[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Mark,

If they don’t want an operator, then I would suggest a VC camera (Video Conferencing) solution. Anything else will force you to change your cell-number, favourite lunch spot and you would have to move to a new home…

Most comes with the feature to record long sessions in HD to central storage.
Some of the latest models from Panasonic does 4K, which will allow you to do digital zooms on speaker in the edit.
If you are really flash, the camera might even auto follow the automated microphone system.
And if set up correctly, the meeting room “assistant” should be able to start and stop the recording.
The main part should be that you don’t need to manually collect the recording, and with the right system, anyone with a “session password” should be able to dial in and watch live and/or pre-recorded sessions.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

[Richard Herd] “To be real, there is no actual market for short films, meaning the producer/financier will not make any investment back.”

So true.

More to the point, why are you having to draw up the contract, and not the production? Should this not be covered by the producer?

Although that there are many templates out there, the best one for a short is to keep it simple.

Remember to indemnify yourself against destroyed footage and missed deadlines.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Alex,

It is a known problem for the second to last version of Premiere Pro CC. I thought that they had fixed it by now, as I am no longer getting them.

However, based on advice I received at the time one should use the “Media Browser” within Premiere Pro to import tapeless footage. Rather than doing the drag & drop straight into the project panel. Since doing this, I have seen none of the annoying red flashes.

If your project is an older version, it may be worth considering setting up a new project and import all the timelines from the old one into that.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Phoebe,

[phoebe luella] “Thank you so very much for your input! Very helpful. I suppose the last question I have is…how does a producer assure themselves or find out if a distributor sells their product without telling the producer and keeps that money?? Is that known to happen by any chance?”

You are very welcome.

The only way to have assurance is to find a distributor that you can trust. Find web-tools that will trawl global TV listings for keywords related to your program. Get a third party to add a digital finger print your masters and monitor it (Getty Images are good at doing this with photos). Or do it yourself.

Bottom-line – there are no fire sure way of doing it. If you don’t trust the other side in a business transaction, then you should not be doing it in the first instance.

Do keep in mind, although my previous doom-&-gloom post, that there are many respectable distribution companies out there who is not out to cheat you, but who does have real expenses related to selling your program.
Get an honest appraisal from them about how much your programs will sell for? And what their fees are?
Get it in writing, and if the future doesn’t match that, then you should ask “why?”

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Jeremy,

It really depends on what your final master is going to be?

First up: Premiere Pro would be much better suited for this job than After Effects. Which is what I bill base my suggestions on:

You could decide to do your editing in 24fps (or 23.96) and sync all audio etc to that, before doing final conversion of the master file to your chosen format.
PPro should automatically convert all the various frame-rates into the chosen master frame rate. If there are one or two clips that doesn’t play ball, then convert those into a known format.

If there are motion jitter and strobing that you can’t get rid off using Adobe’s own tools, I would advice you to invest in Twixtor – it has helped me out in the past with a couple of difficult clips.

Also consider treating the 16mm come VHS footage through a good noise reduction software.

If you need to move in and out of After Effects, then Adobe CC will allow that to happen easily, and you can preview AE effects in the PPro timeline, as you are working on the clip.

Hope this helps?

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Phoebe,

With my limited experience based on UK distribution companies:

[phoebe luella] “What commission did they charge?”
You will be looking at anything from 30% to 70% – although the contract may only say 30%, the small print can be worse than that of a record company taking on a pop-idol. By the time you have paid for QC, legalising, re-formatting, conversions, subtitling, marketing, advertising, copies for distribution, postage, more marketing, discounted package sales and even more marketing in the form of champagne receptions – you will find yourself earning no money. In worst case scenario you will end up paying money to have it shown.

[phoebe luella] “What did you experience to be their “out of pocket” expenses? Did some of you cap the out of pocket expenses? If so, what did you cap it at?”
As above + do get a watertight contract that have been surveyed by an I.P./commercial lawyer. Yes, you can cap expenses. You can also propose to give the distributor a larger share of proceeds in return for you paying no extras – however, the distributor may have a model that earns more money out of doing work for you, rather than selling product.

