[Levinehn]

Hey All,

This is a long reply, but I just wanted to say, as the original post mentioned, that talking about this makes me feel better, and it’s almost like therapy hearing other people’s stories. Especially as an editor locked up in a box all day, I sometimes feel all alone when confronted with problems, so this is all kind of refreshing.

My own story is that I’m a young editor and I got SCREWED by a producer. After three months on the job, the producer and I had a big arguement, and he fired me impulsively in the middle of a heated argument. This surprised me, but what followed amazed me: he stopped payment on my final pay check, which I had already deposited (apparently it can take 5 days for checks to clear). The whole experience caught me off guard, it simply had not occured to me that adults behaved like that, instead I felt like a little kid who had been beaten up by the school yard bully.

I eventually scared the guy into paying me most of the money by filing a compliant with the labor board, but the honest truth is that he could have fought me, he could have appealed a decision even if he had lost, and so on and so forth. The lesson I learned – its the wild wild west out there, and contracts don’t mean squat, even checks don’t mean squat. Gold coins and dollar bills mean something, but unless you’re a bank robber, that’s probably not how you get paid.

The story does have a happy ending, getting knocked down a few pegs made me step up my game and meet new people, and I now get paid three times what I was making before. But the frustrating part is that I still get paid by clients AFTER the work is done, usually by invoice, and I know that leaves me open to getting screwed again. It doesn’t even have to be intentional, a production company could go out of business, a producer could get hit by a car, etc.

To be honest, I wish I was in some sort of union, in fact, if anyone has any information freelance editing unions I’m really curious. Watching the union guys on film shoots is awesome – meal penalties, overtime pay, regular breaks – I want that! But the sad truth is, if I started putting down double time after 6 pm, the next time the client wanted someting edited, they’d probably call someone cheaper.

I don’t really have a ‘conclusion’ to this thought stream, because on the one hand I hate the fact that freelancers undercut each other, which encourages producers to negoiate lower rates etc. But on the other hand, the only reasone I got hired on my first few projects is because I basically worked for minimum wage and put in a lot of freebie time. At the time I thought I was just ‘paying my dues’, but now I realize that my actions didn’t just affect me, they also indirectly affected other freelance editors who try to stand by their established day rate. So like I said, I don’t really have a conclusion after typing all this, but I do feel better mulling it all over.

And briefly, regarding cancellation fees, I try to get a half day’s pay if someone cancels on me after telling me the project was a sure thing. If this stance is not something you are comfortable with (and I admit it gives me butterflies thinking about losing good contacts), you can copy my strategy:

If producer X cancels on me and we don’t sort a cancellation fee during that phone call, I ring later that day (or the next day even) and say : “hey, I was just putting together my invoices, and I was wondering how much I should bill you for the cancellation fee on job X”

This puts the ball in his court. If the producer is a good person with legitimate budgets, then she should suggest at least a half-day, maybe a full day. That’s the ideal response.
But the less ideal response is still OK. Maybe he says “Oh, I didn’t anticipate paying you a cancellation fee, I don’t really have the budget for it etc. etc.”
You now have a better understanding of the person and the jobs they are producing – and you haven’t offended the persone.
Using this knowledge and you our own circumstances, you can then decide if its worth being a stickler and losing a contact over a day’s pay. And if you chose to waive the cancellation fee with the hope of future work, at the very least you have planted a seed in her head that your time is valuable, and you have established that you are not a push over without offending her.

Sorry for the rambling note, but to say it a third time it feels good to write it all down,

Nathan

[Levinehn]

Thank you to everyone for all the helpful suggestions, I’m glad to have gotten some good advice before doing tests.

Thanks,
Nathan

[Levinehn]

Thanks for the reply Dave,

I appreciate the suggestions, testing it with a digital projector is my next plan of attack. And yes, the final output should be decided before starting…

Thanks,

Nathan

[Levinehn]

Thank you David,

I’ll try it out with a buddy who has FCP 5.

And thanks Ben,

Someone else recomended Vegas to me recently as well. If I were to use Vegas, do you know anyting about how high quality the final product could be / onlining the final product? Also, any idea about Vegas interfacing with sound mixing program (probably pro-tools)? The ultimate goal is to export for projected screenings on either Digi-Beta, some form of HD, or film.

Thanks,

Nathan

[Levinehn]

Thanks for the reply about why I want them bigger, that is certainly a key consideration, and for some of the images, we will be doing rathr drastic rostrum style moves such as zooming out from a CU to a Wide Shot within the same still image.

And to David Ross, thank you for the advice about animating in AE and then transfering to FCP. If I worked entirely in FCP 5, would it be possible to do the complete edit in FCP 5 without going back and forth with AE?

Thank you for comments so far,
Nathan