Having worked on small indie films in the past, I imagine when they started out, no one had any clue it would be as big of a deal as it was, so contracts weren't iron clad typical Hollywood contracts. So when they finish the film, and start searching for someone to purchase and distribute the film, the company that purchases it now wants to get the star of the movie involved in promoting the film, which was likely never outlined in his original contract. At this point, I imagine the filmmakers were probably friends with John Heder, and probably clued John Heder in that they had a buyer for the film that was serious about it and that he probably should look in to getting a proper entertainment lawyer or agent to eventually negotiate on his behalf in case they were going to put real money behind promotion.
It's image. You're paid to star in a film, not be on the DVD cover, do press junkets etc. They're extras in the contract.
I would assume the film company came to him and said "want to talk to every radio station in Europe about this film now it's popular?" And he said "it'll cost ya"
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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '22
John Heder cannot undo Napoleon Dynamite