Welcome back to TALKING BUSINESS: Insights from the Independent Film Industry, hosted by Stage 32 Thought Leader and Business Consultant, David Zannoni, from Freeway Entertainment and Zannoni Media. In TALKING BUSINESS, David brings you in-depth conversations on the behind-the-scenes of the filmmaking business with industry veterans.

In today’s seventh episode, David is having a chat with his Freeway colleague Daniel Simonyi, who is Head of Legal for Collection Account Management. Freeway is the global leader for Collection Account Management for independent film and TV productions.

David and Daniel are Talking Business today about the Waterfall and the Collection Account as vital elements for the independent film industry. The Waterfall (or Recoupment Schedule) dictates the manner and order in which the production’s international distribution revenues are allocated and disbursed. The Waterfall is a combination of all the single deal terms with respect to payment of SAG, DGA, WGA and other guild residuals, payment of sales commission and expenses, recoupment of loans and equity investments, and payment of back-end.

The Collection Account is a bank account in the name of a neutral, trusted third party Collection Account Manager (CAM) like Freeway, that is set up and administered by the CAM on behalf of producers, financiers, sales agents, and other stakeholders involved in independent film & TV production, to receive the production’s worldwide revenues. From the Collection Account, the CAM pays the stakeholders in accordance with the project’s Waterfall.

If you missed any previous segments of Talking Business, don't worry, you can still watch them by clicking on any of the below links!

1. Closing Industry Deals From The Entertainment Lawyer's Perspective
2. Television and Film Financing Insights
3. International Co-Production Insights
4. Production Services Insights
5. Necessary Clearances For Film & TV
6. Navigating US-Mexico Film Collaborations

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