[phoebe luella] “And, when the money came in and the distributor took his commission first and after the expenses were recouped…did you make the money you thought you were going to make?”
A recent horror story from a good producer friend: Established distributor estimated earnings of 150,000 on his series. Instead it only provided 15,000 worth of sales, which never got paid on time. However, the wheels fell of the wagon when one of his colleagues was staying in a hotel in Eastern Europe (location not important, could be anywhere – but not at home), where the program suddenly appeared on a local station. A station that had not been declared as a sale… The distributor is no longer in business, but the people who worked there might be in a new location. My suggestion is that none of your programs can be broadcast unless the money is in your account – that way you are also holding the end-client liable for not breaching your copyright. One that none of them will like, but if your product is good, they will accept it.

All the above is rather bleak – it does not have to be, but you have to count your fingers when you leave the room. There are plenty of plus sides to use a recognized distribution company, as there are for a musician using a record company.

Before going there; if you don’t have it, get a broadcaster to take your series. Once you’ve one, and if is an established one, more will be interested. At that point you can drive hard negotiations with the distribution company, as you have already got money in the bank (I hope).
The other side to that coin: If you are still looking for finance, having a letter from a distribution company that says they like your idea and would love to distribute, could help you raise production finance from broadcaster, bank or private investors.

Above all: the more, the better! A distributor will like you more if you have many programs to distribute, so start planning for 26, 52 and 104 episodes – this will be easier for them sell bulk into obscure cable and VOD channels.

Hope this helps?

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Dear Tal,

[Tal Mor] “This video is my baby.. it’s my art. It’s a student’s video with absolutely no intentions for profit.
All I want is to put it on YouTube / Vimeo and at least post it for my friends.”

[Tal Mor] “After tons of emails and questions, they told me that I got a rejection from the writer of the music.”

It is very simple, as in that it is not your music to use if you haven’t got the permission for it. I am sure that you will recoignise the issue if the boot was on the other foot, and someone took your footage, against your wishes, and added it to their sound-track of choice.

If you wish to have any career at all in this industry, then you must respect other peoples copyright.

That was the harsh bit. Now the kind-ish version:
With all the middlemen in play you will need to find a way of appealing directly to the musician. Maybe ask specifically as to why you have been turned down: Is it quality? content? rights already sold to another brand? or some other reason that you are not aware of?
Have the musician got an agent, rather than the publisher?

Good Luck

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Neal,

Good for you making a bit of money out of it.

[Neal Petrosky] “So the agency we did the work for is who I’ve been talking to. I do not have access to the client or there new agency of record. So we don’t have any way of offering our services directly to the new AOE, nor does it sound like they want to work with outside production houses (I was told they’d like to keep all work in house).”

I’m guessing that is what the old agency would like you to believe? However, don’t forget to supply a preview file with your website and phone-number superimposed throughout for the end client to sign off on…
The same goes for the count down on the final master video 😉

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Neal,

Mark is right – and 99% of the argument is that of possession, which you have.

I would suggest that you offer your services to the new agency. Maybe to keep the old one sweet, build in a finders fee of 5% for them – then all should be happy, and you might just end up with two appreciative agency clients.

If the new agency are too “pushy”, then one option is to email the brand director at the national brand, and ask them to confirm if the new agency is working for them?
And to let them know that you think their brand is fabulous and that you would love to continue doing the great work – which it must have been, or they wouldn’t have asked for your source files and software knowledge… This may by some be seen as risky, but by everyone else trying to take you for a ride, you have nothing to loose.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Parth,

I am with Tom on this; if you and your “working partner” cannot work together, then your business is doomed.

You guys need to sit down and sort out your (his?) differences. Or your dad needs a new partner(s).

Now, when that is said:
There are a huge difference in selling software to that of creative services. You need to go and wine and dine directors and producers of TV commercials + have the best showreel + the best rates in town. Giving free services for test-commercials / new directors short films etc. This is very expensive and requires deep pockets of the investor, and will in all likelihood never make the investment back – that was the blunt version.

However, if you can become a preferred supplier or “in-house” facility to production companies, then you may have a chance.

Do remember that the money is not necessarily made on editing, sound mixing and visual effects, but could be in on-location data-wrangling, managing project & data, reversioning, distribution and archiving.

Hope that this helps?

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk