Am I being screwed here?

E

eimajjjj

Hi guys,

To wrap up a long story short:

I'm a first time feature film Director. I've written, produced, cast and am directing the film. Anyway, I hired a DP who has worked hard as we were understaffed to begin with. 10 days into a 20 day shoot he's called me up and basically said 'I've picked the shots, I want to be credited as Director'. I responded to the likes of 'are you mad? I've spent the best part of two years putting the locations, actors, script, absolutely everything together and even though you're much more experienced and technically savvy that I am, this is my film'. He quickly pointed out that AS WE SIGNED NO CONTRACT THE FOOTAGE IS LEGALLY HIS!

So, am I right in thinking he could actually just swing round and say 'You know what, this is my film, I'm taking it'.

Also, I've paid him 75% of his fee directly to his bank without invoice.

Total panic right now!
 
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Lawyers love spending hours negotiating nothing.
If you paid for the whole damn movie then why does he have possession of the footage? I'd try to figure out a creative way to get possession of the footage then sever ties with this a**hole DP.
 
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From what Jamie is saying, the DP has the footage and they're not done shooting. It seems to me that a decision has to be made on finishing the project or not. The legal stuff aside, are the actors in town forever? Probably not.
 
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Also, another reason I haven't been as 'vocal' and hands-on in my directing is that from the beginning, every time I did try to dictate something, the DP would say 'I think we should do it this way' and 'that's my job not yours'. Catch-22 and now I'm being held over a barrel on it.
 
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Michael Allen said:
Zensteve has said it twice and I'm going to make it thrice.

Either give this DP the director credit or spend a few $ and book 30 min with an entertainment Lawyer and find out your rights from a professional.
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Unfortunately this poster is correct.

However there are two other suggestions I have. The first is to simply say 'no.' The second is to negotiate with the end goal of giving him a co-director credit. There is a third possibility but I am not going to suggest this on an open forum. As a steer it involves a big bloke and as the big bloke in question in my personal experience has been incredibly effective.

My favourite suggestion is the 'promise him and then don't do it' idea. It is simple and has a touch of karma about it.
 
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My favourite suggestion is the 'promise him and then don't do it' idea. It is simple and has a touch of karma about it.
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The DP is trying to pull a switcheroo. Do your OWN switcheroo and you're back to the original agreement. If you are paying for this whole shoot, and it's all just a verbal agreement (with no emails, voicemails or other documentation to demonstrate otherwise) then if English copyright law is the same as American "work for hire" copyright law then I'd strong arm this guy out of the picture and fire him as soon as you can get hold of the footage. Tell him you want to make copies of all of the footage for security reasons (in case of fire, theft, etc).
 
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Blade_Jones said:
The DP is trying to pull a switcheroo. Do your OWN switcheroo and you're back to the original agreement. If you are paying for this whole shoot, and it's all just a verbal agreement (with no emails, voicemails or other documentation to demonstrate otherwise) then if English copyright law is the same as American "work for hire" copyright law then I'd strong arm this guy out of the picture and fire him as soon as you can get hold of the footage. Tell him you want to make copies of all of the footage for security reasons (in case of fire, theft, etc).
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I think in England though you need a release form signed by the DP.
 
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UPDATE: He's now come in saying:

He'll give me the Director credit but he wants to be credited as producer and have control over post-production! Something that I'd be paying for! He also hinted that as I signed no contract he has a right to not only keep my footage but not give me my money back...this is insane
 
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eimajjjj said:
UPDATE: He's now come in saying:

He'll give me the Director credit but he wants to be credited as producer and have control over post-production! Something that I'd be paying for! He also hinted that as I signed no contract he has a right to not only keep my footage but not give me my money back...this is insane
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If that will get you the footage back, take it!

Even put it in writing if it'll get you the footage. That contract is worth the paper it's signed on since is was created under duress.
 
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eimajjjj said:
UPDATE: He's now come in saying:

He'll give me the Director credit but he wants to be credited as producer and have control over post-production! Something that I'd be paying for! He also hinted that as I signed no contract he has a right to not only keep my footage but not give me my money back...this is insane
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Control of post-production and producer credit? There's absolutely no question that you are the producer on this. And wanting to control post-production smells really fishy to me. He probably realizes that once he gives you the footage then you have all the control, so he doesn't want to give it up. If you let him take over PP, I would kiss any credits goodbye (from the sound of his character I wouldn't put it past him to even take the writing credit).

Do you have any friends or relatives who are lawyers? If so I would pull in a favor and get a formal letter written (on paper with the law office's official letterhead), stating that he has been contracted in a work for hire situation and that you have proof of transactions (unless you handed him cash there WILL be a paper trail); that while he can legally hold the footage from you, if he does not surrender it then his contract is terminated. Also, if he uses the footage in any way, he will be sued for copyright infringement. Be sure to put specifics of your 'demands' if he is to finish out his contract. For example: he will have credit as DP and Camera Operator, nothing more. He will sign a release form giving you the rights to all footage he has shot for your project. And finally that he will surrender the footage already shot and do the same at the end of every remaining shooting day.

