How bad is the deal landscape? Entertainment lawyers sound off

By Eriq Gardner

Entertainment lawyer Gordon Firemark pointed on his blog yesterday a chilling memo from James Jones of Premiere Talent that has been circulating through Hollywood. 

This won't come as a shocker to anyone in the business, but the memo paints a dire portrait of an industry in turmoil as studios and networks cut back budgets. Firemark comments, "Sadly, this situation 'trickles down' to all entertainment industry workers, including writers, directors, crew, and even professionals like accountants, lawyers and the like."

Yes, theatrical boxoffice receipts are close to 12 percent ahead of last year's numbers, according to Box Office Mojo.But this doesn't tell the whole story.

In our conversations with industry lawyers, the number one topic of conversation is increasingly the woeful state of the industry. 

Hollywood's biggest stars are being forced into deals that would have seemed outlandish a few years earlier. Here are some choice quotes from some of the top talent lawyers we've interviewed for our upcoming Power Lawyers issue:

• "The financial structure of the TV and film industry is changing, and the pressures go well beyond just fee structures in contracts. We're also talking about conditions of employment, including trailers, travel, and photos. Just about everything is being cut back, especially the perks. Different clients react very differently to this news. It's becoming very hard for dealmakers."
• "Wow, I feel lucky just to have survived the last year. This is as challenging an economic environment as I've ever seen. I have to say I find what's been going on to be rather inexplicable."
• "Studios are getting more conservative on everything. The whole business is getting crunched. I think that everybody is challenged to be more creative in dealmaking because quotes really don't mean much these days."
• "I'm hoping with resolution with all of the guild issues, there will be some more stability in the marketplace and we'll see more stuff in production. Life will be pretty difficult otherwise."
• "What I'm seeing is more separation between the A++ clients and everyone else. Even for star clients who work in the feature market, there's just less work. Plus, a lot of movies being made today are animated and the compensation for that is nothing like what they would get on a live action picture."
• "As studios cut back on their production budget, it encourages talent to think of alternative ways to get into the distribution game and monetize their work. In some ways, studios are fostering competition for themselves and absolutely shooting themselves in the foot."