Am I being screwed here?

[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!

 

[CamVader]

With me. Locations and performance releases all signed to me. Script written by me. Footage shot with his camera. Data stored on my drives. Release not given unless I give him 10% plus Producer role.

I do need to see an attorney I think.

He hasn't acted in the producer role, whereas director there's an argument for.

Is he a member of any professional organizations? If he is, frequently they have ethics rules that may be exploited in this case if approached with care and thought and your seeking their help.

 

[eimajjjj]

He wasn't the producer but he WANTS to be the producer in post-production, effectively giving him control over the final product.

He works freelance and this is his first feature as head DP. No way can I cut my losses 3 weeks into a feature shoot and start again. It's not financially or logistically possible.

 

[SiCurious]

Weigh up your options. Monetarily, is it worth giving him creative control of post-production, rather than hiring an entertainment lawyer and attempting to scare or legally strong-arm him? Do the potential gains of you keeping producer credit outweigh potential losses of an unsuccessful lawsuit? Is money even a factor here? Is this something you can/are willing to walk away from and file it as a lesson learned?

After looking at all the very good advice here, I think you need to write a list of the pros and cons of taking this guy on.

 

[CamVader]

He wasn't the producer but he WANTS to be the producer in post-production, effectively giving him control over the final product.

He works freelance and this is his first feature as head DP. No way can I cut my losses 3 weeks into a feature shoot and start again. It's not financially or logistically possible.

Hear me out, contact:

British Society of Cinematographers
Contact Frances Russell (Secretary)
Address PO Box 2587
Gerrards Cross
Bucks
SL9 7WZ
Telephone 01753 888052
Fax 01753 891486
Website www.bscine.com
Email BSCine@btconnect.com

Ask if he's a member (even though you know he's not). When they give you any answer, ask for their help and briefly explain how you're being extorted. Ask for any advice they may have. Ask them who else you should talk to.

Now they have his name because you asked if he's a member and most professionals resent non-professionals who pretend to offer the same services. You have nothing to lose and you just may gain a powerful ally. If anything, he already has a complaint against him and he's not even a member (yet). Start the blacklisting. Tell your DP what you've initiated and ask him if he's prepared to continue with his demands. This is his one and only chance to rectify the situation, continue with the project, and save his reputation. You will go to any and every length to make good on your warning. "Try me."

 

[Blade_Jones]

Whoever shoots the footage, owns the footage.

That's in an independent contractor situation. In the US if you have a work for hire situation then the footage is yours.

I'd demand of him to turn over the footage (or copies) so that you can proceed with editing, etc. If he refuses then I'd demand reimbursement for all of your expenses and legal fees. The whole purpose of hiring him under your verbal contract was to release the short. He is in breach if he prevents this from happening. The problem is that it costs money to go to court to get things straightened out. In the US about 71% of victorious litigants never collect on judgments (because the defendant is broke, etc).

 

[Nate North]

When someone screwed me, and I brought up verbal contracts, a lawyer friend told me "verbal contracts aren't worth the paper their not written on"

 

[Blade_Jones]

When someone screwed me, and I brought up verbal contracts, a lawyer friend told me "verbal contracts aren't worth the paper they're not written on"

Some things verbal are impossible to prove. But in this case it's very obvious that the thread starter had a verbal agreement in which he hired the DP in order to release a short. There's "consideration" and work was in fact performed. People enter into verbal contracts every day... dental work, hair cut, etc. Judges aren't stupid. He didn't shell out $60,000 just for shits and giggles. Verbal contract.

 

[Nate North]

Some things verbal are impossible to prove. But in this case it's very obvious that the thread starter had a verbal agreement in which he hired the DP in order to release a short. There's "consideration" and work was in fact performed. People enter into verbal contracts every day... dental work, hair cut, etc. Judges aren't stupid. He didn't shell out $60,000 just for shits and giggles. Verbal contract.

I've literally been told to turn around and go home by every lawyer I've ever approached about a verbal contract.

I told a lawyer i could show him an email where A guy promised me 375k delivered the next week. (still got the email if you think you can enforce it for me blade, I'll give you 50 grand) He wouldn't even bother to read the email. Most of the time I was only able to talk to a secratery, and then my calls weren't returned at all.

 

[DeJager]

Agh! What a muddy / unfortunate situation. If it were me I'd call his bluff and try to get savvy with your rights by talking to an attorney.

Are there any examples/templates of forms that a producer could give to a director of photography to prevent this situation (here in the USA?). I searched but couldn't find one that was meant' for this type of situation.

