Patrick Ortman
2
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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MediaTemple is also excellent.
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
Every situation is different, but in the USA (where we are sue happy but the laws are different), when things like this happen to me, I tend to get angry about it for awhile, then let it go. He showed you what an asshole he is by doing this. Working for him, even though you’re a professional, would be yet more exposure to his inner asshole nature. You don’t need that.
Then again, if things got involved to the point where it seems they have, you may want to go to your small claims court (or similar), and get some money for your prep/consulting time.
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
Given the many posts in this forum about wildly insane situations we all sometimes have to deal with, and my own personal experiences with same (I had a client show up with a speargun, once, just “for color” in negotiations… and another brought his pet panther with him… yes, I live in Hollywood), I am thrilled that we’re incorporated and I have a heckuva great advisory team, including my CPA, lawyer, etc.
Pay particular attention to the comment about protecting your personal assets, too. It’s something you hope you never have to deal with, but that peace of mind alone is worth the added expense.
P
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
I try really, really hard to not work with clients who are jerks. And I’m not saying you won’t get burned sometimes, but good business says at least:
– Deposit up front
– Remainder due when the project is done, not 30 or 60 days later
– A contract that says all thisSometimes, with existing clients and things moving quickly, you might skip one or two of these things. But you shouldn’t.
So, OK, if you’ve done the best you can and some guy’s not paying, and he’s got your master, and he’s out there using it… I see nothing wrong in suing him in court. Like you have. And when you win (which you have), I see nothing wrong in setting the po po on him and garnishing his bank account. I do not think it reflects poorly on you at all to make sure you get the money you are owed from a client.
That said, I have “forgiven” a few things, like when a client that was a mom-and-pop went bankrupt a couple years back, owing my shop many thousands of dollars. I didn’t feel the need to add to his family’s suffering, they lost their house, etc. Sometimes you can be a nice guy.
But your guy? He doesn’t sound like this. He’s not a pity case. He’s a deadbeat. You know what I say about deadbeats? Kick ’em in the neck! – legally.
As for publicly embarrassing him with a website… be careful. That could be looked at as a little rogue. We have legal systems in place in our society to deal with deadbeats. Try the “right” way first, or you may be seen as a vigilante, and that won’t help your business at all. Just think of all the trouble Charles Bronson had with the fuzz in the Death Wish movies. You don’t want that kind of life.
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
I am pretty happy with Premiere CS5.5, too, cutting RED and some DSLR stuff. It’s our new thing, here.
P
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
What Michael said.
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
>>You’re encouraging bad behavior by giving away tech support.<< Bob nailed it. It's a slippery slope, though, balancing good client relations with that. My philosophy is, if I get an occasional question from a paying client that takes less than 30 minutes to answer, I'm happy to give that away. When it becomes a constant stream of questions and is something they should be paying for, which it clearly has become in your case, I gently bring up our policy and ask if they mind if we bill them in 15 minute increments for our time. You must make a living, and you can't encourage bad behavior. And who knows, maybe all those other video guys quit before asking the client for fair payment, just out of frustration. Sure, maybe not, but if you never ask, you never get. ---------------------------- PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
Bill clearly deals with some of the same stations I do 🙂
Everything said is true, but I have found a few holdouts here and there- guys and gals who really care about making our work look as good as it can (including one guy who went out of his way to make sure our HD spot was NOT pillarboxed). These tend to be the “older dog” guys who came up through the ranks, back when there were ranks to come up through.
Just wanna salute the good guys who are still fighting the good fight.
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
Just echoing the “multiply it by five” rule: even if you’re tapeless, you’ll find that a lot of stations require things in different ways than others. We just finished a spot for the midwest, sent it to 3 broadcast stations and a cable network, and every single one of them needed something slightly different.
This is one of those things that the client never really knows (or cares) about, and you have to nail it.
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
I think Micah’s talking about something like a manager, or a producer or director’s rep kind of thing.
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company