Early Termination?

P

plaidclad

New member
So, I've learned a lot with my first freelance editing job.

one of the things i learned is to include an early termination fee in my contracts. which i didn't.

so here's the deal. things were going fine with this project until i get an email from my client who just suddenly wants to pull out and have nothing to do with me. what triggered him was simple communication error, nothing that could not be easily resolved. think he just got a bad feeling about me and wants out.

so what do i do? i tried to explain to him how easily the problems could be fixed but he wants nothing to do with me. and since we have no prior agreement to an early termination fee, what do i ask for compensation? he does not seem to think it's fair to pay me for my time, as he'll have to hire another person to do the work over again. this seems to be entirely his problem, not mine. i want to come to an agreement that is fair for me, but also for him. i am willing to reduce my rate, but i wanted to know what is the typical standard for early termination.
any suggestions?
-shelby
 
i've never been in that situation before, but i know some who have. and in those cases, they were paid for the time spent working on the project and no more.

btw, i have great respect for a man that can quote tarkovsky. he is why i named my production company 'sabi'.
 
Who has the tape? It would seem to me that if you have the tape, and have not given your client a useable copy, you are in the driver's seat. If he/she has copies that he/she can give to anyone with a tape machine and editor, not too much you can do.

I believe it's been discussed on DVXUser before, that the tape belongs to the person who shot it, even though they were being paid to do it. Might check on that.

Good Luck!
 
First always get a a percentage of the project's budget upfront.
Secondly just don't give him anything. No edits, no tapes with clips no anything.
 
Hi

I agree with everything said here, also this kind of thing happens at all levels, big and small production companies, unfortunately comes with the territory as a designer, production company whatever. Hardcore route would be to simply take them to small claims court. If it’s a relatively large company their likely to settle with you rather than have their lawyer try to berate you in court, does not look good for them, ripping of the little guy and all that. But most definitely try to get an advance next time round.



Greg
 
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