Compensation & Waterfall

Where the money goes, in order.

One collection account. A fixed order of payments. A 15% representation fee and a 15% MFN talent pool that sit before investor recoupment. Producer profits last. Plain English, written down.

Plain English

The whole structure in five answers.

No legalese. The exact economic terms live in the Agreement Kit; this page is here so the order, the percentages, and the reasoning are never ambiguous.

Where does money go first?: Into a single collection account. From there: distributors get paid, real costs of getting the film into the world (including accessibility) are recouped, and then a clear, fixed participation layer kicks in.
What does SHARE LOVE earn — and why?: A 15% representation fee on Net Receipts. It pays for licensing, strategy, accessibility implementation, transparent reporting, and long-term stewardship. It is separate from talent participation so the two are never confused.
What does MFN mean, in human terms?: Most Favored Nation. It's the fairness mechanism: nobody in the same category gets a worse per-unit share than anyone else. The 15% talent pool is split pro rata across writers, directors, cast, crew, accessibility and education contributors — by units, not by handshake.
How does investor recoupment work?: After the participation layer, investors recoup their documented production costs at 100% priority. The investor ledger lives with the producer and accountant. SHARE LOVE keeps reporting visibility and Collection Account approval rights, but does not arbitrate financial disputes.
When do filmmakers see profit?: After distributor fees, approved expenses, the 15% representation fee, the 15% MFN pool, investor recoupment, and any preferred return are satisfied. From there, everything flows to producer net profits per the cap table.

Visual Waterfall

A strict order.

Each tier is satisfied in full before the next begins. Guild residuals are a contingent obligation, funded by the residuals reserve in the collection schedule.

Cost layer

Representation & participation

Recoupment & profit

00
Gross Receipts
Cost
Every dollar the picture earns, deposited into a single collection account.
All revenue from every channel — theatrical, streaming, educational, transactional — flows into a single designated Collection Account maintained jointly by SHARE LOVE and the Producer. No side payments, no off-ledger collections.
01
Distributor Fees
Cost
The first deduction. What the platform or distributor charges to sell the film.
Third-party commissions actually charged. These are the marketplace cost of being in the marketplace — paid before anything else.
02
Approved Expenses
Cost
Deliverables, marketing co-pay, legal, collection account fees, and accessibility.
Includes SHARE LOVE Accessibility Standards (captions, audio description, sensory-friendly notes, localization) as a standard distribution cost — not optional branding. Capped and pre-approvable under Exhibit C.
03
SHARE LOVE Representation Fee
Fee
15% of Net Receipts. Pays for the agency work.
Net Receipts = Gross − distributor fees − approved expenses. The fee compensates SHARE LOVE for licensing, strategy, accessibility implementation, reporting, and stewardship — separate from any talent participation.
04
MFN Talent Participation Pool
Participation
15% of Net Receipts. Shared with the people who made the film.
If elected, a pool equal to 15% of Net Receipts is distributed pro rata across credited collaborators — writers, directors, cast, crew, accessibility and education contributors. MFN means no participant in the same tier receives a less favorable per-unit share than any other.
05
Investor Recoupment
Recoupment
100% priority. Investors recover documented production costs in full.
After the participation layer, investor recoupment carries strict priority. The investor ledger is maintained by the producer / accountant; SHARE LOVE retains reporting visibility, Collection Account approval rights, and audit-clause access — but is not the financial arbiter of disputes.
06
Preferred Return
Recoupment
If applicable. The agreed return on investor capital before profit splits.
Where the financing agreement provides for a preferred return, it is paid before producer net profits and per its own terms.
07
Producer Net Profits
Profit
What's left. Distributed per the producer cap table.
Once distributor fees, approved expenses, the representation fee, the MFN pool, recoupment, and preferred return are satisfied, the balance flows to the producer for distribution to profit participants per the cap table.

Worked Example

$100,000 in a quarter.

Illustrative only. Real distributions depend on the actual deal mix, approved expenses, reserves, and elections recorded in the Master Agreement and its Addenda.

A	Gross receipts (quarter)	$100,000
B	Distributor fees (Tier 1)	($20,000)
C	Approved expenses incl. accessibility + CAM (Tier 2)	($10,000)
D	Net Receipts (A − B − C)	$70,000
E	SHARE LOVE Representation Fee — 15% of D (Tier 3)	($10,500)
F	MFN Talent Pool — 15% of D (Tier 4, if elected)	($10,500)
G	Available for investor recoupment, preferred return, producer net profits (Tiers 5–7)	$49,000

Platform & Hosting Fees · Master Agreement §3.6

Operating fees, separate from the waterfall.

One-time · §3.6(a)

$100.00 setup

Per Picture, payable on the Effective Date. Covers initial publication of the Picture's public slate listing, press kit page, and stewardship one-sheet on the SHARE LOVE website.

Recurring · §3.6(b)

$30.00 / month hosting

Per Picture, billed monthly in arrears. Covers ongoing public-website hosting, maintenance, uptime, and content updates for the Picture's pages on the SHARE LOVE website only.

The recurring hosting fee covers public marketing-website hosting only. It does not include — and Producer is not charged for — any filmmaker portal, operations dashboard, audit-log, or credentialed buyer/partner workflow, all of which are provided at no additional charge during the Term. These fees are operating fees only, not recoupable from Net Receipts, and separate from any retainer, contingency, or MFN Pool obligation. SHARE LOVE may waive or prorate either fee in writing for hardship, slate bundles, or pilot programs.

Why This Structure Exists

Designed, not defaulted.

Every layer answers a specific question about fairness, transparency, or institutional eligibility. Nothing is here by accident.

Why representation fee is separate from talent participation.

Mixing them hides the math. Keeping them separate makes it obvious what SHARE LOVE is paid for (representation) and what the team is paid for (participation in upside).

Why MFN exists.

Independent film has historically been opaque about who benefits from success. MFN is a fairness floor: same tier, same per-unit terms. It turns a value into a structure.

Why recoupment comes after participation layers.

Because the people who built the value and the team that sold it should both see something when revenue starts moving — not only after every other layer is satisfied. Investors then recoup at 100% priority with full reporting visibility.

Why accessibility is embedded in licensing.

Captions, audio description, sensory-friendly access, and localization are part of finishing and distributing a film — they expand the audience, meet platform expectations, and qualify the work for institutional buyers. We treat them as a distribution standard, not optional marketing.

Accessibility, Embedded

A distribution standard. Not optional branding.

Closed captioning across all formats, audio description where the platform supports it, sensory-friendly considerations for in-person screenings, and subtitle localization for international distribution are part of Approved Distribution Expenses. They are pre-approvable, reimbursable from gross receipts, and implemented in good faith by distributors and licensees subject to platform capability.

The point is institutional: accessible films travel further. They qualify for educational and library buyers, meet major platform expectations, and expand the audience the work was made for. Treating accessibility as a marketing line item misses what it actually does.

Where the money goes, in order.

The whole structure in five answers.

A strict order.

Gross Receipts

Distributor Fees

Approved Expenses

SHARE LOVE Representation Fee

MFN Talent Participation Pool

Investor Recoupment

Preferred Return

Producer Net Profits