A deal memo is a contract in most situations. This post explains how productions use them, not what's legally enforceable in your state, so have an entertainment or employment attorney review your form before it goes out.
What the memo is doing
The memo is the first place a crew deal exists in writing. Accounting sets up payroll from it, the coordinator adds the person to the crew list from it, and the line producer checks the budget line against it. When a time card and the memo disagree, the memo is what everyone reaches for.
That makes vague wording expensive. "$500/day" on its own leaves three questions open: for how many hours, what the hourly base is, and whether overtime starts at 8, 10, or 12. The crew deal memo template has a filled-in example. This post is about the terms themselves and where the negotiation happens.
The terms, and which ones people negotiate
| Term | What to write | Negotiated? |
|---|---|---|
| Position and department | Title as it appears on the crew list | Rarely |
| Dates | Prep start, first shoot day, last shoot day, wrap days | Sometimes, especially prep |
| Rate and guarantee | Dollar amount and guaranteed hours, such as $450 for 10 hours | Almost always |
| Hourly base and overtime | Base rate, 1.5x rate, 2x rate, and when each starts | Calculated from the agreed rate |
| Prep, wrap, and travel days | Rate and hours for non-shoot days | Often |
| Sixth and seventh days | Rate and premium | Sometimes |
| Kit, box, or truck rental | Daily or weekly amount, inventory attached, who insures it | Often |
| Per diem, housing, mileage | Amounts for non-local crew | Sometimes |
| Credit | Wording and placement | Rarely on crew, but it matters to people |
| Payment | Individual employee or loan-out company, payroll company named | No |
| Signatures | Crew member and authorized production signer | No |
Most deals settle on three things: the rate basis, the prep days, and the rentals.
The rate basis decides the money
A 10-hour guarantee and a 12-hour guarantee at similar dollar amounts are different jobs. Here's a comparison for a California shoot, where Wage Order 12 requires time and a half after 8 hours up to 12 and double time after 12.
Offer A is $450/10. The 10 hours contain 8 straight and 2 at time and a half, so 8 + (2 x 1.5) = 11 straight-time hours. The base is $450 / 11 = $40.91.
Offer B is $500/12. The 12 hours contain 8 straight and 4 at time and a half, so 8 + (4 x 1.5) = 14 straight-time hours. The base is $500 / 14 = $35.71.
| Hours worked | Offer A ($450/10) | Offer B ($500/12) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $450.00 | $500.00 (guarantee) |
| 11 | $450 + $61.36 = $511.36 | $500.00 |
| 12 | $450 + 2 x $61.36 = $572.72 | $500.00 |
| 13 | $572.72 + $81.82 = $654.54 | $500 + $71.43 = $571.43 |
| 14 | $654.54 + $81.82 = $736.36 | $571.43 + $71.43 = $642.86 |
The lower day rate is the more expensive deal once days pass 11 hours. Over a five-day week of 12-hour days, Offer A costs 5 x $572.72 = $2,863.60 and Offer B costs $2,500, a difference of $363.60 per person per week. Across an 18-person crew for four weeks, that's $26,179.20.
So a crew member who counters $500/12 with $450/10 is asking for more money on any day past 11 hours. If you're scheduling 12-hour days, it's simpler to negotiate on a 12-hour figure. Run your own numbers through the overtime calculator.
Outside California, the math changes. The federal rule from the US Department of Labor is time and a half after 40 hours in a workweek, with no daily overtime requirement, and some states add their own. Write the state's rule into the rate block so nobody assumes California math in Georgia or Georgia math in California.
Prep, wrap, and travel days
Prep days are the easiest thing to leave off a memo. A costume designer on a 20-day shoot might need 15 prep days, and a gaffer might need two plus a tech scout. Write each as a count and a rate:
- Prep: 10 days at $450/10, from Monday, October 12
- Tech scout: 1 day at the shoot rate, date TBD
- Wrap: 3 days at $450/10
- Travel: at the straight-time base for hours traveled, 8-hour minimum
A common compromise is paying prep at a shorter guarantee than shoot days, such as 10 hours instead of 12. That's fine as long as it's written down. If the memo only covers shoot days, the day the mixer spent at the rental house has no rate.
Union agreements set floors here. The DGA's Low Budget Sideletter, for example, sets minimum prep for the 1st AD at 7 days on Level 2 films and 15 days from Level 3 up. For DGA ADs and UPMs, the DGA rate card also says the start day of the initial workweek has to be designated in the deal memo. The DGA publishes its own deal memo packages, including one for Low Budget Theatrical projects.
Sixth days and long weeks
Say how a sixth day is paid before it happens. Under California's Wage Order 12, an employee's seventh consecutive workday in a workweek earns time and a half for the first 8 hours and double time after that. Union agreements have their own rules. The Area Standards Agreement, for instance, pays time and a half for the first 12 hours on a sixth work day and double time for all hours on a seventh.
On a non-union memo in a state without daily overtime, a line such as "6th day paid at 1.5x base for all hours" avoids a fight and is easy to budget.
Rentals: trade them against rate carefully
Crew often bring a kit, cart, or truck, and the rental is a common place to meet in the middle. A sound mixer asking $650/12 might accept $600/12 plus a $250 daily cart rental, since the rental is paid on invoice against an inventory.
The trade has limits. The rental should reflect real equipment on an inventory. A rental that's really disguised wages creates payroll and tax problems for both sides, and folding a rental into the day rate inflates the overtime base. The kit rentals and box rentals post covers how productions pay them, and the kit rental entry explains the terms.
Terms that start arguments at the first payroll
Meal penalties and turnaround on a non-union show. Wage Order 12 requires a meal period within six hours and says an employer that doesn't provide one owes one hour of pay at the regular rate for each workday it's missed. Write the production's meal policy on the memo so crew know how it's handled. Meal penalties explained compares this with union rules.
Deferred pay. If part of a rate is deferred, the memo needs the deferred amount, the trigger for payment, and where the crew member sits in the recoupment order. For crew hired as employees, a deferral doesn't stand in for the minimum wage and overtime owed on payday. The deferred pay entry has more.
Cancellations and weather days. Say what happens if a shoot day is cancelled the night before. Without a clause, "we'll figure it out" becomes an argument when three crew show up to a rained-out location.
Loan-outs. If a department head is paid through a loan-out company, the memo names the company and the payroll company needs its documents before the first check.
California's separate hiring notice
California Labor Code section 2810.5 requires a written notice at the time of hiring with the rate or rates of pay and their basis (including overtime rates), allowances claimed against minimum wage, the regular payday, the employer's name, address, and phone number, the workers' compensation carrier, and sick leave rights, among other items. A deal memo often covers some of that, but it's a separate legal requirement. Ask your payroll company for its notice and send it with the start packet.
Negotiating without burning the relationship
- Open with the budget number and the schedule you actually expect, including realistic hours.
- Show the math. Crew understand a rate basis comparison faster than a speech about tight budgets.
- Offer non-cash terms you can afford: an extra prep day, a guaranteed wrap day, a better credit placement.
- Treat department members consistently. If the best boy grip gets a bump, the best boy electric will hear about it by lunch.
- Put the final deal in writing the same day, while both sides remember it the same way.
Where the memo goes next
Signed memos go into the start paperwork packet and the budget's crew lines, and the crew member goes onto the crew contact list. The steps before the memo are in how to hire a film crew, and typical union figures are in film crew day rates.
Crew terms in Storiara
Storiara doesn't produce deal memos. Once terms are agreed, you can enter each crew member in the Cast & Crew module with their union, contract, and rate, and the Budget module picks up those rates when you sync crew lines.