My DP has lost his mind ...

cool then if they are your tapes, you have nothing to worry about, when the film is edited, give him a dvd copy, same copy you give other crew and cast, if he didn't get his meal before you fired him, buy him a big mac and be done with it.
 
hmmm.. this is interesting...

As a photographer, unless otherwise agreed upon, any image framed and captured by the press of the button by the photographer technically belongs to him/her regardless of whether the camera/film/lens/tripod/flash/etc were his/hers. Hence, I believe, the footage itself, a series of images.. should belong to the DP. However, the script, as in the flow of the images set out in sequence according to the script belongs to the writer. The DP, cannot, use those images in such a way that follows that script but is able to use the footage in other sequences as long as it doesnt follow the script in question. Things are not as clear cut as it seems.

There was an agreement between the producer and DP and both are entitled to use of the consideration i.e. the stuff requested by the DP and stuff made by DP for producer. The agreement was termination prematurely in what seems to be 'duress.' A court would in this case try to either put the situation back to where it was before the situation occurred or if it was completed. Putting the situation back to where it was would most likely be more costly for the DP as he would have to pay back the producer what was paid out to people/places etc in order for the producer to rescind his rights to the footage i.e. return whatever that was shot. The consideration in this for the producer is the footage in exchange for work done + others. The producer would then have to reshoot the entire series again (which is ok IF the footage was bad). However, if he was happy with the clips, then this would most likely go into arbitration.. i.e. settle it out of court by a mediator until both sides are happy.

Just my 2 cts..
 
If he is a student - then he can't afford to bring you to court with a case that is non-existent. It comes down to he said she said.

I work with students a lot. Because I am one. And rest assured - I will never ever shoot with a student crew ever again for anything of substance.
 
A classic example of how crazy the film "business" is. And a classic example of why you DO want something in writing with EVERY crew and cast member BEFORE you start. So I distinctly disagree with those who say you're better off not having a contract. I'll say it again: until you get an assignment in writing, every contributor to your film owns their contribution (i.e., their art) whether it's wardrobe, cinematography, writing, performance. That's how copyright in art works. And film tends to be a collaboration of artistic contribution. So you need releases from EVERYONE. That said, this DP is psychotic, and while there are two sides to every story, you are the director and producer and he works for you. You just should have got that in writing, so he'd have no grounds to sue you on or stop distribution of the short (if you ever finish it now). Lesson learned (and every time I forget this lesson, I swear it comes back to bite me in the arse...like the actor who changed his mind three times about what sort of deal we should have on a short film I shot a couple years ago, and so right now I have no deal at all, meaning it's a short I cannot show except on my reel).
 
Mattykins said:
If he is a student - then he can't afford to bring you to court with a case that is non-existent. It comes down to he said she said.

I work with students a lot. Because I am one. And rest assured - I will never ever shoot with a student crew ever again for anything of substance.
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AGREED!! x 2
 
hmm a film school student without a rich mommy and daddy, I've met a few, and mind you I mean a few. most art students seem to come from rich families.
 
UPDATE:
This is better than a Soap Opera .....
Now I am being threatened with "major" legal action if I don't ....
1) allow him to do or supervise the CC, he is 7hrs away so maybe by phone???
2) Give him Quicktime files of the master ... with directions how to do that LOL. (silly rabbit, I told you I was editing in Vegas not FCP) yes, i know I can still export in .mov " .... but that's not important right now"
3) and his crowning glory ... title of Director of Photography
... if these conditions are not met I will be sued for the cost of hiring him, his camera (i have a Sony FX-1, still don't know why we didn't shoot with that) and the cost of his "lighting equipment", which i never asked for ... he insisted on bringing. Other than two nice Arri lights, there were these older looking things that looked like my uncle christmas decorations ... they were these 12" smaller metal boxes (3"x2"x12") that let you screw 6 or 8 regular light bulbs into, and gaff taped to a stand of somekind. At one point I was thinking, oh damn this is so ghetto! The other lights were work lights I bought from Home Depot, low budget but did give a decent general light to the scenes.
 
If the emails are harassing and persistent, you could counter it.

You had no paperwork right?

I mean - the guy is a moron. He doesn't technically have any right to sit in on colour correction seeing as he was let go for being unprofessional on set. I don't think this kid understands how expensive legal counsel is.

Since he never had a cost of hire, was an independent contractor working for credit/copy - there is no claim to money. Also since nothing was set in stone and he never told you rental prices, he can't claim any money since he never told you of any money. There is no documentation. No rental agreements, no nothing. He didn't even finish out the film. How can he get credit as sole DoP?

He has no idea what he is talking about. He has no rights to any of that. Basically the best case scenario? You waste your money with legal counsel, and the case is dismissed.
 
Footnote:
I was Pre-Law at Penn State and have appeared in court many times on behalf of several employers (day job). I am well versed in legal proceedings and am competent enough to represent myself in something like this.
 
BennyMonday said:
Footnote:
I was Pre-Law at Penn State and have appeared in court many times on behalf of several employers (day job). I am well versed in legal proceedings and am competent enough to represent myself in something like this.
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Well then he's definitely screwed. You planning on going to law school?
 
