An agency employee who sets appointments for talent/models.

A confirmed session indicating you have a job.

One who finds employment for artists from buyers of talent.

A call to all of your agents to let them know you are working, traveling or are unavailable for auditions or a job.

The unauthorized recording and selling of a performance of the song.

A fee-based service provided to agents that offers a daily breakdown of roles for each production submitted by participating casting directors.

A fundamental management function of an independent producer is making deals, but in doing this there are a myriad of rules, regulations and forms to navigate through.

When a casting director puts out the news that he needs to fill a certain role that requires an approximate age range and appearance such as a certain ethnicity, height, build or look.

Same function of a performance rights organization, such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC.

Percentage of income paid by actors to their representative. If it is an agent, the amount cannot be over 10% for a union contract; if it is a manager, the percentage is unregulated, but is traditionally 15-20%.

Natural protection of a song based on common laws of the various states. Was superseded by a single national system effective January 1, 1978.

Statutory mandate given to a copyright owner to permit third parties to make sound recordings of the copyright owner’s song after it once has been recorded.

Being under contract for two conflicting products. This is prohibited for union commercials. An advertiser would never want one person on the air advertising both the company’s product and a competitor’s.

Meeting The interview with a photographer which you have selected as a final choice which gives you a chance to ask questions regarding clothes, make up, what types of look you want to capture, etc.

Entertainment oriented periodicals written and published for a general public readership, i.e., Rolling Stone, Spin.

Guidelines created by SAG and named after child-actor, Jackie Coogan, for the work and pay schedules of children.

The joint publication of one copy righted work by two publishers.

As a noun, means the exclusive rights granted to authors and composers for protection of their works; a song or musical composition; as a verb, to secure protection for a song by filling the proper registration forms with the Copyright Office.

Stealing or using somebody else’s copyrighted materials.

Notice comprised of three elements: 1. The symbol of copyright, the word “copyright,” or the abbreviation “Copr.” 2. The year the work has been registered for copyright or the year of first production of the work. 3. The copyright owner’s name.

Federal government department, one of whose main purposes is to file and supply information regarding copyrights.

Tribunal A committee created by Public Law 94-553 to determine adjustments starting January 1, 1978, of royalty rates with respect to compulsory licenses for educational television, cable television, jukeboxes, and sound recordings.

Joint authorship of one work by two or more writers.

Means of recouping the money spent on one song or recording against the earnings of another song or recording.

Alternative to a resume; short account of one’s career or qualifications.

Once you have a distribution deal in place, "Delivery", a technical term, is next. It consists of supplying the physical elements such as the interpositive, internegative, soundtracks, video masters, stills and slides and the legal elements such as copyright registration, rights documents insurance, copyright and title searches and talent agreements.

An organization that specializes in creating demos.

Charged with staging a play or musical, who coordinates all onstage aspects of the production, including the performances of the actor. In television and film production, this person influences the actions of actors and action sequences during filming, and supervises editing afterward.

Company that exclusively handles the sales of a company’s product to jobbers and retail outlets for a certain territory.

An organization specializing in the production of demo tapes.

An audiocassette, audio CD or DVD recording of a talent’s recorded demonstration.

Company that exclusively handles the sales of a record company’s product to jobbers and retail outlets for a certain territory.

Independent producers are not usually involved in the distribution of films. Distribution is still the domain of the Hollywood-based major studios that generate more than 90% of U.S. box office, but there are also smaller distributors and independent sales agents who handle independent productions. There are also non-profit organizations that can lend a hand in various ways.

Term used when an actor is dropped from, then picked-up by payroll; this can only be done when there are ten working days between the drop and pick-up work dates and can only be done one time per actor per project.

What is said when taking a flash picture.

An entertainment entrepreneur.

To sign a contract.

Situations in which aspiring artists receive training and perform designated tasks in creative, administrative and technical areas. Typically these positions are non-paid and credit-based.

A legal permit or to authorize by legal permit.

A person who guides an artist in the development of his/her career. Same as artist or personal manager.

Selling place; medium where a particular product sells well.

Collection agency for copyright owners of money earned from the mechanical reproduction of their songs.

Money earned for use of a copyright in mechanical reproductions, most notably records and tapes.

The individual or company who screens songs and gets them commercially recorded, exploits the copyrights, protects the copyrights, and collects income from performance, mechanical synchronization and printing rights both in the United States and in foreign countries.

A situation in which an actor has used up the 30-day grace period to join a union and upon hiring for the next job must join that union as mandated by the Taft-Hartley law.

Acquiring the rights to a story, such as a current events, true-life story, that guarantees that no one else can work with the party who sold the story. Options typically last for a year or less.

One who selects and combines talent for shows.

The first professional union you join; subsequent unions are sister unions.

Money given to actors and crew when on location to cover the expense of food and other personal incidentals.

Rights granted by U.S. copyright law which states that one may not publicly perform a copyrighted musical work without the owner’s permission.

Society whose purpose is to collect monies earned from public performances of songs by users of music and to distribute these to the writers and publishers of these songs in a proportion that reflects as accurately as possible the amount of performances of each particular song.

Monies earned from use of one’s song on radio, television and other users of music.
Period Project not set in current time period.

Once you have a script, director, cast and financing, you can then proceed to make a movie. Details and procedural steps will include: setting up a production company (if one isn’t already in place); hiring employees or engaging independent contractors; setting up accounting and payroll services, becoming signatory with the talent and craft guilds, finding location; clearing the script and title of any obstacles; while shooting, getting the best performances from cast, crew and director; while watching budgets and time; in post-production, helping to edit shot footage into the story line.

The 10% commission negotiated by an agent, specifically referring to the 10% added to the base pay negotiated for the actor. (If the job pays only scale, the agent can not take a percentage unless he has negotiated the contract to be on a plus-ten basis).

A percentage of money producers and artists earn on the retail list price of 90 percent of all records sold.

The manufacture of a large quantity of records duplicated from a master for commercial sale.

A presentation including newspaper clippings, review of movie, television, musical and theater productions, a biography, headshot and resume given to the media and interested industry professionals. Also called a press package.

The person in charge of screening new material for music publishers and of obtaining commercial recordings of songs in his company’s catalog.

Radio station employee who determines which songs shall be broadcast.

The function in this role is to write or supervise the writing of a screenplay that can attract a director, cast and financing. If the screenplay is to be based on material owned by someone else, or is co-authored with others, the rights for it must be optioned or acquired.

Upon securing a director and principal actor, production financing is next. Sources of independent financing are family and friends, equity investors, distributors in the form of domestic studios and foreign sales agents, banks, foreign subsidies and tax incentives. A lawyer is absolutely needed during this phase.

When a screenplay is finalized the film must be packaged and financing secured. The film package consists of the script, director, producer, and cast, as well as the budget and production schedule. The budget and schedule are flexible and usually can be changed and adapted as time goes by. However, it is a good idea to have a budget range in mind during the development process. But overall, the fundamental issues of this process are when and how to get talent.

One who secures talent from an agent for the production and presentation of a performance; the primary risk taker in the event.

The printing and distribution of copies of a work to a public by sole or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease or lending.

Unprotected by copyright due to an expired copyright or caused by an invalid copyright notice.

A person hired to create public awareness of a person or project.

The issuing of a record by the record company, or a film by a studio.

Legal document releasing producer from liability, usually refers to talent allowing the producer to use his or her likeness on film and soundtrack.

Also known as royalties, these are additional monies to actors (but not extras) for film, TV or commercial work airing on local television or international television stations.

An addition to a performer’s union contract that outlives a special circumstance for pay, and airing privileges given to the production company by a union.