[Nick Griffin]

Todd-

I think it was under Corporate video that I posted this info before, but I’ve been EXTREMELY happy with Lifeline Language in London. I will say however that I’ve only used them for translating and typesetting and NOT had them convert that into voiceover, which I do believe they are capable of getting done. They will also be able to supply you with titles and other graphics as EPS Illustrator files.

Contact is Mark Everson, Mark@LifelineLanguageServices.co.uk

Please tell him that I sent you as he’s done spectacular work for us for the past 5 years.

Of course, Todd, the real problem will come when you have to edit to the track if you don’t have someone present who knows the language. I’ve been able to work in Spanish only because I can read along with it… kind of.

Which reminds me of one of my standard jokes that I use with our European clients:

What do you call someone who speaks several languages? Multi-lingual.

What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bi-lingual.

What do you call someone who only speaks ONE language? An American.

(Je suis un Américain.)

[Nick Griffin]

A couple of years ago one of our clients was employing a rather naive mid-level manager. For their website she found and, without asking anyone, used four city images. Within a month the client received a dead-serious demand letter from an attorney stating that — PRIOR to going to court and seeking punitive damages — my client owed his client, the photographer, $6k EACH for unauthorized use of the photos.

The problem for my client was that the photographer actually had a case and, while no subsequent details were revealed, they settled out of court. As an aside it seemed to me like this particular photographer had deliberately made it fairly easy for photos to be lifted from his website and then used crawlers or search engines to track down the uses so his attorney could jump onto them. But that’s just a theory on my part.

The whole point of this however is that
[Bob Cole] “a local lawyers-for-the-arts group”
may not be the way to go when deliberate infringement has taken place. There are probably any number of contingent fee lawyers willing to take on this case. Your friend may feel the need to take a long shower after meeting with them though.

[Nick Griffin]

[Bob Cole] “I have never gotten full payment before delivery of the finished show.”

I’m with Bob on this one, mostly because we don’t work with strangers or “walk-ins” so we have a very different kind of relationship. It’s also been my experience — just not recently, thankfully — that one of the quickest ways to make someone untrustworthy is to treat them like they are.

I also think Mark’s language and approach is much more likely to elicit long term business.

[Nick Griffin]

[Cory Fisher] “if that name brings in a cold client, obviously your work can speak for itself from there.”

I don’t think that ever happens. Production is a high-ticket / high-risk proposition. You’ll pick up a new brand of breath freshener from an end-cap display in a supermarket because you like the clever name. For a high dollar item like production the prospect’s brain is saying, “A clever production company? Aren’t they all clever? Who do I know that would know someone who will give me what I paid for and not get my butt hung out to dry by senior management because I made an impulsive decision?”

The one major exception I’ve seen to this was a production company out of Austin who six years ago was running an ad directed at agency creative types using the headline:“We get you l*id on a Hand-*** budget.” On that basis you had to at least go their website and watch the demo reel. (Unless you’re a female creative director, then it was pretty offensive. Funny, but offensive.)

[Nick Griffin]

Todd?? You probably have some of the best insight into this out of the many people here.

I named my company what I did all those years ago because I had a core following of clients who were coming over because it was me. The result was such a generic name that there are several with the same name sprinkled across the country.

Now we’re looking into a re-naming/re-branding to increase the acceptability of someone other than me being a contact point and provider of the services. So, as you can see, there are arguments for going either way.

[Nick Griffin]

[Mike Cohen] “NYPD Blue used a dolly for the shakey cam which was really perplexing”

This discussion would probably be more appropriate in the Cinematography COW, but wasn’t the NYPD Blue looked achieved with some form of spring mounted head or other kind of “floating” device on a dolly so it could find the shot and then kind of keep drifting around? I seem to recall that it was fairly unique at the time (as was showing Dennis Franz butt) and not copied very much. (And thank God no one was copying the showing of Franz butt!)

[Nick Griffin]

[Scott Sheriff] “this is for those who are DBA under their name working from a home office and not incorporated”

Ahhh, hence the difference in our understandings of how coverage is obtained, Scott. I’ve been operating as a Sub-S corporation, as I was instructed to do for tax purposes. This certainly wouldn’t be the first case of me having to pay much more for things, like insurance, in exchange for the other benefits of being incorporated.

As discussed earlier, it’s best to talk to your insurance professional. And, for what it’s worth, our coverage is written through The Hartford.

[Nick Griffin]

Just like we all say “I’m not a lawyer, but…” I’ll say that I’m also not an insurance professional. That said. I’m not sure that you can add that kind of coverage to a homeowners policy. More likely a general property & casualty business policy — not to say that the same agent may be able to handle both.

If memory serves the increases in the amount of coverage is fairly minimal, in other words going from $500,000 to $1,000,000 is not double the price. I also seem to recall that the initial policy is not that expensive when you consider that its for a year of coverage.

It’s also been strongly suggested that we have a $1,000,000 of excess liability for the company-owned car in case in an accident someone wants to sue the company. Ya’ gotta love our litigious society, don’t you?

[Nick Griffin]

We use a company out of the UK for all kinds of translations, especially for Middle Eastern and Asian languages. French & German should be a snap for them. They can also likely help with voice-over.

Mark@LifelineLanguageServices.co.uk

Tell Mark I sent you.

[Nick Griffin]

Aside from the typo, the docs read fairly well. Not crazy about the graphic formatting, but all in all, looks pretty good.