Jason Miller said:
hmm a film school student without a rich mommy and daddy, I've met a few, and mind you I mean a few. most art students seem to come from rich families.
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haha, I was guilty as well ;) Hey, it's a risky industry, I probably wouldn't have engaged in this risky endeavor if I didn't have the resources to stick it out.

One of the things I put in my contracts with crew is that this is not a term-of-project agreement, it may be terminated AT ANY TIME, so that nobody can claim if they were fired they have to be credited properly as whatever it is they were hired to do. That's just not the case.

A really good crew deal memo is important. I know the paperwork is frustrating, but you can spend a few weeks reading up on all types of legal issues having to do with film and then you'll figure out what you need and create a system for your "company" (whether that's a real company or just you, it's the same type of issues).

I won't work with student filmmakers anymore either, that's just annoying. There's also something about the kids who just graduated from film school that can often make them bad to have as anything but the lowest positions on set. Unfortunately, rather than encountering a lot of enthusiastic young graduates, I always encounter the ones who think that just because their student thesis film shot 35mm and had a crew of 60, that automatically all professional productions should be AT LEAST that big and should always shoot 35. I have found film school graduates, in general, to be some of the most inept people when it comes to real-life filmmaking and budgeting that I have ever seen. None of them have any concept of what equipment costs, what it costs to rent per day, per week, rental houses they might be able to get discounts from, what crew positions you really need on lower budget shoots, etc. They never paid for any rental equipment in school, or they had one producer paying for anything they did (and that guy is not working on my set, he's probably interning at some studio), and even if they remember what the producer got X equipment for, they get extremely spoiled, thinking that because someone offered them a 35mm film camera for their shoot for $1,000 for 5 days that it's standard for them to rent at $200/day, so they assume you must just be cheap not to be shooting 35mm. And they got their film stock free from Kodak, so what's the big deal? How expensive could it possibly be?! Unfortunately these graduates need years in the real world of hard knocks before they start to become aware of the realities of filmmaking.

That's the main thing I look for in crew hires, actually, if I have the time to be exacting, I want someone who is professional and capable, but still has that guerilla, get-her-done attitude, where they have a concern for safety, of my tools and my crew, but they don't object to doing ANYTHING just because it wasn't planned in the script or we don't have a permit or we should have more crew, etc. You never know when a golden shot opportunity arises and you want to change the schedule a bit, and guerilla something that you think will work, but if you have too big of professionals on the shoot they look down upon that instead of being like, "Yeah, totally, let's do it!" I wouldn't hire film school students or recent graduates, though, primarily because I think they are all gods of their own worlds. They are in a program where they are looked at as the best cinematographer in their class, or at least in their own minds they are, or the best director, or whatever else, and instead of realizing just how many other great filmmakers there are out there in the real world struggling to find work, they think they deserve the highest, biggest work because they're something special and as soon as they graduate, the world will just be BEGGING them to work. It's really funny. It's an attitude that seems to take a few years to get rid of, they start to realize honestly nobody cares about you, you're just another wannabe director or DP, and until you really grit it out and earn it, you won't be important to the industry or to anyone in it. Then that humility seems to make them a great crew member -- they have went through the experience now of having tons of confidence and thinking they were great, but they have also gone through the humbling experience of competing in a saturated industry, thus they are grateful to work with you and also confident in showing you what they can do for your production.

So I love film school graduates, but I just would prefer to give them a few years to mature after their schooling before they're ripe for the hiring! ;)
 
The stock isn't exactly free...haha

but I hear you. I am a film student. By no means am I great. But I've been working my ass off to get an in. I learn about camera systems, try to understand everything that goes into making a film. I've been lucky enough to work on several professional productions. But you are right. People in film school think they are gods. It's amazing.

I've had the pleasure of working with Panavised F900's, REDs, all that fun stuff outside of school. Since I do freelance. And it's incredibly annoying to be corrected with incorrect information because someone is a TA so they know everything about the industry.

I am considering dropping a show I am DPing because my Lighting Director (we don't have an AD, but we have a lighting director?) think that since she was - at one time my TA - she knows more about digital film making than myself. So she tells my director the AG80 is able to shoot in total darkness illuminated by small campfire without gain. And when I tell him that isn't possible he gets confused and upset at me.

They don't teach preproduction here. I work freelance as an AD first and second because I am good at scheduling, and understand what Day out of Days mean. Film schoolers think that because they are somewhere means they don't have to try. And it's sad.

But I digress...

If you were pre-law, don't worry about it. I was in mock trial for years. Haha - close as I've been to court. Though they are similar in the general aspects. They do have real judges and stuff. So for that I had to be well-versed in court procedings and other legal crap.

I wouldn't worry too much. The kid thinks he is amazing. Tell him you will fight it with everything you have. And if the emails persist - it can eventually become harassment.
 
