Does the Director have the right to kick off the EP from the set

Well, I came on board within only a few weeks. The EP wanted me to assemble a crew and develop the shot list so I got everyone and had a couple of meetings with the EP and Director.

I was very hesitant with the way the Director was approaching this shoot. He did not want to work with me on the shot list or scenes, gave me two locations and kind of just left. The EP and I spoke a lot about the characters, the story, what type of feel he wanted and gave me a pretty good visual so I thought the EP was the Director and the director I met was a Co-Director of sorts. I found out he was an acting coach and had not directed anything or had any footage to his name so I brought this up to the EP. The EP felt confident so I did not argue.

I guess my first impression was already bad because I cc'ed the Director about the crew having a prepro meeting and meetings to check over monitors, lenses, jib and everything else. He responded by saying "what is most crucial is get catering situated etc." and then I asked about blocking and he got up and said "I block" WHAT??? Of course I could go on but it will not do anything more than what you have already heard.

I am only asking for advice, I do not have any holdings with the EP, he just needs help and I wanted to vent because I told him when I first met the Director that he should not be the Director and I was correct. I am also the one who is requesting for him to be removed.
 
In the small gap that seperates non-directors from directors lives an at times mightily annoying beast: the director-impersonator.

He knows exactly what the most important things about film-making for him are: Where he wants his directors chair to stand. How to shout and spout. How to tell anybody at any time how he is always right. How to demand all privileges he thinks he himself, Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino (in this order) are entitled to. Yes - and how to intimidate young actresses. About the tiny rest he knows nothing - sometimes not even that there is something to know.

Yes. When one comes across someone like that it's recommendable to do what we do at times when a puppy has defiled the carpet: Stick it's nose into it, give it a nice little whack with a rolled news paper and throw it out on the lawn...... ;-)
 
tipota said:
In the small gap that seperates non-directors from directors lives an at times mightily annoying beast: the director-impersonator.
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Mmm... I suppose that can also apply to actors. The actor-impersonator - damn (goes off on rant)...
 
The key is in the contract. However, in practice, the Executive producer is the boss, and can fire anyone he chooses, subject to any terms about this in the contract. However, there are a few useful tactics. In many cases, the director can remove whoever they like from the set - pretty common, really - and this includes the producers, if they were daft enough to allow the director full creative control. The power, however lays with the producer to pay the cast and crew, so the director could be in charge of nobody, if he persists in his attitude. Cameras, cast, technical all get paid via the producer, so could be used to pressurise him. The producers also are the ones to discipline the director. In practice a meeting needs to be called where the producers and director can thrash their responsibilities out. As a production manager, I often end up attempting to negotiate between producer and director. I have the job of saying no to the director, because the producer controls the money and it's run out - so I tell the director, no he cannot have new costumes - no money, and no, he cannot have additional tech support because it's been costed and finalised - which HE agreed to. Then I run back to the exec producer and try to get a little more money, and if I succeed, I negotiate the are the director can spend it on. The art of compromise. With a bombastic producer, the director suffers, and vice versa. With two strong personalities, whatever happens, I lose.
 
Its the EP fault. If he was dumb enough to put this guy directing his film with his own money, without any previous assurance that he was able to do the job, let alone behave like a little girl on set.

That will teach him. You should all get together and beat the s*** out of this guy. Shoot it and post it on Youtube: :)
 
Yeah its pretty much straight forward. Tell him good bye and get rid of him ASAP. Write the money on him off. Continue without him.
Stop feeding the director-impersonator.
 
kylevant said:
Mmm... I suppose that can also apply to actors. The actor-impersonator - damn (goes off on rant)...
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Could apply to anyone :-)

I have been in similar situations (a few times). While there is plenty of hubris and egomania in big budget-land, and it is often indulged beyond reason, the criminal can often deliver

(which doesn't make it any more pleasant to be around).

For me, making a film has enough challenges without bulls**t. A well oiled, coordinated and respectful crew (hopefully from the top down) makes it fun to get up @ 4 am and get things

done. One overblown ego unchecked can wreak havoc on everyone's moral and often spreads negativity like poison (the director is the hub and the heart, so the spread is even wider). It

should be nipped in the bud. From what you have said, the EP has the right and perhaps the responsibility at this point to quickly fix his own mistake and keep the train rolling.

Inertia is a *****.


*****Maybe you should have the EP read this thread*****

Best of Luck
 
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Just an update, I owe that to everyone for their input and support.

The EP paid him for his services rendered and fired him. We now have some work to do including a re-cast and a few other things but we will move forward. I look forward to showing everyone some work soon.

Cheers

Ed
 
Super glad to hear Ed. Great move on part of EP and am happy you brought it to his attention - the production will surely benefit.

Kegan
 
Wish you luck. Tough decision in every way. Normally - by instinct - I side with the director in cases like that. But this one seems to have really overstepped the boundaries.
 
Can you believe this update!!! The "director" had a so called lawyer contact the EP and is trying to sue. The lawyer included my name and stated "a 35 year veteran was bullied" by me! That was funny because he was rarely on set and was the only person bullying people.

Any thought? It is silly but I am thinking about taking action against him.
 
Get a lawyer, get a copy of the director's contract from the EP, and pay the lawyer for their opinion. Find out if you need to do anything to protect yourself.

Also, get the name of the director's lawyer, so your lawyer can look them up. It might be the director's brother-in-law, who only does real estate contracts.

It's worth the money to make sure you're covered.

Hope that helps.
 
PopcornFlix said:
Get a lawyer, get a copy of the director's contract from the EP, and pay the lawyer for their opinion. Find out if you need to do anything to protect yourself.

Also, get the name of the director's lawyer, so your lawyer can look them up. It might be the director's brother-in-law, who only does real estate contracts.

It's worth the money to make sure you're covered.

Hope that helps.
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yes to that, but get the "lawyer" name first and do that research to see if it's even real
 
Whatever you do 'legally', look before you leap. I don't know what your personal financial situation is like, but 'lawyering up' often ends up accomplishing very little other than a quick vacuuming of your bank account. Do it if it's absolutely necessary of course, but like others have said I'd look into a little bluff-calling first.

Many a pyrrhic victory has been won by lawyering down the last man standing...
 
It is funny because if this ever went to court the "director" would not have a leg to stand on against me.

I was hired by the EP, not the director.

The pilot has not been shopped around because of this incident.

The "director" however did copy one of my edits from a private Vimeo account I have. Unfortunately, the EP sent him the link with password by mistake but I do not know if taking a copy from the web is illegal anyway.

As for a lawyer, I do have a lot of options and will call them when or if this gets out of hand. I really just feel like it is harassment from the "director".
 
Re OP - Yes, the director can kick the EP off the set. But if the EP is the money guy/person, said director may not have a set to return to.

Key Grip can kick ANYONE off the set for safety reasons.
 
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