PRODUCTION TIPS: It's Better to Avoid a Lawsuit Than to Win One pt. 1
The first article in a 3-part series. The main reason why producers hire lawyers is to avoid lawsuits. However, a good production lawyer can offer more than that. For example, she can help formulate a strategy to take the film on a successful festival run or negotiate a deal at a film market or lend a project some legitimacy or advise on how to attract and raise the necessary funding or even provide some creative feedback that could be crucial to the production's success. But no lawyer kids themselves into thinking those are their main selling points... they know that while they can do all that and a bag o'chips, the main reason producers hire lawyers is to avoid a lawsuit (or so that the distributor or studio who buys the film avoids a lawsuit). So hiring a lawyer should be a no-brainer, right? But the truth is it doesn't happen. And the biggest reason why is that lawyers cost too much. Now that's a reasonable excuse because lawyers ARE expensive. But onl...