Torture

There's a Rob Long bit where he talks about how contracts in Hollywood can have a "hard floor." you are given a certain fee, which can decrease over time, but not below the "hard floor."

A while ago, negotiating a deal with a studio, they wanted us to contribute to an existing project. Now, we had an agreement with that studio, and in that agreement, we had agreed to a hard floor. So when they wanted us to go lower that the hard floor on the existing project, it was time to redefine words like "hard" and "floor."

"Not much of a hard floor, is it?" I said to my agent.

"What are you talking about? It's a hard floor. No one's asking you to go below your hard floor."

"Well, they are now."

"They are now, yes. In this specific instance."

"But, if it's a hard floor, and I go below it now, what's to stop them from asking me to do it again?"

"They wouldn't do that. It's a hard floor. You never go below the hard floor."

"Except in this instance."

"Except in this instance, yes."

"So it's still a hard floor."

"Very much so."

"With a trap door somewhere, leading to a small crawlspace, where my new percentage is."

"You're fixating. It's a hard floor. It's in the contract. On this specific project, you're agreeing to go below the floor..."

"To the dirt."

"To the...why are you so negative? Look, your hard floor is your hard floor."

"They can't ask me to go below it on another project, can they?"

"Well, they can ask."

"But I'd say no, right?"

"Wellll........"

This reminds me of the current torture policy from the White House.

"Not much of a no-torture policy, is it?"

"What are you talking about? We do not torture. We will not allow anyone to torture."

"Well, except the CIA."

"The CIA, yes, in that specific instance."

"So it's still a no-torture policy."

"Very much so."

"With a trap door somewhere, leading to a small crawlspace, where we keep the really bad guys."

"Why are you so negative? Look, a no-torture policy is a no-torture policy."