[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Osama,

I’m with Al on this one; if you haven’t specified in the job description that cleaning is part of the job, then you’ve got a problem.

If not careful, two situations that you may face:
1) Breach of contract.
2) Constructive dismissal, which involve said employee(s) walking out of the door, not having to work, and may still be paid their wages. Although a worst case scenario, not an uncommon one.

All the Best
Mads

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

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Mike,

Thank you, that is very cool and I didn’t even know that it was there. Do you know of any numbers from PACT?

Shravan:
In addition, Televisual and C21 is also good places to look for averages in production budgets. Just keep in mind that many UK broadcasters these days are prefer if you can provide up to 25% of the budget yourself, either through finance, pre-sales or other means.
One broadcaster, in a not so distant past, asked a producer to provide not only the funding, but also bookings of the £1.5 Million worth of advertising in the breaks around his series. Go figure…

On the other-hand, if you have a great idea, and you can produce on a tight budget, then there are a number of new entrants in the streaming market that will finance you.

All the Best
Mads

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

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Osama,

I know! You must either be a comedian or one of Walter Biscardi’s disgruntled employees? Maybe you should ask him to put you on gardening duties? Preferably a peaceful place that will allow you to expand your mind outwards to new horizons… 🙂

Alternatively, on this day, which is mother’s day in many places, you may not want to upset Bessie the Cow – after all, this website would not have existed if it wasn’t for one sweet cookie who helped keep the dream alive – so do not upset her with sexist remarks.

Maybe a regular 9-5 day for all employees, where you take it in turns for one you and your employees to start at 8 for a spot of cleaning?

All the Best
Mads

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

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Osama,

My take on this; if you want the staff to do share the cleaning duties, take the lead, be a leader, and pick up the broom first and show them that you are willing to share.

Although, I must admit that I thought that your post was initially a joke: As in the having that amount of people in the office, it would be a Health and Safety issue if cleaning office/toilets/kitchen, emptying bins and general tidy up was not done daily…

You may find that not employing a cleaner will in the long run have more of your employees go off ill and thereby slowing down or even stopping money earning projects. Which I’m sure that even you can see, would be a false economy.

All the Best
Mads

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

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Dennis,

You are welcome. And your feelings are understandable.

Keep in mind that the contract is likely to be made by their legal team in their jargon.

My suggestion is for you to start negotiating. For starters, as they are making demands outside that of just showing your film as is, this is no ordinary contract.
Cross out what you don’t like in the contract.
Rewrite what you think is close enough for you to agree on.
Return it to them as a counter-offer. Maybe add in your cover letter about how their added demands are creating serious complications on a creative and marketing level of the original product, and that you may have to hire a lawyer to read through their contract. And this will add financial implications which must be covered upfront by the buyer.

But remember: negotiate, negotiate and negotiate – make sure to give them a small victory at the end, so they felt like they also won – although they won’t be able to change the title or have third parties re-edit the film.

Go get ’em!

All the Best
Mads

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

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Dennis,

I can understand why your are using an Alias for this.

Initially I would just say “NO!” and walk away from that deal. By the time they’ve done a hatched job on your film, there will be nothing left of it. However, they sound like they really want it, and you sound like that you need the exposure and money to get on to your next project – so put your “hard-balls” on and start negotiating:

1) Whilst they are holding on to the rights for your film, you are not able to make any money out of it. That is a considerable loss measured in opportunity costs by the production, and the client must find a way to adequately compensate you for this.

2) Whilst you may not be against the film being reformatted for the broadcaster as this is quite common; you are the creative on the project and it is your work that they want to change. Out of respect to yourself they have two options: a) Pay you to do the cut-down at an hourly rate at a professional facility (Think $250/working-hour for yourself) b) license your selected rushes (at the cost of two cars) and they cut their own programme from that.

3) There are currently NO financial incentive for you to change the title. And doing so would harm your business and career as a film maker, as in that anyone doing a search online and elsewhere will not find your film or you – and thereby not know that there are a full version to purchase. Unless they want to buy you a car, with a pent house flat and a yacht on the side, then this is not in your interest.

As much as commissioning editors and buyers at broadcasters like to put their own touch on things by suggesting “editorial changes”, your situation sounds slightly extreme.

I’ve used capital NO a couple of times in this post. It is a good word to use, and if the said broadcaster is really interested in the project, they will find away to meet your needs whilst satisfying their own.

Bottom-line: No one else will respect your project, if you don’t do it.

All the Best
Mads

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

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey James,

And only a few hours after you asked, chief boss accountant Emily at Freeagent released this handy guide just for you (and me):
https://try.freeagent.com/download-expenses-guide-s?utm_campaign=20140506%20-%20EM%20-%20AZ%20Expenses%20WP%20-%20Subs%20-%20AGM&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

It is a generic guide and cover most of the things that you’ll want to know about allowable business costs and expenses if you’re working from home. (There are a second one for Limited companies)

All the Best
Mads

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

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Nick,

You are assuming wrongly that I read all of your post, which I did not 😉
Please do accept my apology for the rude oversight on my part.

Yes, I also got paid some money for my tiny work the report, which allowed me to purchase the asset. Which I assure you have never been used for anything fun…
My expenses have never been called in for investigation by the tax-man. The process for this happening in the UK is either through a random selection, or because submitted accounts didn’t match the trend of the industry’s tax returns (If there ever was such thing in our business).

There are firms and agencies (paymasters) in the UK that will act as the middleman when it comes to staying away from PAYE. But without intending any disrespect to James, the original poster, I got the impression that his business is small and that the budgets for his “promotional materials” are even smaller. Hence why he may not be able to afford the fees of inserting a middleman, in comparison to hiring another self-employed person.

All the Best
Mads

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

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Blake,

That depends on where you are based and how public the video will be?

For example: In the UK you and the crew will not get pass the school-gate unless you’ve all been DBS checked (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service). In most instances when filming in a UK school one is not allowed to film close-ups or recognising shots in play-ground and other public areas. Unless explicitly agreed, one cannot identify the school either by name or location.

A) Work with the school and teachers to get the forms produced and signed. As in that they may already have a blanket agreement for all pupils and their parents? The school management may also already have a form they’ve used in the past.
B) Only film students and teachers that have signed the form should be in the video – ask the teacher/school to separate the students so you don’t get into trouble.

All the Best
Mads

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

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Jenny,

Listen to Mark, short of making the full show this is the best way to protect your idea:

[Mark Suszko] “Step 2:
Lock in all the key participants and locations with contracts, so that they can’t be a part of any similar show, done by a competitor.”

Having a professionally produced demo-reel for the show when talking with productions partners/broadcasters is another good way of showing that you mean business.

All the Best
Mads

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