And the winner of this negotiation is . . .

A lot of folks out there on both sides of the bargaining table think that negotiating an actor deal or an artist deal is the same as buying a house or a car or a fake rolex on Canal Street.  You try to "win" the negotiation by getting the best deal you can, and then you're done.

But negotiating contracts in the entertainment industry, especially in theater, is different.  Remember, the people (and yes they are people, not "parties") involved in these deals have to work together day in and day out for a long time.  Everyone on both sides of the table has to do their best work in a difficult industry in order to achieve success.  You think that's easy when one side of a negotiation thinks they got screwed?  

Producers, agents, managers, actors, authors—all of us—need to remember that the only way a negotiation is won is when both sides are equally satisfied.  And the job of everyone at the table is not to just "get the best deal" . . . their job is to make the deal.  

Because that's the only way you make sure there are more deals in the future. 

 

 

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