Hello Everyone, and a question...

B

Bill Grant

Active member
Hey Everybody,
My name is Bill Grant, and I am in Columbia, SC. I have been lurking here for about 6 months and am finally getting around to posting. My business is Grant Photo & Video which I do full time with my wife as the photo part. I have been doing video for about 5 years, and have been in business for myself for 3. I use 2 Canon XH-A1s and a HV20. We shoot primarily weddings right now but are trying to transition into more varied work and have recently raised prices on our weddings and thus the booking is down. Website is www.grantphotovideo.com

Anyway,
I am also a former musician and as such am interested in doing video for musicians in some way or another. I had a talk today with a local recording studio owner that does the recording for a local blues legend who is 75 and still turning out records and playing 3-4 times a month. He talked to me about doing a documentary on this guys life and music and I am VERY into the idea. Here's my question. Those of you that do documentaries, do you get paid for them? and if so, how? I am not that interested in getting paid initially but would like for this to turn into money at some point if it happens. Is this unrealistic considering my experience and that I've not done a doc before. Also, I have the usual wedding guy audio stuff, Senn G2 wirelss, Rode NTG2 shotgun, and a Zoom H2. What other audio stuff would I need other than a boom pole etc. He was talking about possibly trying to get this to ETV and the like. Anyway I really enjoy this forum and never considered joining because I'm not technically a DVX user :lipsrseal Thanks to everyone for the great info.
Bill
 
The odds of having anything you make turning a profit through distribution is astronomically low, especially if it's your first one. People will promise you the stars but don't believe a thing they say unless they've consistently delivered in the past. Unless it's a project that you have a personal interest in, ask for payment in advance. Charge for equipment, labor and post production, just like any other job.
 
Thnaks for the response Huy,
They didn't promise any money or anything. This would be something that I would develop on my own with the assistance of this studio guy who's the contact. I just didn't know since obviously I can't charge the subject for it, how would a documentarian get paid. DVD sales? etc.
Bill
 
It really depends on what your agreement with the producer is. Can be percentage of the DVD sale, or percent profit from distribution etc. As to paying the subject, you'll have to work out an agreement, see if he's willing to give you a release for free.

I wouldn't count on those things. It's extremely hard to find a distributor, and since the subject matter doesn't have mass market appeal (a "local" legend doesn't sound like something I'd pay money to see), it's even harder to sell. I would look at this like a work-for-hire scenario. You charge the producer a per day rate for labor and equipment and per hour for editing, regardless of whether the film finds distribution or not. If they have the money to promote it to ETV and such, they'll have the money to pay you. If they tell you that everybody is gonna get paid when the film makes money, run far far away because you'll just end up wasting months or years working for free and never see a dime.
 
Hey, Bill. Because it sounds like a passion project for you, I'd approach it this way:

Invest your own time, gear and money that you must to make the movie that you wish. Only condition is that you own the movie and its content. That includes rights to any music used in it. Make a deal that permits you to pay for the movie thru third-party or self-distribution, with a backend compensation arrangement with either the record label or musician to get paid once the budget in recovered.

Dude's 75 years old. It's unlikely you can spend the next year or more trying to raise money and guarantee he's going to still be available for interviews. At least shoot him now while you can. You can always use the footage, especially if you've got great performance stuff, for reaching out to VC investments later.

There's all sorts of wiggle room with this sort of thing contractually. One incentive for the record label to get aboard, however, is that the movie can essentially become a commerical to sell records (CDs). Sales = profits. All you want is a license to use his music in the movie.

Your greatest chance for making your money back, of course, is through broadcast and broad distribution, but figure that niche marketing -- to the musician's fan base and blues afficionados in general -- is where the most viable chance for getting your money back will lie.

--msg
 
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