The majority of FAQ’s that apply to the SSP/FST Standard Play Contract also apply to the SSP/NTS Standard Play Contract so please do refer to those if your questions are not answered here.
General
Why does the SSP/NTS Agreement include post-option participation clauses?
The terms of this clause largely mirror the post option participation clause that can be found in the TNC/Writers Guild of Great Britain Commission Agreement, used exclusively by the National Theatre, Royal Court and Royal Shakespeare Company. Inclusion here recognises that these organisations are peers of NTS, i.e. they are seen as UK sector leaders in generating and commercially exploiting new work, so similar rights should be available to NTS.
What does this clause mean?
It means that should NTS have produced a commissioned Play for a minimum number of agreed performances, then optioned and re-presented the Play in either the West End, Broadway or Rest of the World, and the Play is then produced or adapted by another organisation/s, NTS is due a share of the Writers income from those additional exploitations, for a fixed period, in recognition of the significant investment in the Play and Production to-date.
The addition of this clause means that NTS have relinquished standard SSP/FST immediate rights to producer’s participation after the initial production, until a threshold has been reached.
Does this occur often?
While we are increasingly looking to exploit our productions as far as possible, even when those productions do transfer to those territories, it is unlikely that a writer will make enough income from other exploitation of The Play, within the fixed period, over and above the threshold, for NTS to receive producer’s participation. This clause exists for the unlikely (but desirable) possibility that the Writer makes significant income from the Play beyond NTS’s own production.
Do you pay a higher fee if the Writer is writing a bi-lingual Play?
No, but if any of the Play needs translated for the purposes of dramaturgy we will work with the Writer to agree an additional fee for translation, or the hiring of an external translator.
Do you pay a higher fee if more than one Writer is writing The Play?
Yes, in recognition that co-writing is time consuming, where there are multiple authors we will set the commission fee at our 60min commissioning rate x the number of co-authors.
If you are co-commissioning the work with an international company OR an international co-production is part of the initial vision for The Production, how do you secure rights for that territory?
We would negotiate at the outset that once we have paid the full fee and agreed to produce The Play, that we have the right to pay the option fee for relevant international territories before having presented an initial tour.
Does the royalty change if you remount the Production of The Play in the UK?
The royalty remains the same if we remount the Play as a subsidised Production within the UK. If the Production becomes commercial, new terms will be agreed between the Writer, NTS and the Commercial Producer/s.