contracts – protecting rights, minimizing risk, and negotiating fair terms in the U.S. and globally.
Every film starts with two questions: Do you own the story, and who is paying to tell it? Working with a film financing lawyer in Miami who also handles rights acquisition helps you answer both with confidence. At ChaseLawyers®, we help producers, independent filmmakers, screenwriters, authors, and investors secure underlying rights and structure financing that protects creative and financial interests alike.
Our Miami and New York film attorneys negotiate option and purchase agreements for books, articles, scripts, and life stories; build a clean chain of title; and document equity, debt, pre-sale, and co-production financing. The development stage is where a project becomes bankable – or runs into trouble – so we focus on getting the foundation right. Once rights and funding are in place, our movie & TV production support team can carry your project through production and distribution.
contracts — protecting artists, producers, and their rights across the U.S. and globally.
What Do We Offer You?
Movie Rights & Film Financing Legal Services
Movie Rights Acquisition – Secure Ownership of Your Story
Your project begins with strong rights. We help you:
- Negotiate option and purchase agreements for novels, articles, plays, podcasts, and screenplays.
- Secure life-story rights with releases that address privacy, publicity, and defamation risk.
- Acquire remake, sequel, and adaptation rights to existing films and series.
- Review option periods, extensions, reversion, and turnaround terms so your rights don’t lapse unexpectedly.
Film Financing & Investment – Structure Deals That Protect You
Film financing is complex. Your agreements shouldn’t be. Selling an interest in a film to investors is often a securities offering, so federal and state securities laws may apply. We help you:
- Structure equity investment, gap and bridge loans, pre-sales, and co-production financing.
- Draft investor, operating, and co-financing agreements, including recoupment and profit-participation terms.
- Plan private investor raises with federal and state securities rules in mind.
- Review completion bond, collection account, and incentive-related terms with your financiers.
Chain of Title & Deal Protection – Make Your Project Bankable
Financiers and distributors invest in paperwork before they invest in your picture. Our attorneys help you:
- Assemble and audit chain-of-title documents from underlying rights to the final script.
- Record transfers and option documents with the U.S. Copyright Office when appropriate.
- Negotiate sales agent and distribution terms that fit your financing plan.
- Protect your position in the recoupment waterfall and review profit participation statements.
How It Works
How We Work – From Story Rights to Funded Project
Tell us about your project, source material, current rights status, and funding plan. We identify the most pressing legal and financial risks.
We map which rights you need, how to structure the deal, and how to approach investors, co-producers, and distributors.
We negotiate option, purchase, and life-rights agreements, assemble title documentation, and record key documents where appropriate.
We draft and negotiate financing, co-production, pre-sale, and distribution agreements that work together rather than against each other.
We track option deadlines and participation statements, address rights or investor disputes, and support sequels and future projects.
Producers & Independent Filmmakers
Producers and production companies developing features, series, and documentaries. We help you secure rights, raise money on sound terms, and keep control of your project as partners come aboard.
Screenwriters, Authors & Life-Story Owners
Writers, novelists, journalists, and people whose true stories attract producers. We negotiate option and purchase agreements, credits, consulting roles, and reversion terms so your story is valued fairly.
Investors, Co-Producers & Distributors
Private investors, financiers, co-production partners, and distributors backing film and TV projects. We review chain of title, deal structure, and recoupment terms before you commit capital or acquire rights.
Our Reviews
FAQ
Movie Rights & Film Financing FAQs
Answers to the questions producers, writers, and investors most often ask a film financing lawyer about acquiring story rights and funding film and TV projects.
An option gives a producer the exclusive right, for a set period, to buy the film or TV rights to a book, article, script, or other work. The producer pays an option fee and can exercise the option by paying the agreed purchase price. If the option expires without being exercised, the rights typically remain with the owner.
A life rights agreement gives a producer permission to portray a real person and access to their story, often with a release of claims such as defamation and invasion of privacy. Whether you legally need one depends on the story and your sources, but financiers, distributors, and E&O insurers often expect it for projects about living people.
Investors and lenders generally expect you to control the screenplay and any underlying material – such as a book, article, earlier film, or life story – through signed option, purchase, writer, and assignment agreements. Together these documents form your chain of title. Securing them before you raise money helps you avoid disputes and makes your project easier to finance.
Many independent projects combine several sources: equity from private investors, pre-sales of distribution rights in certain territories, gap or bridge loans, co-production partners, and tax credits or incentives. Each source comes with its own documents and priorities, so the agreements need to fit together, especially on who recoups first and who controls key creative and business decisions.
Often, yes. Offering investors a share of a film’s profits in exchange for their money is commonly treated as a securities offering. That can trigger federal and state requirements, including exemptions, disclosures, and filings. Mistakes may give investors a right to demand their money back or create regulatory exposure, so structure your raise carefully from the start.
The waterfall is the agreed order in which film revenue is paid out – for example, distribution fees and expenses first, then lenders, then equity investors, and finally deferments and profit participants. Because it decides who gets paid and when, negotiating it carefully matters for producers, investors, and talent. We also review the statements that report it.
Chain of title proves your production company owns or controls every right needed to make and exploit the film. Financiers, completion guarantors, distributors, and E&O insurers review it before committing. A missing signature, an expired option, or an unclear assignment can delay closing or reduce your project’s value, so we audit title documents early.
Early due diligence, such as copyright and title searches and a careful review of prior agreements, reduces that risk. If a claim arises, we review the documents, notify your E&O insurer where relevant, and represent you in negotiations. When a dispute can’t be resolved informally, we can pursue or defend your rights in arbitration or litigation.
Yes. We help you understand how state, federal, and international incentive programs may fit into your financing plan, and we review related agreements with lenders and co-producers. Eligibility rules change and vary by location, so we coordinate with your accountants and incentive advisors to confirm current requirements before you rely on any incentive.
Costs depend on your project’s scope and complexity. Your first consultation is free, and afterward we explain pricing clearly before any work begins. We offer flat-fee packages for common services, along with hourly and retainer arrangements for larger or ongoing matters, so you can choose the structure that fits your project and budget.
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