Dude, my producer had a guy try to keep his tapes, but lucky for my producer he had the footage on his computer so he could edit it himself. The DP had a lot of equipment (DVX100a, dollies, crane etc) and stuff and which he used and got paid for. Later he offered to edit but in the end he knew his edit was just a trial. My producer edits all his own stuff. This guy wouldn't return the freaking tapes. Then asked for $500. I never hire DPs or directors, only camera ops. They may have opinions but know where they stand. I don't think I would never come on someone's set and try to take their production from them. It's so a$$ of someone to do that.

And half the time when people threaten legal action it's BS. I had someone tell me I would never "work in this town (Chicago) again." (Ironic because I made my second film after that). One day they called me yelling and screaming. Then I happened to mention emails from a party he was supposed to be "representing" suddenly it was like, "Oh, I didn't know." I'm like "Yea, it's like that." He's like, "Well, It's nothing personal. I don't want to burn any bridges but, you know, I have to take care of business." Silence. I'm like "Goodbye dude."

-Nate
 
The guy is an arrogant bully. Call his bluff. Tell him, "Go ahead. Sue me." He won't need a lawyer to sue you in small claims court, but you are more than capable of defending yourself if he does. Document everything. Go to court (if it comes to that) fully prepared.

I'm betting it never gets to court. If it does, he doesn't stand a snowball's chance in heck of prevailing. (In my humble opinion -- and I am not a lawyer.)

Your biggest problem will be dealing with his freak-out when he doesn't get what he wants. Just be calm, rational and professional. This nutjob will eventually go away.

Good luck.
 
Nathyn said:
Dude, my producer had a guy try to keep his tapes, but lucky for my producer he had the footage on his computer so he could edit it himself. The DP had a lot of equipment (DVX100a, dollies, crane etc) and stuff and which he used and got paid for. Later he offered to edit but in the end he knew his edit was just a trial. My producer edits all his own stuff. This guy wouldn't return the freaking tapes. Then asked for $500. I never hire DPs or directors, only camera ops. They may have opinions but know where they stand. I don't think I would never come on someone's set and try to take their production from them. It's so a$$ of someone to do that.
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I can top that one. I was contracted to write and produce a 30-minute short drama for a local organization. The DP I hired was also supposed to edit. He took the tapes with him. Months passed, not even a rough cut. He stopped answering my emails, wouldn't pick up my phone calls or return them when I left messages. When I finally got hold of him, he admitted he'd ERASED the tapes and used them for some other film!

Thank GOD I'd made copies of the tapes before handing them over to him! But he didn't know that! I was appalled at the sheer arrogance.

When a friend (at the time) was going to hire him to direct her feature, I told her what he'd done to me. Unfazed, she decided to hire him anyway. I warned her to make copies of all the tapes. Turned out he did the exact SAME thing to her! Erased all the tapes of a FEATURE so he could re-use them! He's since disappeared from the scene in this area. Good riddance!
 
Are you kidding me?! That's unthinkable dude... I can't even imagine someone being that stupid or careless...

Yeah backups really do save you. I haven't had any disasters so far, knock on wood, but I leave every day of a shoot with two backups of all footage. Since we shoot on the HVX, I have a P2 loader transfer the footage to the laptop and then dump it to two different external hard drives, though I have two laptops too so if there are several cameras rolling and we have a backlog I can use both laptops and two DuelAdapters. Then both of my 500 gig externals are packed away in a Pelican 1500 case for protection, both with identical files on them, so in case of hard drive failure or someone dropping one of the hard drives, the footage is on another drive. The only thing that would be safer, I admit, is having the hard drives be in a different physical location, like two separate cases. I'm paranoid but so far I'm not that paranoid. If I was, and it was such an expensive shoot or important shoot I felt it was justified, I would send one of the externals with my P2 guy or my DP in a separate car, that way they'd be going home in different vehicles and the footage would be spread out. But so far, so good with this method.
 
Mr. Richardson, this is a guy whos name you need to post, this is a guy who needs to be blackballed from the industry, and he needs a good ass kicken.

second, what kind of moron reuses tape? always use fresh tape, Tape degrades with use even digital tape, it moves it gets scratched, it stretches, it's for one use and one or two playbacks, then store in a safe just incase place.

oh well. did you friend who hired him keep a backup?
 
I had a business partner (not a film student but a guy in his mid 50's) who eventually threw a fit when he couldn't get his way. He was stuck on doing the same few stories over and over, and you know how terribly bored the audience gets when a television show gets repetitive.

So when we pushed, he resigned. But before he left he tried to foul our reputations and canceled about $150,000 of sponsorship support. There's a law where a member of a corporation can't do anything against that corporation's best interests. But that's what he did.

After a trying to sort things out in a friendly manner (yes, we extended him a lot of courtesies in this mess), he got real contentious and forced us to spend thousands of dollars on lawyers fees just to get our tapes, equipment and accounting data back.

While we could have sued, our attorneys recommended against it. Court costs would have been horrendously high and there's never a guarantee of success even with a good case, which we had.

In the end, we were advised to just move on and focus on getting the production company back into form. And that's what we did. It's been a rough couple of years. But in the long run it may turn out for the best.

Sometimes what grows back in a forest after a fire is more abundant and diverse than what was there before.

And sometimes powerful lessons are learned from painful experiences.
 
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