The Production GuideMartin Landau archives
Contract
The Production Guide
This is the initial contract (technically a memorandum of understanding) agreed between ITC and the stars, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, represented by their company, Bellaroma Productions Inc. Based on this initial agreement of terms, a formal legal contract was written. This document is 10 pages and has 24 clauses.
This document was created at the end of meetings in Los Angeles between the Landaus, Gerry Anderson and Abe Mandell of ITC, and their agent, probably Otis (Dick) Blodget of IFA (International Famous Agency). The location was the Beverly Hills Hotel. At the time there were 21 self-contained bungalows in the gardens and around the pool, used by film stars and the wealthy. In another account by Anderson, he says they were in bungalow 5 (famously used by Elizabeth Taylor), but in this account Gerry Anderson states they have bungalow 1 (known for Marilyn Monroe).
Their agent stepped in and said "Okay guys, if you want these two, you do not talk to them again until you've signed a contract." Now we were sitting by the pool scrolling notes, sending it by messenger to the agent, and then the agent was replying "No they want more money than that, and they want this, and they want that, and want the other." And it was imperative that we got them. Finally they just wanted one more thing and I clinched the deal by saying "Look" to the agent, in note form, "we will give them a Rolls-Royce, to take them back and forth to the studio." Bang, they accepted
But then they came back again, just one other point, more money. Lew had said to us "Look I've gone along with you all this time, but not a penny more." We were sunk. We were sitting by the pool, and Abe Mandel said to me "Gerry it's 5 o'clock here, so it's, whatever time, 11 o'clock in London and Lew always goes to bed at 9. We daren't ring him, but how can we let the series go down?" If it was 5pm in Los Angeles, it would be 1am in London (there is an 8 hour time difference)
Suddenly he stood up and said "To hell with it, i'm going to ring Lew." and he walked around the pool. In this particular hotel they had little villas in the grounds, or bungalows as they called them, and he was in bungalow one, the best one. I followed him and I thought, bloody hell, he's really brave, this guy's going to talk to Lew at 11 o'clock at night, nobody would dare do that.
We got to bungalow one, and he walked in. He picked up the receiver and he dialed the number. Then I heard Lew's voice "hello?" He said "Lew, I've got Gerry for you" and he put the receiver in my hand. I thought he was just about the dirtiest trick I've ever known. Good old Lew, he didn't get annoyed with me, and I was able to say "This is positively the last thing, if you let us do this, we've got them." And he said "Ok, fine."
The agreement is comparable to other actor's contracts and conditions, notably those of Shatner and Nimoy in the original Star Trek, which have been documented and analysed in detail (see also this comparison between Trek, Mission Impossible and Space: 1999). One of the more unusual conditions is the 3 week holiday during filming. The highlights are discussed below.
The "first call" (filming of the first series) was to start "approximately" 29 October 1973 (a note specifies the agreed start date as 26 November 1973). A couple of weeks later, they were formally notified the first call was 29th October 1973 with filming from 26 November, although filming did not actually begin until 3 December.
It would last until 30 November 1974, but could be extended until 31 December 1974 (it actually ran until 28 February 1975).
The contract specifies a British Equity rules and a UK working day, from 8:30am to 5:30pm with an hour for lunch. They were not required to work more than 6 Saturdays. This is very different from a US TV schedule, which regularly worked late into the evening.
After "approximately" 12 episodes, there would be a production hiatus of 3 weeks. This highly unusual arrangement happened from 10 June to 28 June 1974, during the filming of Force of Life.
The series is defined as 24 one-hour films, but there's a clause that after the 20th episode, the series may be extended by two additional episodes (to 26 episodes).
Gerry and Sylvia Anderson agreed to consult with the Landaus over "the selection of the directors, content of scripts and other major elements of the series". However, they had no veto: "the final and determinative decisions on all creative elements of the series rests with the executive producer and producer."
The names of Landau and Bain had to appear before the series titles, and no other actor could have the same billing (unless they cast James Mason). James Mason appeared in several ITC films of the time: Great Expectations (1974), Voyage of the Damned (1976), Jesus of Nazareth (1977) and The Boys From Brazil (1978). Abe Mandell may have name-dropped him during the negotiations. The Landaus were obviously impressed by Mason's name, allowing a special condition. Here is the full clause 16:
Artists shall be the sole stars of the series and shall receive credit on separate cards, Martin Landau in first position and Barbara Bain in second position immediately preceding the title. No other performer shall receive billing in size as large as artists. Artists' credit shall appear in all major paid advertising and publicity on the series issued by producer or under its control. (If Mr. James Mason were to perform as a regular cast of this series, the entire billing provisions would be re-opened.)
