Story rights for Film

Hi there,

I have just written a brain dump of my story - based on a true event in my life and have an investor interested in making the feature film.

He has said that he wants me to sign an MOU and will release the development funds a lot later, but not include the fee to option the rights for the story. He said the fee for optioning my story would be separately paid and needs to be accounted for in the overall budget under "story rights", which will then be paid out at a later date.

Is this the standard process?

I would appreciate if anyone can advise me as this is my first feature film. Thanks.