"Above the Line" : Is a term that refers to a line in the physical budget of a film in which all the people above that line are making points(or a %) on the film in addition to the pay rate they receive. All of the producers, the director, and major actor's are found above the line.
"Below the Line" : See above the line and this is everybody else on the film. The Gaffers, the assistant Directors, the Best boy, key grips, make-up, ect. All the 9 to 5 people so-to-speak who simply get "paid".
"Signatory" : A person(usually a producer) who is responsible legally for all of the Union contracts that are signed for a film. A SAG signatory is the person who is liable in the Screen Actors Guild contract that is signed with the film for example. The directors union, down to the teamsters all have to have this person in order for them to work on a project. Which is why it is usually the supervising producer who is the signatory.
"Letter of Interest, Intent/ aka Promissory Note" : This is a tough one because like all good legal speak in contracts it is subject to interpretation. "Letter of Intent" is the easy one to explain because it has been the standard for a long time. It has been said to me that "Letters of Interest" are now replacing these because of so many liability suits that have been filed. Either way the point of an "L.O.I." is that you have a physical document showing a persons intent to work on you project.
EXAMPLE: You have an actor friend who has some small notoriety but has not blown up yet. Your a producer of indie films and know that this actor is perfect for your next role. So you get the actor to sign an L.O.I. and now you can go to investors and say that the actor(one of the only times it is appropriate to name drop) has signed an L.O.I. Hopefully this is enough to convince them to give you money. Especially if the actors last project does better than expected and now they are a name.
Promissory notes are something I got from real estate which refers to intent to sell. Intent to work.
This is the Wikipedia definition.
A promissory note, referred to as a note payable in accounting, or commonly as just a "note", is a negotiable instrument, wherein one party (the maker or issuer) makes an unconditional promise in writing to pay a sum of money to the other (the payee), either at a fixed or determinable future time or on demand of the payee, under specific terms. They differ from IOUs in that they contain a specific promise to pay, rather than simply acknowledging that a debt exists. In common speech, other terms, such as "loan," "loan agreement," and "loan contract" may be used interchangeably with "promissory note" but these terms do not have the same legal meaning. Whereas a promissory note is evidence of a loan, it is not the loan contract, which would contain all the terms and conditions of the loan agreement.[1]
Guarantee (filmmaking)
In filmmaking, a guarantee is a term of an actor or director's contract that guarantees remuneration if, through no fault of their own, the artist is released from the contract. Such an arrangement is known informally as a “play-or-pay” contract.
Many stars insist on guarantees in their contract due to the major time commitment agreeing to appear in a film can mean. For example, Kurt Russell's decision to appear in the film Soldier, for which he was paid $15 million, was a total commitment of 18 months, during which time he was not able to appear in another film. If the film were cancelled, or if he were replaced (but not if he withdrew of his own accord), Russell would be paid $15 million, or a large part of that fee, to compensate him for clearing his schedule.
Studios are reluctant to agree to guarantees but accept them as part of the deal for signing major talent. They also have the advantage of enabling a studio to simply remove a player under such a contract with few legal complications.
That last one I have heard a bunch but had to look up myself.
That's it for now.
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