I DRAW, YOU PAY!!!!

When one is working at a production office for a feature films are commercials, I don’t worry about getting paid.

Yes, there can be a snafu here and there, but you know that a bonded company has accountants set up and a payroll system. You will get paid with a week if you are on a film (studio film, indies can be dicey) or a few weeks on a commercial.

The two things that you enter on your own risk are music videos and when someone pays you out of their own pocket.

On a video (better to work with a large company that does commercials as well) the director often gets paid off the top of a job, particularly if they are an owner in the company. This has backfired on me many a time. I have waited a month to get paid on smaller companies as the check from the record company went to the director to get their bite and THEN the rest went to the crew.

If a director is paying out of their pocket, you might want to write out a simple contract, showing what each of you must bring to the table and what the penalties are for NOT doing this.

I recommended a friend to do boards for a director friend. The director gave my friend the assignment at the last minute. Then, he was told that as he was trying to get a studio gig, ten great boards would look better than thirty rushed boards.

The storyboard artist did the job (ten frames) and the director had the big meeting. What happened though, was that the director was pissed that he was charged a full day for ten frames, great or not.

What should have happened is this. The director messed up by NOT locking down the price as something he was cool with. The artist was charging for his TIME (days work) not how many frames he was doing. He was still working a full day in his yes.

The director also thought that he should get a discount as it was coming out of his pocket. Again, he needed to establish that early. If Steven Spielberg is paying me, I am charging my full rate. It is not the artist’s job to know what the director has in his/her bank account.

What has also happened is that the director said he would pay right away, but by now, almost a month has passed.  If you work with a contract, you have it signed that you must be paid by a certain pre-described amount of time after completion of the job.

If a director won’t sign, then you take your chances.

Talk things out completely before you work with an individual or a company you don’t know. Get that contract, baby!