 

[brianluce]

I've literally been told to turn around and go home by every lawyer I've ever approached about a verbal contract.

I told a lawyer i could show him an email where A guy promised me 375k delivered the next week. (still got the email if you think you can enforce it for me blade, I'll give you 50 grand) He wouldn't even bother to read the email. Most of the time I was only able to talk to a secratery, and then my calls weren't returned at all.

And I have won settlements, in court, in front of a judge, based on oral contracts. One caveat, the other party didn't deny the contract existed, though it would have been hard for him to deny it had he chosen that route.

And this is why the OP should stop listening to us, and get a consultation with a lawyer or Solicitor or Barister or even a Barrista would even be better than listening to us.

 

[Blade_Jones]

I've literally been told to turn around and go home by every lawyer I've ever approached about a verbal contract.

I told a lawyer i could show him an email where A guy promised me 375k delivered the next week. (still got the email if you think you can enforce it for me blade, I'll give you 50 grand) He wouldn't even bother to read the email. Most of the time I was only able to talk to a secratery, and then my calls weren't returned at all.

You are comparing apple verbal contracts with orange verbal contracts. We are talking about whether or not the thread starter has a copyright claim to the portion contributed by the DP or not. Under US law I say yes. He should have every right to get possession of the footage, edit it and sell it. The other question is whether or not he is considered the full "author" or just a joint owner of copyrights as far as the DP's contribution goes. That can be a gray area. The only hitch might be whether or not the DP used his own equipment. If the equipment was paid for and rented by the thread starter then I think he might be able to wrestle away full ownership of the copyrights in court. If the DP provided the camera equipment but the thread starter paid an additional fee for it then I think the producer might also wrestle away full ownership of the copyrights in court. Of course he would need to provide evidence that he paid additional for the equipment (emails, print ad seeking a DP and own equipment, memo on Pay Pal invoice, etc).

BTW I'm not just talking based on urban myth. I've dealt with lawyers extensively on this very topic regarding more than one case. Google "work made for hire VS independent contractor + copyrights".

 

[Blade_Jones]

Are there any examples/templates of forms that a producer could give to a director of photography to prevent this situation (here in the USA?). I searched but couldn't find one that was meant' for this type of situation.

Have ALL crew sign these, in particular anyone who contributes art to the film (DP, art department people, editor, graphics animation people, sound editor, etc)...

 

[trueindie]

Hey, I didn't have time to go through all the replies you got. But I did like one by Nate North, where he says, tell the guy that you will start a website with this story and detailing how you will employ an SEO expert to do it, so that whenever somebody googles him, they will find this story and he will be essentially unhire-able.

Listen man, I think your position is rough. But you need to take control of things. It's absolute bs for anybody to tell me on set what is and what is NOT my job. I'm the director. What I say goes. If somebody doesn't like it, I don't need them on set.

But now that you're in this mess, you need to take control back. You need to put fear in him by telling him EXACTLY how it is. This is YOUR movie. YOU are the director. He needs to keep his end of the bargain or you are reshooting EVERYTHING.

Now I don't know how much money you spent. But if you can afford to re-shoot everything, do it. Also, make it clear to him that you will spend your last penny publicizing his name and behavior to every grandmother who can use the internet.

If you sound like you NEED him, his type won't help you. There is something fundamentally wrong with this guy. You need to tell him that even if you don't finish the movie, you will publicize his name and behavior. You just keep telling him that, and you better work up a rage.

And I hope you can afford to re-shoot everything. If I were in your position and if I could afford it, I would re-shoot everything. If I couldn't afford it, I might wait until I could to re-shoot it. In the mean time, I'd scare the living hell out of him if he has any hopes for working as a dp in antarctica.

BTW, in Canada, the law is whoever pushes the button, owns the footage, unless a signed release form says otherwise.

Good Luck!! Be strong!!

 

[hunteq]

Take him on a trip to Reno, Nevada on a trip, "For fun." In Nevada it's called open carry. For example, but not limited to a hand-gun, pistol, revolver or machine pistol in an unobstructed hip holster. This means as long as you don't hide it, you can pretty much walk around with a semi-auto or AR and "escort" him on a "desert safari."

Also in Nevada, whoever holds the gun and has more insurance owns whatever. Welcome to the wild west.

 

[CamVader]

Also in Nevada, whoever holds the gun and has more insurance owns whatever. Welcome to the wild west.

You know, hunteq, you bring up an interesting point. Put in the same position, I might be tempted to to make a few calls to people who know people and set up a little "ride in the country" to appeal to that DP on a different level and maybe see the error in his ways.

