October 19, 1998

Met with Mitchell Banks this morning to show him some color photos that could be used for the publicity sheet; he didn't like any of them as well as the black-and-white photo that he'd already picked out, and told me to go back to Plan A. If Jessica isn't able to make the photo work as part of a color design, Mitchell says I should just design a black-and-white sheet. He also gave me a list of the things I'd need to deliver to him as soon as we sign a contract; one of the items is a list of all the dialogue in the film (not the script, but what the actors actually said) for dubbers or subtitlers to use.

Mitchell also gave me a deal memo--an outline of the terms of our deal, to be followed later by a real contract. Unable to put it off any longer, I called a few of the entertainment lawyers whose names I got from the Independent Feature Project; I reached a fellow named Robert Seigel, whose fees seem relatively moderate. Seigel advised me to ask Mitchell if I could go straight to a contract without signing a deal memo; he says the memo is binding even if the contract proves unacceptable. I have no feeling for this particular game, but I'll pass the request along to Mitchell.

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