How do you insure payment from unknown clients?

[MattinSTL]

Recently I supplied a DVD of footage to a local (new) client with a big banner across the top that says "PAID DVDs are clean copies and don't bear this mark"... and I also put my name in a swirling "electrical storm" as a bug in the corner... and amazingly... the guy is apparently going to just keep it like that and not pay! I was going to put a big red X in the middle of the DVD...

So I'm just wondering... as I have a client that came in town from Tampa and keeps asking about footage and DVDs... and I told them that they'd have to pay for footage FIRST... from the beginning... so anyway... how do you handle these situations?

 

[Max R. Wilson]

Well i normally get 50% day of shooting and then 50% on delivery of final DVD, so i will hand them the DVD for a check or cash. But i don't think i would ever give a high resolution copy until i am paid in full so for review copies a watermark and low res video is what i wold do.

Did you have contract with them?

 

[Beat Takeshi]

50-50 with low rez quickitme proofs for final before payment. If its just shooting then pay at end of day or no tapes or hard drive.

 

[Tom Marshall]

Hey Matt, could you do an escrow? That's the first thing that comes to my mind.

 

[MattinSTL]

All fixed... everybody is paid up.

 

[img]

we do 50/50 and they fill out a ucc-1 (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_UCC-1_agreement) just in case of any problems.

 

[Thomas J. O'Hara]

jeez that's incredible that he would use footage with all that crap you put on top of it. some people huh?

 

[filmguy123]

Contract signed up front to cover this.

50% up front, 50% paid on delivery of final.

Anything they see before that is from my laptop, they don't get a copy until paid. If for some reason I *HAD* to give a copy, I would mark it like you did, but also supply it in low resolution.