Allegations have been raised that a famous domestic메이저놀이터 film production company stole a new director’s screenplay under the pretext of unfair contracts. Director Lee, who signed a contract with the production company with a scenario he created 10 years ago, demanded a revision, saying that the contract period and total remuneration were not set in the contract. However, the production company said, “There is no problem with the contract,” and instead entrusted directing to someone else.
According to the coverage of the Kukmin Ilbo on the 14th, Mr. Yoon signed a contract with the film production company S in 2020 to produce the movie ‘Adult Fairy Tale’. After creating the scenario for the 2011 movie Adult Fairy Tale, Yoon registered the copyright. According to the contract, Mr. Yoon will provide the scenario and direct the film. Company S’s job was to attract investment and cast actors necessary for film production.
However, making the film was not easy. With the film industry stagnating due to COVID-19, it was difficult to attract investment. Yoon received a subsidy of 200 million won from the Korean Film Council, but the production was delayed. After a year or so, there was no change in the situation, so Yoon asked Company S to include the ‘filming period’ in the contract. The intention was to clarify the timing of the film’s production. It was also a problem that the total amount of remuneration was left undetermined and left as a matter for consultation.
The standard contract provided by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Film Directors Guild sets the filming period at 5 years and specifies the total amount of remuneration. “The period is the standard for cost settlement,” said Park Joo-hee, a lawyer at Law Office J. If there is no period, the production company can permanently hold the rights to the scenario or have it work,” he explained, “the contract may be unfair.” An official from the National Film Industry Union also pointed out that “the production company, not the director, must bear the damage that may occur (due to not being able to predict the period).”
However, Company S did not accept Yoon’s request. Mr. Yoon requested help from the film industry’s dispute mediation body, ‘Cinematology Reporter’, and obtained an arbitration decision that ‘both sides should sign a new contract specifying the filming period, etc.’, but S company did not accept it. Company S is in the position that the standard contract is only a recommendation, and it is difficult to predict the exact period due to the nature of film production. He said that the reason why he did not specify the compensation was to give more when he made a lot of profit.
As the conflict deepened, Company S eventually hired another director and started filming the movie Adult Fairy Tale last month. Company S is in the position that Mr. Yoon did not take over as director, so he hired someone else. According to the contract obtained by Kukmin Ilbo, Company S can exercise all decision-making rights necessary for film production. Both sides were asked to discuss the production schedule, final scenario, editorial rights, etc., but if the disagreement cannot be narrowed down, S company’s decision is to be followed.
Mr. Yoon said, “This scenario is like my child whom I have raised for over 10 years. It was not enough that I was deprived of my debut film, so I was completely excluded from the production process,” he said. “If Company S interpreted (my request) as saying that I would not take over as a director, I should terminate the contract and return the script rights.”