The lawyer-friend letterhead borrowing is a solid trick (although it's not really a trick) I learned when working for a chiropractor. He had a couple lawyer friends who would literally just let him write his own letter, but use the official letter head at no cost. Most people see that and get very scared and, in the case of the chiro, will pay up what they owe right away.


I'm sensing that this guy has a domineering personality and that you let him walk all over you. You say you had shots planned but he told you they were bad and ignored them. That was your first mistake (well actually your first mistake was not getting anything in writing). If you're going to be director you have to be confident and a leader. It's not too late to stand up for yourself, your position and your work. You're in charge, don't let him strong-arm you out of that.
 
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Good comment Phil,

Like so many have said here, obtain your footage at all costs. After that it's "possesion is 9/10's of the law" He'll have a hell of a time convincing a court to force you to give it back.

After that the first words out of your mouth should be "you're fired" Have some friends around to watch, that will be tough for him, like he made things tough for you.

You and I'm sure many of your friends and possibly your family will be hurt by this guys self centered and bullying actions, financially or otherwise. Get your footage, and then aggressively blacklist the guy. Take him to court. Something I used to have difficulty with was telling the difference between an enemy and a friend that just fell off the wagon. Now days, I don't hesitate to attack a person who's clearly attacking me. That's experience talking, they're expecting you to hesitate, maybe meet their demands. The government had this down years ago, don't negotiate with terrorists (anyone who tries to push you around with fear).

Finally, in dealing with A$%holes, NEVER kill one, if you do, two more will come to take their place. But seriously, there are too many good people out there trying too hard for you to do any more business with a F*&ktard.

True story, several years back, a con man (a real one) took severe advantage of me, and took 100k of a friends money. It was all based on a tapestry of lies, and the guy apparently spent the money on cocaine, and defaulted on 10's of thousands of payment to me. I wiped out his internet presence, copied every cc address out of every email he ever sent me, and sent out a letter to all 300 of his contacts telling them about how he had been serially conning people out of money and time for years. I received a great number of emails back. As soon as I spelled out clearly the method he used to trick people, apparently they all saw it immediately. All members of his "team" quit within 2 weeks after me. All his investors pulled out and wrote me letters of apology, many asking that I just forget they had ever been associated with him, so we could do business in the future. Last I heard, he was drinking himself to death in a seedy local bar.

I don't look back or feel a shred of remorse about it. I didn't hurt one guy, I saved a crowd of innocent people from being hurt over and over. That's how I look at it. F#$k Scott Cox.
 
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eimajjjj said:
Also, another reason I haven't been as 'vocal' and hands-on in my directing is that from the beginning, every time I did try to dictate something, the DP would say 'I think we should do it this way' and 'that's my job not yours'. Catch-22 and now I'm being held over a barrel on it.
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WHO is paying for this production?

If you are, what you say goes. If your production isn't finished, is it possible to start looking --quietly-- for a replacement of this person? Once you get back your footage, of course. Did you pay for the tape stock? That is your property if you did.

-- spinner :cool:

EDIT: you never learn a lesson better than when you get screwed over. Agree to his being producer and have him turn over your stock. After that, fire him as producer and DP. You can do that, you are the producer who's paying for everything.
 
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If nothing has been signed, I'd do whatever it takes to get your footage back then fire his ass.

But also after reading what you've been doing, it seems like Producer credit also seems very appropriate. It might just be worth it to give him director credit, finish the film, and move on.
 
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True story, several years back, a con man (a real one) took severe advantage of me, and took 100k of a friends money. It was all based on a tapestry of lies, and the guy apparently spent the money on cocaine, and defaulted on 10's of thousands of payment to me. I wiped out his internet presence, copied every cc address out of every email he ever sent me, and sent out a letter to all 300 of his contacts telling them about how he had been serially conning people out of money and time for years. I received a great number of emails back. As soon as I spelled out clearly the method he used to trick people, apparently they all saw it immediately. All members of his "team" quit within 2 weeks after me. All his investors pulled out and wrote me letters of apology, many asking that I just forget they had ever been associated with him, so we could do business in the future. Last I heard, he was drinking himself to death in a seedy local bar.
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I know of a similar story. Con artist producer / director enriched himself with over 100K when it was agreed that he was to ONLY work for back-end interest in the movie. The bottom line is that you can't trust anyone with large amounts of money, and whenever you embark on a big project (ex- a movie) you must have a lawyer draft a contract "with teeth". There's so many loopholes in law that ONLY an entertainment lawyer can draft these contracts. Anything less than a contract with teeth is often not even worth the paper it's written on.

Back to the thread starter... be glad this is just a dispute regarding a short!
 
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My solution would involve a baseball bat.

If that's not your style, I'd do as CamVader said and use this is a lesson to always remember that people are scum that you can never rely on to do the right thing. This is why contracts exist. Involve lawyers at every stage of a production and have people sign everything for everything. Screw them before they screw you.

I still say the baseball bat is the best way to go, though.
 
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