PRIVATE INVESTMENT AGREEMENT CLAUSE CHECKLIST

A producer-side review tool for independent film investment agreements

Getting started

  1. Name the agreement. Fill in Investor, Film, Date received and Reviewed by in the table below.
  2. Rate every clause. In each section table, click the Rating cell and choose OK, Negotiate, Red flag or Not applicable. Write what you found in Your Findings.
  3. Check the top red flags. In Quick Reference — Top Red Flags, tick Present in this draft for any you find.
  4. Read your result. The Review Summary, Overall Verdict and Red flag list at the bottom update automatically as you rate.
  5. Review another agreement. Open Investment Agreement Review and click New, or click + Review a New Agreement on the Screen Deal Suite dashboard. Each agreement gets a fresh checklist.

Tip: click a cell to edit it. Clicking a clause name opens that clause on its own page; close it to come back.

Investor Harbour Capital (example)
Film The Long Dark (example thriller)
Date received 1 October 2026
Reviewed by Producer (example)

IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE These tools are starting-point precedents and general information only. They do not constitute legal or financial advice. Securities law, tax law, copyright law and privacy law vary materially between jurisdictions, including Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland and the European Union. Obtain qualified local legal advice in every jurisdiction in which you operate before offering, signing or relying on any agreement.

How to use this checklist

When to use: When you have received a draft film investment agreement — from an investor's lawyer, a co-producer, or another party — and need to assess it systematically before taking it to your entertainment lawyer.

What it covers: Every substantive clause in the Screen Deal Suite Investment Agreement. For each clause, the checklist sets out what to look for, what the clause should say to protect the Producer, and the specific red flag language or absence of language that should trigger a renegotiation before execution.

What it is not: A substitute for qualified legal advice. It is a producer-side orientation tool — a first-pass filter to help you walk into the lawyer conversation knowing which clauses need attention.

How to read it: Each row covers one clause or topic. The right column contains three elements: (1) the review question — what to look for; (2) What it should say — the standard position; and (3) Red flag — the specific language or absence of language that requires negotiation.

OK — Matches "What it should say" NEGOTIATE — Partly there or unclear RED FLAG — Matches the red flag NOT APPLICABLE — Clause not used

1 FINANCIAL STRUCTURE

Tip: the section tables are wider than the screen. To see every column (Red Flag, Note, Rating and Your Findings), scroll down to the bottom of the table to find the horizontal scroll bar and drag it right. On a trackpad, swipe left inside the table. With a mouse, hold Shift and scroll. Hover over any column heading to see what that column is for.

Clause Review