-- The author will adapt his book The Society of the Spectacle in a film of 90 minutes, in 35 millimeters, black and white, a film for which he alone will assume the responsibilities for production.
-- The author will finish this work in complete liberty, without the observation of anyone, and without even listening to any observation on any aspect of the content or the cinematographical form that will appear suitable to him to give the film.
-- The author will in any case try to complete the film while remaining within the limits of a total budget of a million francs, this sum being calculated on the basis of the price set by the profession in June 1972; and indexed upon any modification that it has submitted or can submit after this date.
-- The payment to the author, included in this budget, will be one-hundred-fifty thousand francs, a fourth of this sum due to him upon the signature of the current contract, the rest upon completion of the film. The author will also receive 20 percent of the profits from the commercial exploitation of the film.
-- Except in case of a delay that the producer might experience in his attempts to complete the financing of the film -- the possibility of which the author accepts; or in any other case of force majeure, notably political -- the film will be finished in France and in a period of eight months from the signature of the contract. This period breaks down into two periods of four months; the first period corresponding to the writing of the film and the research into cinematographic and other documents, the second corresponding to the filming and editing. It is between these two periods that the producer will be entitled to introduce any period of interruption that appears necessary to him.
[1] This contract binding Guy Debord to Simar Films was signed on 8 January 1973.
(Published in Guy Debord Correspondance, Vol 5: Janvier 1973-Decembre 1978 by Librairie Artheme Fayard, 2005. Also published in Autour des Films (Documents), the booklet accompanying Oeuvres Cinematographiques Completes, a three-DVD set released November 2005. Translated from the French by NOT BORED! March 2007. Footnote by Alice Debord.)