[Timothy J. allen]

For editing jobs that we didn’t shoot, one thing we sometimes like to do to save our sanity is specify the deliverable (completed video) date based on a certain number of days after we receive the elements (such as the script, animation, raw footage etc. We also include an example such as “…if all elements are received by 5:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time) on May 30, the video will be delivered to the client by 5:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time) on June 6.”

Any delays in getting those pieces results in an understood and agreed upon day-for-day slip of the final product. That puts the responsibility on them for filling any holes in the editing timeline.

There is not much worse then clients expecting you to build animation or find stock footage (for free!) to cover a hole in the timeline at the last minute because they didn’t plan well enough to cover the voice overs. If nothing else, it puts the stress back on the producer to get you what you need to build a good product.

[Timothy J. allen]

I’ve signed reasonable non-compete agreements for certain long-term contracts. The key word here is “reasonable”.

As Nick mentioned, there are certain roles in production where a contracted employee may gain enough knowledge to hurt the company that found the job and hired them for it. I understand that and respect it.

The definition of “reasonable” for a full-time employee is not the same as for a freelancer, since it would force you to give up one of the primary advantages of freelance work.

There have been times that I’ve refused to sign certain non-compete agreements – or negotiated them back with the employer to be “reasonable” before agreeing to the work.

An example:
Several years ago, I had a contract agreement presented to me that asked me to list every invention or licensable idea that I had before working for them. The contract stipulated that that company owned perpetual rights to any processes or innovations that I did not list on the document. It wouldn’t have mattered if I could prove that I thought of the idea or process or innovation before my contract of employment – if it wasn’t listed, they could claim it. It also stipulated that I could not work for anyone else “in the entertainment industry” during my employment – or for two years after. This was purely a TV production job so for me, as a songwriter and part-time technology enthusiast, the language was clearly overreaching. I marked those sections out and said “no thanks”. Meanwhile, I saw MANY other people sign the same agreement without questioning it.

I really think that particular sections of that contract would have proven to be “unenforceable” due to the overreaching language, but I didn’t want to be in a position to find out.

NDAs are another matter. I will always keep proprietary information to myself and I don’t mind signing non-disclosure agreements at all. That’s the nature of modern business, and I understand that companies need the right to protect the intellectual property that they work hard to create.

If I were a freelancer, a non-compete agreement would need to be extremely specific in scope and I would need to be compensated fairly to make up for any potential lost business during and after the term of the contract.

[Timothy J. allen]

If you aren’t booked, shooting some things for your reel would be a good use of time. In my opinion, it’s always good to have something on your reel that you are proud of – and something that reflects the kind of work you want to do. If you don’t have a piece that does that already, don’t wait for a client to bring it to you.

[Timothy J. allen]

Since I don’t know your local rates for talent, it’s a tough question. I would put that one towards the high end of your spectrum, but it really depends on how long it took you to complete and your production costs.

Rates are getting cheaper every day, but if this is a $2k spot, your musicians and V/O artists are most likely eating Ramen noodles or potted meat for lunch to survive. 😉

[Timothy J. allen]

I charge more for high end spots, but that’s more of a reflection of my production costs to meet the clients needs, than of the final distribution targets and reach.

It’s about that ever present “time vs. quality vs. speed = cost” equation. The quality part of the equation usually goes up if you produce in a larger market, because of talent level expected from talent (whether it be actors and musicians, or production and post). The local rates of the talent involved in completing the project tend to be higher in larger markets because of skill level. The distribution costs may be more, because of talent agreements.

Those rates for talent across the board are usually higher for the same reasons a smaller market’s rate are lower – cost of living expenses and basic supply and demand.

If the client expects a “national quality level” spot, it means certain things like color grading are a given. Custom music will cost more than canned music – but it can make the spot memorable. The best actors and musicians in large markets don’t charge union scale, that’s just their minimum rate.

Because of supply and demand, some things cost more in larger markets and some things cost less.

The final cost to the client is still based on how much it costs me to do it and how much I need to charge to cover those expenses and still make a reasonable profit. While the final profit may be more in actual dollars, my markup on costs (percentage-wise) isn’t.

[Timothy J. allen]

Dean,
You mentioned that its fairly early in your career in the industry. If there is one piece of advice I can give you it is this:

Don’t EVER let anyone make you feel ashamed for asking questions in order to improve yourself.

There have been times that I’ve been hesitant to publicly post certain questions, but once I posted them, I was often relieved to find that other professionals (that are way more experienced than I) also wanted to find the answers.

As long as questions are posed in a professional manner, they help us all. Since I joined Creative Cow, I’ve had a career in television that has far surpassed my expectations. Asking questions in the forums here has been key to my progression – especially since I don’t have to make the all of the mistakes in order to learn the lessons.

When I hire people, I look for those who participate in professional web forums. I don’t have to agree with their every opinion. It’s far more important to me that they aren’t afraid to ask questions and that they KEEP LEARNING.

Yes, you shouldn’t forget that people you work with and some clients might find and read your threads. That said, if you are earnestly trying to improve the situation for everyone, and do the best job you can, you really have nothing to fear.

Ben Franklin had his Junto, we have the Cow.

[Timothy J. allen]

… and then there is the issue of getting the legal guardian of every child in the clips to release the images of their children for that use. (Unless you have those releases already.)

While the parents might have implicitly agreed to have their kids taped for game analysis or posterity, they most likely didn’t for commercial use.

Sorry to open up a can of worms, but someone should bring it up.
I know plenty producers who have skated by on this type of issue… and a couple who have been severely burned by it.

Make your own decision, but understand the risks.

Personally, I would probably charge them a small fee for a good quality dub of the raw footage, (to cover the cost of the tape) then let them take control from that point.

[Timothy J. allen]

It’s pretty clear that Congress is intent on passing some sort of Orphan Works legislation at some point. This year seems more likely than last year.

There are so many issues with this, but a big one I see right away is that it might actually cost many artists more to defend their right in court (to earn fees from assigning licenses of their own works that they neglected to register until they knew someone wanted to use it) than they would normally get from licensing the work in question.

Another big question is how the legislation will treat use “for profit” compared to, for instance, someone posting an image on their own website without compensation.

I also imagine this will really throw a wrench into clearances since many people will assume that if a picture hasn’t been registered for some time, they are then free to post images of anyone in the pictures – even without a release from the subject(s) of a picture. It may open up a pandora’s box of privacy concerns.

Thanks for the heads up. Looks like I need to do some late night studying about this.

[Timothy J. allen]

My contracts usually have verbage that says something to the effect of “the finished master is expected to be delivered X days of receipt of all video footage and source material”. This bases the completion date on when we get the material to build the program, rather than just an arbitrary date. This is a buffer that alleviates some for me if the client pushes the deadline forward without providing source material (such as b-roll, graphics of company logos, etc.) earlier. Since most projects have a specific calendar due date, it says, for instance “All video, audio and graphic source materials are to be delivered to (us) by close of business on XX/XX/XXXX in order to meet a deliverable date of XX/XX/XXXX for the completed master.”

We also have a “rush request” clause adding a percentage to the final tab if it means I have to pay overtime. That clause occasionally (dare I say “often”?) gets waived for good (paying on time) customers.

[Timothy J. allen]

… and that folks, is why Grinner has cool footage when he needs it. 😉

When I moved a few months ago, I gave lots of old computer equipment to the neighborhood kids. The mom of one of the kids made them bring back the old monitor – since it wasn’t a flat panel.

If I had thought about it, I would have found some really tall stairs and recorded the sound of it bouncing down a few flights. Some of the best drum samples I have are things like that.