That's just me, though.

 

[hunteq]

If I was in your position I'd take a walk to the border here in Reno. The La Posada line. The border between city and county. Law is, what the Sheriff say, goes. Also if you're in county, if you're 1500 feet away from an occupied building, you can do whatever you want with guns and/or destructive devices. Also as a new law, deputies aren't sent out anymore except for medical and to investigate the aftermath of things. I guess the tribal police could be a problem but my hip out guns them. One tribal cop for the whole northern region.

 

[Blade_Jones]

BTW, in Canada, the law is whoever pushes the button, owns the footage, unless a signed release form says otherwise.

Holy sh**! That is unfathomable! I just did some reading up on Canadian copyright law....
"....does not contain a "work made for hire" concept that is comparable to that contained in the 1976 Copyright Act of the United States. Thus, while many categories of work created by independent contactors in the United States may qualify as works made for hire, such that the copyright therein is owned by the hiring party, the same does not apply in Canada."
http://www.heenanblaikie.com/fr/publications/item?id=956

I'll bet you've heard some stories about about producers who didn't get releases, essentially getting royally screwed over.

This page provides some insight into UK copyright law. Looks like England might have work for hire laws that favor the producer.... http://www.sutherland.com/files/Pub...f4-4151-b480-251781227c39/WorkforHireLaws.pdf

 

[cameronchapman]

This page provides some insight into UK copyright law. Looks like England might have work for hire laws that favor the producer.... http://www.sutherland.com/files/Pub...f4-4151-b480-251781227c39/WorkforHireLaws.pdf

I was reading over the same thing, but it sounds like if there's no work-for-hire contract with a freelancer, then the copyright remains with the person who shot the footage. Which really sucks.

What about offering him an executive producer or (preferably) associate producer credit? The associate producer credit is the best one, as a lot of the time those are given to people who only have a casual acquaintance with the production and don't carry much weight in many cases. Executive producers are typically the money men, but I'd still rather hand one of these out rather than a straight producer credit.

At this point, you kind of just have to do whatever is necessary to get the rights to use the footage. I know it sucks, but swallow your pride and do what's necessary to get it done. You'll be the one who comes away from this looking like the bigger man and your cast and other crew will be grateful for it. And then, when the film is finished and you've got all the proper paperwork signed, you make the story public, tell everyone who'll listen what this DP did to you, and hopefully he'll never find reputable work again. In fact, you might even be able to get the contract saying that he gets whatever credit throw out, since it was signed under duress (if you wanted to pursue it, though I bet that would be costly).

 

[CHamburger]

Sorry for your bad luck man.

My solution, get your footage back in whatever way that has been expressed. Sign him on as prod.

Then after teh movie has been produced and finalized, go to your local Walmart or generic chain store. By yourself a nice black ski mask. If you have any friends get one for them to. Next, stop at the local hardware store. Now you find a nice length of pipe-doesn't have to be new, in fact, the rustier the scarier, the scarier the better. Take a nice drive to this ignorant, selfish bastatrd's cave. Wait til 230AM on a Monday night-(this is not from personal experience but if I were a burglar this is when Chamburger would strike)-now you can either bust in guns blazing or you can do it real quiet...like the Mafia.

After you BnE in you talk to him about owing money to Uncle Tony. When he pleads with you slap him. After you've roughed him up and you get him to say he doesn't have the money, you can do a couple things but the most obvious: You can break his hand so when he holds a camera again, he'll think twice before he fucks with anyone else, or when he craps his pants like most people cut from a similar cloth do, you can snapshot that for your own perpetual enjoyment-this is what I'd do.

Just remember get in, get out, keep the emotion minimal, and most importantly have fun. Stay no longer than 4-6 minutes depending on teh living situation, no less than 2 minutes-leave too quickly he'll know you;re an amateur lol. Oh yea i've learned through numerous prank calls that if you talk like Christian Bale's Batman no one will ever know who the fuck you are.

 

[brianluce]

If I was in your position I'd take a walk to the border here in Reno. The La Posada line. The border between city and county. Law is, what the Sheriff say, goes. Also if you're in county, if you're 1500 feet away from an occupied building, you can do whatever you want with guns and/or destructive devices. Also as a new law, deputies aren't sent out anymore except for medical and to investigate the aftermath of things. I guess the tribal police could be a problem but my hip out guns them. One tribal cop for the whole northern region.

I can personally vouch for the rugged frontier spirit of Nevada cops. They are some tough hombres. Here's an interview that shows what serious dudes they are. You'd never want to cross one of these guys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0gyNxM0aDk