-
Picture Editing Contract Template
-
Walter gets it. Giving away the Project Files for nothing extra is like hiring your own sca- um, “replacement worker” to undercut your price and leave you without more work. You’re hurting your own bottom line when you give it away for free, and you’re also telling clients you’re replaceable, in 72-point type. Which, if you like working at any one place just once, is okay, I guess. But it’s easier to keep a happy customer and their repeat business, than to keep going out and finding and developing new ones. There’s only one reason a client would need a copy of your project Files, and that’s to make changes or additions to what you created, without your direct input, or the years of study and practice you undertook to be able to do what you do. And without paying you. If you wanna teach other people to replace you, you should charge tuition.
-
In all fairness to Scott, if you are working in a large scale broadcast environment, you wouldn’t have a choice. Both in regards making the edits available to promo and distribution department. Or the overnight team coming in to continue on your job.
However, as a production company, I will only ever deliver the final masters. We had an example recently on a corporate video where something inappropriately (not rude, racist or otherwise) was said on camera whilst setting up the shot. That clip in the hands of the wrong person, within an organization, could have cost our “talent” their job – or certainly landed them in hot water. So the reasons for not sharing the project data is much more than professional pride and not wanting competition. It also works as protection for our client(s).
All the Best
Mads@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk -
I’m just piling on to what other people have said here, but not giving away project files for free is SOP virtually universally in our business…
As for “I would never work with you again out of general principle”…
To give a couple of very exaggerated examples…
If you bought a GM car (or whatever brand), would you refuse to buy another one if they balked at giving you all the schematics and CAD files to build your own from scratch?
Do you refuse to eat at KFC because they won’t tell you what the “eleven herbs and spices” are? Same with Coca-Cola and its super-secret formula?
If you hire someone to lay tile, do you insist that the installer teach yow how to do it yourself before he leaves?
When eating in a restaurant, do you expect the chef to give you the recipe so you can make it yourself next time?
Of course not.
Project files are a separate deliverable… one that comes with a price. Under most contracts, when you pay for a project you are paying for the finished work… period… unless other arrangements have been made in advance.
Some people are ok with including some source material (such as camera raw footage) as part of deliverables (we are not), but project files themselves… never.
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
-
The point is that you have an additional negotiable income stream.
This is an interesting read. https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/335/72936
-
[Mark Suszko] “There’s only one reason a client would need a copy of your project Files, and that’s to make changes or additions to what you created, without your direct input, or the years of study and practice you undertook to be able to do what you do”
In context of this thread, the reason to get rid of the project file (and everything else) is because the movie is done. When the movie is done, and it’s being marketed (vis-a-vis withoutabox.com), then there are no more revisions, changes, additions. Another way of saying this is this stuff is taking up room that I want to store other stuff on, so I give it back. Microbudget short films are an entirely different beast than a retainer-style vendor/client relationship. In other contexts, it’s really important that the project file is delivered so that the other parts of post production can get to their stuff exactly. Perhaps we should split hairs on what a project file is and is not. If I send an XML you still have my cuts. What exactly is the secret sauce not being delivered, some color correction, some JavaScript in After Effects, some side-chain compression, the j-cut perfection?
A couple other points:
1. A work for hire agreement means everything, so the original agreement needs to negotiate the price for the project file from the start.
2. By not delivering the project file, then we guarantee the new editor will have to rebuild and will therefore get paid more money also, and that is a reasonable place to begin discussing the fees for the project file.
Above a short-film deliverable was discussed, but in an advertising situation, supposing we are creating some ads for a business, the project files and associated media have a very short shelf life.
Learning to negotiate is tough anyway, and in a competitive situation, the risk of losing the client before it even starts is real, when the client says it’s a work for hire agreement, and we want to keep the project files. It takes some time to get that kind of juice, and while it’s wise not to leave money on the table, it’s also wise to get paid and not lose a deal over the project files.
-
[Mads Nybo Jørgensen] “the reasons for not sharing the project data is much more than professional pride and not wanting competition”
Well said.
And that reminds me that we should make a microbudget short film about that. The stories of corporate clients on camera full-on slandering their bosses. OMG. I had a sound bite from political figure that was awesome!
-
That’s the main difference in perspective, I always work at facilities. And have been lucky to always have long standing clients.
But here is an example where it can work to your advantage…. We use a freelance Gfx designer, one time we needed a bunch of titles in the same style that he’s done for us in the past, but the budget wouldn’t let us hire him again on that project. He played ball, gave us the project files, we created the titles and he still gets all of our work. Not everyone is looking to F you, a lot are, but not everyone. And I say that as a born and raised guy from queens, NY.To each there own.
Scott Cumbo
Lead Editor
Bellator MMA/Spike TV
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up