Film Accounting Glossary
Deal memo
What is a deal memo?
Also called crew deal memo, or start paperwork.
A deal memo is the short written agreement setting a crew member's or vendor's rate, term, guaranteed hours, box rental, kit fee, and any overtime or buyout terms.
It is the source document payroll works from, so a missing or vague deal memo turns into a payroll dispute and a variance nobody can explain. Accounting will not release a first check without one on file.
Example
A gaffer's memo reads: $1,450 per 12-hour day, 10 weeks guaranteed, $200 a week box rental, overtime at time and a half after 12 and double after 14. Every one of those numbers is what payroll calculates from, so a memo that omits the overtime terms guarantees a dispute.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Signed in prep and held on file by accounting before the first check is released.
Common mistake
Starting someone without one on file. Payroll then calculates from a verbal rate, and the first dispute has no document to resolve it.
Related questions
- What should a crew deal memo include?
- Rate and guaranteed hours, term and guarantee, box rental or kit fee, overtime terms, any buyout, and travel or per diem where applicable.
- Who keeps the deal memo?
- Accounting holds the file copy, because it is the source document payroll works from and the reference for any later wage dispute.