘image right’ or right to
 control one’s likeness under English law, there are
other rights which apply to the use of a person’s image
which filmmakers should consider. This is particularly
the case when filming in the street, as it might be easy
to inadvertently capture passers-by on camera. Ideally,
before exploiting the film, you should obtain direct
consent from anybody appearing on camera.’

Filming Building ‘Consent is required from the landlord. Many lands for
shooting are commonly private, some pieces of land are
made open for the public so shooting on these lands
requires no legal observation. If you want to film inside
a building, you will need to get permission from the
building owners. The exception under section 62
doesn’t mean one can freely enter onto private land to
photograph and record buildings.’

Child Performance Licence ‘If your film requires children of compulsory education
level then it is important that you check whether or not
the actor at hand requires a licence which is issued by
the Education Welfare department nearest to the child’s
residency. The Children Performance Regulations
issued in 1968 requires a licenced applicant to give 21
days notice in regards to when the company will
require the actor.’

Ethical Obligations.

Codes of practice:
A code of practice sets out how employees of a company may act. Though it is not legally binding, the purpose is to
stop employees behaving in unethical ways, ensuring the creator of a piece of content behaves according to ethical
standards. For example the BBC has a commissioning code of practice that sets out the principles by which they
should abide when commissioning work from independent production companies. ‘The intention of the Code is to
ensure that relations between the BBC and independent producers are conducted on a fair and transparent basis.’
The code includes guidelines for dealing with independent production companies and covers issues such as
payment, editorial control and rights over the programmes. This ensures that the BBC has a good working
relationship and behaves in an ethical manner with producers.

Policies and procedures:

TV and film companies will also have a number of policies and procedures in place to maintain and encourage
ethical practice. These can relate to business conduct, recruitment, employment and records management. They are
often informed by legislation such as health and safety and equal opportunities laws. One of the most interesting
policies is the BBC’s on advertising. It states that advertising is not allowed in order to keep the channel free from
commercial pressures. This means they can truly serve the public without having to make profits or have their
schedules and programming dictated by external pressure. They also have a policy on the safeguarding of children
that they work with in their programmes and also a watershed policy that ensures certain subjects, matters, issues
and images are not on the channel before 9pm. These ethical policies make the BBC avoid legal action and give
them a good reputation and standing in the country.
Emerging social concerns:
A company’s ethical policies might extend to dealing with emerging social concerns such as the treatment of people
with disabilities, the sexual exploitation of children and empowering youth. Channel 4 for example is committed to
highlighting issues around those with disabilities. They broadcast the Paralympics and have commissioned a range
of programmes dealing with disabled people and their lives. They also have documentaries under the Dispatches
series that tackle and highlight a huge range of very serious issues including Britain’s sex gangs. These investigative
shows fulfil ethical obligations to help the country improve.

Representation:
Finally broadcasters will always consider the representation of social groups in their programmes. Channel 4 has
come under fire for its representation of gypsy culture in My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and also for its titling of a
show about disabled people dating called The Undateables. These shows can damage the reputation of Channel 4
and lead to accusations of racism and making people’s perceptions of certain social groups worse or they can be
praised for highlighting parts of culture that are not often represented on the television.