Disposal Agreement

Business.

Very serious subject today – not to say fundamental to the life of an entertainment company.

Oh yes, I see you – you are disappointed. So what about the donkey stories? Christmas tales? the end of year show, the party, the joy, the laughter? hmmm …you were expecting another fantasy, a pertinent remark about a video game, an old thing from the bottom of an old drawer, a burlesque idea that fell on my head? Nothing at all.

Nothing to do, I won’t let myself be charmed by little sad glances.
Once in a while I am a perfectly serious lady.

So, let’s talk about the disposal agreements.

Being French is a serious handicap on the subject – you surely know that we are very, very proud of our ‘cultural exception’ and the ‘protection of creators’ rights’.
Which gives, in a contract: the absolute consternation of the one who is going to sign on the broadcasting and production side.

I had them on my desk, full stacks of contracts. And then, no. No, no. Impossible to imagine that for Altair.

I know that a French will play you the great scene of the Frightened Virgin. How can you do that? What? You? Here? why?
So – when you’re a virgin and frightened – it passes.
And when you’re very young. And when you get for the first time in your life the slightly peculiar look of an interested young man.
Then you can legitimately play this great scene.

But when you’re an old thing who has dragged his carcass over all the stages, “the frightened virgin”, it doesn’t fit at all.

In our contracts, the company has all the rights. We would not welcome better a Lord’s envoy in person. Would you like some chamomile flower in your warm bath? Yes, of course. Does your actress need to cuddle a little dog before going on stage? Who lends his dog, quick, you bastards – the lady will cry. All right, then. I don’t make any remarks.

But on the other hand, when the theatre can’t use any visuals other than the disgusting pictures sent by the company, it starts to become less funny. Sell a show when a I don’t know who-guy thought it was great to send a picture of a horse’s head in a meadow, for a show where even by digging your head out you can’t see the connection? After that, it cries: there was no one there, no audience, not even – I stop. I don’t understand why anyone is still surprised.

And that’s what our contracts are: the number of performances – everything the theatre will agree to do for the well-being of the artists and technicians and producers and friends out of … well – the accommodation – the food (let’s not joke, this is serious) – the access to the theatre (train, plane, lala lala) – and the commitment to use only the communication material of the company.
Proofreading of the theatre teams’ communication work by the company’s communication teams – absolute veto right. No sound – no images – no audience.

Am I exaggerating? Hardly.

If that’s the game everywhere, I’m not playing.

In the contracts between Altair and the companies, I don’t even imagine the shadow of the virgin, fierce or not fierce. She is silent, the virgin.
The first point is about communication material – and there, zero jokes. Altair manages the communication – and if Altair doesn’t succeed in seducing, Altair loses its money – but knows why it loses it and blames only itself. (itself ? yes) This means: use whatever we deem useful to use so that spectators come to see the show.
And if I think it’s useful to put a picture of the show in a derivative product whose primary purpose is to sell my tickets, I do it. Without a specific mention in the contract, I can’t do it.
And I watch my pretty eagle go down, its paws caught in stupidity, which was designed to fly in the highest regions of the sky. Pouah.

The second point is about virtual reality hardware: that is to say the sharing of rights – or no sharing, by the way, the buying of these rights – it seems to me that the Americans are much more efficient than the French on this subject.
The objective is that all the work of formatting and creating virtual reality content should be returned to Altair – the company gives the base – Altair gives the final products. We buy a given amount of show time, digitized. And we transform it into games and virtual experiences.
Since this involves digitizing at least part of the show – I think that part of the contract will have to be perfectly written by perfectly good lawyers. I don’t think so – I say so.

The third point still partly concerns communication – it will be a question of thinking of asking for time from one or more members of the performance company – for communication actions towards the public.

In fact, it is a question of making the performing arts companies understand that everyone has his or her own job: the theatre is there to provide them with an increasingly large audience – and that the interest is common.

So I’ll take the chamomile, the dressing rooms repainted black, the rice milk, as long as Altair can achieve what he wants with this show, when it’s performed on Altair’s stage.

That’s it. You read it, my serious article.

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