Completion Bond | Completion Guarantors
What Is Completion Bond
The Completion Bond or Completion Guarantee（the “Bond”）is effectively a performance insurance that guarantees that a project（whether film or TV series）will be produced in accordance with an agreed production budget and will be delivered by an agreed delivery date in accordance with an agreed production and cashflow schedule. Not all projects require a Bond. It is usually recommended for bigger budget projects (e.g. US$2M and above) and is commonly a pre-condition to funding by investors and financiers. The Bond is provided by completion guarantors (the “Bond Company”) who will evaluate all the production risks and review the production elements before accepting the risk to underwrite the project. The Bond is issued in favour of financiers and investors or anyone that may have a financial interest in the project. If the film or TV project cannot be completed and delivered as aforesaid, the Bond company will re-pay the beneficiary of the Bond its capital investment or loan in full plus interest.
What Documents
1. Completion Guarantee: which is the agreement between the Bond Company and the financers and investors whereby the Bond Company undertakes and guarantees production and delivery of the project in favour of the financiers and investors.
2. Completion Agreement: which is an agreement between the Bond Company and the producer or production company of the project whereby certain undertakings are given by the producer or production company to the Bond Company with respect to the conduct and administration of the production of the project.
3. Director’s Undertaking: which is given by the project in favour the Bond Company whereby the director undertakes certain specified obligations in connection with his role and participation as director of the project.
4. Producer’s Power of Attorney: which is given by the producer or production company of the project in favour of the Bond Company whereby the producer or production company authorizes the Bond Company to do certain things on behalf of the producer or production company in connection with the project e.g. takeover the conduct and management control of all aspects of the production and delivery of the project including the production bank account, execution of documents etc.
5. Copyright Mortgage and Assignment: which is a document issued by the producer in favour of the Bond Company whereby the producer (as owner or controller) grants to the Bond Company a security interest over all of its right title and interest in the project to secure the producer’s performance and all of its undertakings and obligations under the above documents.
Alternative Products and Services
In certain cases, you may not need the full protections of a traditional completion bond. UniFi also offers the following alternative products and services, the cost for may be considerably less than that for a traditional completion bond.
IdentiFi:
This program is designed for producers, lenders, and investors that are willing to self-in-sure completion and delivery of the subject production but still want UniFi to thoroughly review and evaluate the production plan and provide some or all of the same services it provides under a traditional completion plan. IdentiFi customers have the flexibility to determine the scope and duration of the services they need from UniFi. Since UniFi only provides its support and advice and does not guaranty the subject production will be completed and delivered on-time and on-budget, the cost for IdentiFi services can be significantly lower than that for a traditional completion bond.
RectiFi:
This program is designed to serve producers, lenders, and investors who chose not to purchase a completion bond and find themselves immersed in a production confronted with significant complications, obstacles or setbacks. Our staff has the expertise and experience to evaluate and troubleshoot all on-going difficulties and offer meaningful, practical, economical, and immediate solutions. The cost for RectiFi services will depend on the nature, scale, and scope of the production problems needing fixing.