Shatner/Nimoy: Favored Nations

[EnriqueH]

I've known for a while about Shatner and Nimoy's favored nations clause that says "what one gets the other does too".

I've been wondering how that played out in the Abramsverse?

Does anyone know if that clause is still in effect?

If Bill wanted to be in ST2009, how come he couldn't force his own participation?

Did he get any money for the Abrams movie?

My guess would be "No, he didn't get anything." But I'm still wondering if that "favored nations" thing is still in effect and how they got around that.

Anyone know?

 

[iguana_tonante]

I think Nimoy's favored nation is Ukraine, and Shatner's favored nation is his own arse.

 

[Amaris]

I've known for a while about Shatner and Nimoy's favored nations clause that says "what one gets the other does too".

I've been wondering how that played out in the Abramsverse?

Does anyone know if that clause is still in effect?

If Bill wanted to be in ST2009, how come he couldn't force his own participation?

Did he get any money for the Abrams movie?

My guess would be "No, he didn't get anything." But I'm still wondering if that "favored nations" thing is still in effect and how they got around that.

Anyone know?

I doubt it would be in effect now. Such contracts would have long since expired.

 

[EnriqueH]

I doubt it would be in effect now. Such contracts would have long since expired.

That's what I was wondering. I guess only Shatner and Nimoy would know for sure. It might be a good question during a convention or something.

 

[Harvey]

Presumably, the favored nations clause would only take effect if both were in the movie. Nimoy wasn't paid for Star Trek: Generations, was he? Shatner didn't take home a check from "Unification," did he?

Mind you, I have no idea what the specific terms of the contract were or are. And I doubt either actor would speak up about them if asked in public.

 

[EnriqueH]

I was thinking the same thing, that it might be a private thing, but Shatner was open about it in his Trek biographies, so I figure he doesn't mind people knowing.

In Generations, I know that Nimoy was OFFERED to participate and declined, but Shatner was not offered anything in ST2009, but wanted to participate. Or maybe his ego couldn't handle not being asked, which is probably what happened. I love Bill Shatner, but that is his reputation. Still, I do think he has probably learned to live with Star Trek and probably even loves it now in his older years. But I digress...

 

[Amaris]

I'm glad Leonard made peace with his forever role as Spock.

 

[Franklin]

I've known for a while about Shatner and Nimoy's favored nations clause that says "what one gets the other does too".

I've been wondering how that played out in the Abramsverse?

Does anyone know if that clause is still in effect?

If Bill wanted to be in ST2009, how come he couldn't force his own participation?

Did he get any money for the Abrams movie?

My guess would be "No, he didn't get anything." But I'm still wondering if that "favored nations" thing is still in effect and how they got around that.

Anyone know?

I doubt it would be in effect now. Such contracts would have long since expired.

Yeah, maybe they expired back after TUC since neither may have seen a reason to continue the clauses. They may not have even existed at the time of GEN, but Berman wanted the services of both actors, anyway.
If the clauses still exist, since Nimoy was in both ST09 and STID, Shatner could've used the clause to get into either movie. Still trying to wedge one's way into a movie by doing that would've been pretty bad from a PR standpoint. In that context, could be he simply opted not to invoke it or figured it was irrelevant in that situation.

 

[Maurice]

All contracts have a term, and many also feature termination clauses to cover various contingencies, like you have to make a movie every X years for the contract to remain in effect, and if you don't, it lapses.

 

[EnriqueH]

I may have to double check "Star Trek Movie Memories", but I thought Shatner said that the "favored nations clause" was drawn up back during TOS and that it had remained in effect throughout their Trek movies.

(I have to go to work as soon as I'm done typing this, so if anyone has a Movie Memories copy handy, feel free to double check. If not, I'll do so later tonight.)

So if that's the case, it survived the lapse between TOS and TAS, and TAS and TMP right through to at least 1991, I would think. The last invocation of it on record, that I can recall, is Star Trek V. Shatner mentioned that on each film, each film would take turns playing "good cop/bad cop" to get raises and that in ST5 it was Leonard's turn.

But I know Shatner said it was in effect throughout "our projects", but the key word is probably "our" since Kirk was NOT written into 2009 or STID.

Still, I'm interested to know how that "favored nations" thing works.

 

[Mudd]

Whatever Shatner may remember, it's really unlikely that the clause existed prior to ST:TMP. There are too many accounts from different sources documenting Nimoy's frustration throughout the run of the series regarding what he saw as the producers' willingness to marginalize his character in favor of "the star." OTOH, Nimoy seems to have exercised all his leverage during contract negotiations for TMP to settle several such concerns; they wanted him more than he wanted them.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I'm glad Leonard made peace with his forever role as Spock.

Me too. I am not an actor, so I can't imagine what creative constraints are put in place when an actor takes on a "defining" role, but I can imagine they are frustrating.

 

[Harvey]

Whatever Shatner may remember, it's really unlikely that the clause existed prior to ST:TMP. There are too many accounts from different sources documenting Nimoy's frustration throughout the run of the series regarding what he saw as the producers' willingness to marginalize his character in favor of "the star." OTOH, Nimoy seems to have exercised all his leverage during contract negotiations for TMP to settle several such concerns; they wanted him more than he wanted them.

Shatner had a better deal than Nimoy on the original series; the archival record is clear on this fact. What you suggest is probably accurate.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Wouldn't surprise me if it originated in someway from a rivalry between Shatner and Nimoy dating back to the first season. One jealously seeing the other as getting more attention. Whether or not it was true. Even if it were possible during the Original Series, I don't know how it could survive the show going down and then be revived as a film ten years later.

I'm guessing it only came in, when Nimoy got the Director's chair again for IV. With V supposedly ushering in the first of two for Shatner.

 

[EnriqueH]

Here we go, from Star Trek Movie Memories:

Years earlier, during the original run of the TV series, Leonard's lawyers and my lawyers actually got together and drew up a favored-nation clause, which remained in effect throughout all of our Star Trek projects, and basically stated that whatever Leonard got, I got and vice verse. With that in mind, whenever one of us entered into a Star Trek contract negotiations, the other was unknowingly dragged along for the ride...

 

[urbandefault]

If the "favored nations" clause originated in the 60s, I can't imagine those contracts remaining in effect past the run of the original series. For each new outing it might have been negotiated back in, but to have something in an actor's contract to last in perpetuity? I doubt it.

I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on TV. But my gut tells me that every new project would require new contract negotiations. Maybe the clause was reinserted every time out, maybe not.

But I don't see one actor getting paid for not appearing in a production that the other one did, just because. That's not good business.

 

[Harvey]

Shatner was earning significantly more than Nimoy each year of the original series. There's no way Nimoy had such a clause in his contract at that point.

 

[Ovation]

Shatner was earning significantly more than Nimoy each year of the original series. There's no way Nimoy had such a clause in his contract at that point.

Perhaps it referred to relative rather than absolute things--for example, if one got a raise of X%, the other did as well. Doesn't mean Shatner didn't get more money over all. 'Course I'm just wildly speculating.

 

[Harvey]

Nothing in the archival record indicates that was part of the initial deal with Nimoy, and the concessions Nimoy won when he briefly threatened to walk after season one weren't anything close to a "favored nations clause."

I think this is just one of the many details in Shatner's two Star Trek memoirs that's off.

 

[Ovation]

Not surprising as memoirs are usually of questionable reliability on factual matters (though quite informative about the authors in other ways). And it's quite likely Shatner is sincere in his flawed recollections (as is also frequently true of memoir writers).