Negotiations warrent a counter offer. When bad things happen, alternative solutions are usually welcome. Now, I know of no excuse to ever miss a deadline and I certainly never have but when a drop out happens in a key shot, I just remove it. No need to bring the client into it at all, in my eyes. Should the Avid die in session, I just tell em what happened and I work the double or tripple shift required to make everyone happy. I do not soften the blow. I tell them it’s dead if it’s dead. I just let them know the deadline will be met anyway and they will have no extra costs. That’s all they really care about in the end.
I think your question revolves around how much ya want something. I have had bad circumsyances come up in a production that the client never knew anything about because it was not their problem. At the same time, I once had a mother of the bride ask why her daughter looks fat and I told her it was because she was fat. In one instance, the goal was to remain seemless and worry free. The other was my way of telling a lady to scram.
It’s all in what ya want.