The Landaus were required to do promotional trailers. They did not have to do any commercials (for instance, tie-in merchandise), and were not allowed to do commercials for anything else, without the producer's agreement.
The contract makes the Landaus work exclusively for the series. They were not allowed to appear in any other series (but there is an exception "as a one-time guest star"). All professional appearances (industry events, talk shows and the like) were subject to approval by the producers.
These financial benefits took several days of discussion in Los Angeles between Landau's agent and Gerry Anderson.
ITC would pay the Landau's company, Bellaroma Productions, run by Stanley Bushell. Note that the Landaus would pay 10% of their compensation and bonuses to their agency (IFA), who were negotiating this contract. They would also pay a fee to Hollywood publicist Gene Schwam (Hanson & Schwam, see here). In addition to Bellaroma, the Landaus also owned Abradau Corporation, managed by Peter Bennett who would manage their contract. Separate notes by Landau estimate outgoings as $40,000 to Bushell, rent of their London house to be $40,000, $140,000 going to IFA, taxes at 50% (they would be taxed by the UK). An additional income was $50,000 per year from Mission Impossible, demonstrating that even after a series had been cancelled, the stars would receive income from US syndication re-runs.
All funds were in US dollars. This would become problematic in 1976. In 1973, one UK pound was worth US $2.41. In mid 1976 it was worth US $1.67. That meant the Landaus became 44% more expensive for UK-based ITC. US sales were also earning 44% more for ITC, but high UK inflation (cumulative 68% over 4 years) meant the net earnings for the series were 14% down. This loss, and the sterling crisis, were the primary reasons that the series was cancelled in October 1976.
ITC paid a single sum for both stars. There are a few individual conditions (for the credits, Landau is first, Bain is second), but everything financial is a single sum. They were jointly paid $20,000 per episode (see their pay on Mission Impossible). Over the 24 episodes, the total pay is $480,000 (around 7% of the publicly declared budget of $6.5 million).
The producer had the option to uses the stars for 4 consecutive additional years (so 5 series in total).
If the series was renewed (within a year of starting each series), the production had to offer the Landaus the right of first refusal (they could not replace them involuntarily). If the Landaus refused and left the series, the series could continue with new cast.
Each year the series is renewed, an increased compensation is specified. For the second series ("first optional year") compensation rises from $20,000 to $25,000. By the 5th series, it is at $32,5000 (there is no mention of indexation, so 1970s inflation would have severely eroded the value of this).
If the series was shown on a US network, the stars received an additional $10,000 per episode.
The Landaus are entitled to profit participation of 5% of net profits. This is standard. William Shatner was given given 5% on Star Trek back in 1966, but didn't see any money until the 1980s, when Paramount needed him to make new movies. Notoriously, industry accountants ensure that any film or TV series never make a profit, even Star Trek, so that they don't pay out to actors or producers. After Star Trek Wrath of Khan, Shatner and Nimoy employed accountants to audit the film profits to get a payout.
The Landaus were entitled to 5% of merchandising licenses. They also had approval rights: "where the name, voice or likeness of either artist is utilized, the artist will have the right of reasonable approval". In the mid-1980s, Landau discovered that a US company had released two videos with Sybil Danning covers; the company had to withdraw them. For much of the 1990s and beyond, ITC/Polygram/Carlton/Granada/ITV insisted that merchandise did not show the Landaus, to avoid the approval process (video, DVD and Blu-ray releases were allowed a limited number of pre-approved publicity photos).
In addition, they got $1000 per week living expenses, including their housing in London. Over the expected filming time (56 weeks), that would be a total of $56,000. If filming continued after 31 December 1974, they were paid a pro-rata of $10,000 per week (it actually continued to 28 February 1975).
In addition to expenses, some benefits were also provided. They would be provided with transport from their home to the studio, with a "late model automobile or Rolls Royce and chauffeur". Gerry Anderson remembers in his biography "I thought that offering them use of a Rolls-Royce while they were in England would impress them. It did."
They also were provided with 5 first class round-trip air tickets between Los Angeles and London. If they filmed in a location "in excess of 30 miles from Charing Cross", they would be provided with first class accommodation, and be reimbursed for expenses (with vouchers). Pinewood and Black Park are 21 miles from Charing Cross, so this was an option they never had to exercise.
The stars also required 2 dressing rooms, and a personal secretary and separate office. This was standard, and even supporting actors sometimes negotiated similar (Leonard Nimoy got a secretary and stationery supplies for the second series of Star Trek when his character became popular).
Copyright Martin Willey