Should my client pay in advance?

EDV

EDV

Well-known member
Hey guys,

I'm making a music video for a local band and I'm thinking I may have to ask them to "pay as you go". The budget will allow for several $300 to $400 sessions in various locations, and as an introductory offer, I've cut this band a deal that will have them only pay for costs of production (which are considerable, since we are using proper lights, field monitors, steadicam, etc.) I'm not gonna be making any money out of this deal, however, I really like this band and they will make a great demo clip on my website. I feel it's only fair to have them "pay as they go" however, as rental houses demand this. Not sure if this is how the big studios operate, I guess since they make big profits out of each clip, they may get paid a large percentage only after the clip is completed. I only hope my featured band won't expect this...
 
Ditto: 1/2 up front, 1/2 when finished and delivered.
Or 1/3 up front, 1/3 when done shooting, 1/3 to deliver finished product.

* Note: Not sure how many of these you have done, but do not release anything to your client, other than the finished product. I am in a BAD place right now as the editor on our job was talked into sending the files (straight from camera) over on an external hard drive by a demanding CEO with them still owing 1/2 the bill. Yada, Yada, Yada, they will not call us back, will not pay the bill and we do not expect them to. The good news? We still own the creative rights and we will file them on the shelf and move on, short $3700.00.

This is only to be used as a lesson, and maybe help someone avoid the same.
 
Half down and half when done.
Click to expand...
I do the same. Set a standard and stick to it. I have done this on 2,000 dollar gigs and 20,000 gigs. Don't let some "big" client tell you that since it is a larger project they will pay later or on delivery.

Be prepared to walk if you have to. protect the assets and proofs you send. Do a watermark or timecode burn.
 
Yeah

Yeah

Yeah, definitely half upfront and half at the end. The bigger the client, especially the more important it is to make sure you get half upfront! Not less important. Who can afford to float that much money to anyone? I don't keep $10,000, $20,000 in my corporate bank account. I don't loan people money. You have to pay upfront to cover the costs of production, which is about half. Of course they don't need to know that, but that's about the cost with my time billed at $0 per hour and my equipment billed at $0, so... it works out. Worst case scenario I would only lose my time.

And I've done 4 pro bono music videos, but none of those bands get the files for anything but the finished product. It makes no sense, it's my video footage, it's my property, haha, I'm not giving that stuff away.
 
i concur with the 1/2 up front 1/2 when done plan. don't settle for less or you will regret it no matter what best intentions you have. its business and you must be professional...this is what you do as an artist and business person.
 
I use either: 1/2 down - 1/2 when done OR 1/3 down - 1/3 on the day of the shoot - 1/3 when complete depending on the job. Always get money upfront with the signing of the contract. No matter how much your client talks they do not take you serious until they spend money.

No exceptions.
 
Yeah, the half down, half on completion is a pretty standard deal, but I have always tried to structure it so that the half down covers the expenses, and the half on completion covers my profit. It doesn't always work out to that equal of a split though and have been burned a couple of times. Absolutely never give the band a completed copy of the project, in any form, until the final bills has been paid. Don't give them a DVD copy, a VHS copy, or even a compressed QT file of it, until the bills are paid. Trust me on this. This is where I have been burned back in the day. I once gave a band a VHS copy of the video, while I held on to the Beta SP edit master tape. I still have the Beta SP edit master tape and those motherf*ckers still owe me the final money. So don't do it. They get a copy when they pay up.
With your situation, where you are giving your time and effort and the band is paying just the actual expenses, you may also want to look into them actually paying the cost directly. It may be advantageous for them to pay the bills directly to the rental houses and crew you are using on this gig. This may save you from ending up owing any thing just in case something happens during production that may leave you hanging. I know that this band may seem like straight up guys, but they are still musicians. If you get half down, which does not cover all the expenses, and then the bass player runs off with the lead singer's girlfriend while you are posting the video, you could get stuck. If this is a pay as you go gig, and you are not going to make anything off of it, I would set up all the deals so that anybody that comes looking to get paid, has to go to the band for a check. You should not go into this gig where anything is done on your credit. If they can only pay $300-$400 dollars at a time, set up your budget and schedule so that that amount covers shooting for those specific days. Have them pay for what ever rental house items and crew you need at the time. The thing is, that is not a whole lot of money to be throwing around a rental house, or to use to crew up a video shot. You may want them to set aside 3 or 4, or more $300-$400 payments, as they can make them, then, when a larger lump sum is available, pay for the shoot out of that money. I just would worry that you are going to get a $300-$400 payment, go into debt with your rental houses and crew to shot the video, then have to play bill collector with the band to get that all paid off. If they aren't hip to a deal like that, I would rethink the video concept and go uber guerilla, for the money available, or bail on the project.
 
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Forget half and half, no more. You need to change to thirds. The reason: "Done" is open to interpretation and can drag out forever. I have been producing major projects for America's second largest bank and made the mistake of getting them used to 50%. Well, there are so MANY departments and people that need to review, then there's the Spanish version, etc., I will henceforth bill in THIRDS from now on! You're billing in $400 increments, you add two zeroes to that and that's where I'm at and it would be very easy to go broke if something bad happened. So the way I figure it, whether you're billing $400 or $40000, if they don't make the last payment at least you've only been screwed by 33% rather than 50%. And NEVER sign a Work For Hire Agreement until the last check clears.
 
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