This song is perhaps more appropriately sung by Hollywood accountants than by cowboys. But, as this chapter indicates, the issues that arise in accounting for motion picture and ancillary-market income are more often related to differing viewpoints and interpretations than to intended deceits.

Contract clout

No major actor, director, writer, or other participant in an entertainment project makes a deal without receiving some kind of high-powered help beforehand, be it from an agent, personal manager, lawyer, accountant, or tax expert. In some cases, platoons of advisors are consulted; in others, only one person or a few individuals may perform all functions. Thus, an image of naive, impressionable artists negotiating out of their league with large, powerful, and knowledgeable producer or distributor organizations is most often not accurate.

As in all loosely structured private-market negotiations, bargaining power (in the industry’s jargon, “clout”) is the only thing that matters. A new, unknown talent who happens on the scene will have little if any clout with anyone. Top stars, by definition, have enough clout to command the attention of just about everyone. In Hollywood as in other businesses, it has been observed, “you don’t get what’s fair; you get what you’re able to negotiate.”