Why not cut to the chase?


The Guilds (W.G.A.) and Unions (IATSE) exist to make sure that people get paid, instead of being screwed by the csmiley: laughckless and the cl!tless no-talents wanting to "score a deal", who, too often these days, try to con the talent into "helping" them create a clip or a short film, or an indie film, for them that they can use when seeking work in Hollywood, or at the BBC, and trot out at the major International film festivals and show to "suits".


Any suggestions  (disguised as "discussions") leading to work-offers that exist outside these Guild and Union protections are for one purpose only:   to make sure sh1t-bags can try to get people to work for them, without paying them.


Between standard work agreements that specify payment-from-profits being based on the Gross Profits (as opposed to being derived from the Net Profits, where piece of sh¥t parasites masquerading as "auteurs" and "writers" can cook-the-books), 


And also crowdfunding, which is the new and effective form of pre-paid production-budget,


There is no excuse, at all, for any form of agreement which does not guarantee some measure of payment for people to act, provide VO's, sing, dance, edit, animate, create masks, create make-up, sew costumes, etc., for some wannabe, or some low-level flunky at a prod-co (often nothing more than a trumped-up "reader" paid less than minimum wage to "pass", "consider" or "recommend").


By the way:   a "guarantee of payment" never means any line in a contract that specifies a mere  "payment from the "Net-Profits".  "Net Profits" are always subject to some talentless piece of %%+*  pseudo-auteur and his "co-executive-producer" tapeworm-pal cooking the books.  With "Net", there will always be excuses why they got to keep money from the proceeds, yet there was never any money from which to pay YOU.


Payment from the gross?  Yes, that works.  Fantagraphics had (and has) such contracts for graphic-novel product, where there will be payments to the creative team taken from every dollar from every copy of the product sold, as opposed to an artist waiting to (maybe) get something from "what's left over" after Fantagraphics deducts the cost of them showing up at a convention, etc.  


When reading this, if you are someone who has an appreciable skill applicable to films, animation or comics, there is never any excuse for anyone to fail to GUARANTEE YOU payment, one way or the other.   Whether this attempt by prodco's to circumnavigate an obligation to pay is immaterial.   No matter what transpires with this half-assed attempt to screw the talent by the "Film Industry", all any of us, the talent, have to do, when looking at work-agreements, is simply always bring up "Payments from the Gross" and "guarantees of crowdfunding", to make sure we get paid, no matter what happens to Guild agreements in the future.


Since the only reason for Hollywood and other production-hubs to go "non Guild" is to avoid obligation to pay you, the talent, by production companies that need you to work for them, and that applies to "independent productions" started by the multitudinous no-c0ck wannabe fan-lings (pretending to be writers and film auteurs) attempting to get people to draw pages for them, only to be paid by "net profit", as well.