Firing the director

H

helidrvr

Ok,

So how common is it to fire your director mid production? Again its a low/no budget film. Hes constantly showing up late, sometimes by hours. He never reads the script, just kinda glances at it and sometimes makes it something completely different. I understand creative freedom of the director bus he completely misses key pieces of the script or in changes he makes one scene completely conflict with another because he hasnt read the script. Was supposed to be editing between shooting days to shorten the post schedule but did nothing but piece together some cool shots to show his friends that had nothing viable for the movie.

Again low or no budget but if hes constantly risking the entire project by making our other actors and people who have donated stuff want to walk away from it altogether.

Producer on a no budget feature is a rough hat to wear!
 
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The first day he showed up late or unprepared he would have gotten a very serious talking to. The second day he would have been fired. I also would have a clause in the contract that if he doesn't complete principal he gets no pay, so I wouldn't pay him one dime for the days he was there either.
 
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Producer on a no budget feature is a rough hat to wear!
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Indeed! Just curious, but what keeps you from directing the feature yourself? If you are noticing things in the script that the director is missing, it is obvious you have vision for the story.

You also show a great deal of passion when pointing out the mishaps of the director you have. Low and no budget features are always difficult to do, and the sad reality is that you about have to do the production yourself.

I live about an hour North of you and would be glad to help revive your project if I have the time. I've produced, directed, and edited two of my own feature films paying "out of pocket" from my meager collections of low-income construction work. Your situation is understandable when others don't share your passion.
 
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ZO we are almost done with it. Its about 95% complete. It was more of a question to see if we did something crazy or stupid or out of the normal.

Our fired director is causing some local bad press for us. Our whole movie was produced locally so a lot of people are giving us some harsh words for cutting the guy. I haven't gotten to actually speak to them yet, ive just gotten it third party. Its probably just how hes making himself sound innocent, I just didn't know if firing was out of the norm since im a newbie.
 
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Oh and Mr Gonzo, of course I put him on a contract both limiting his pay and his ability to dispute credits given to him. Of course he wants credit as the director even though he only directed a portion of the film. He does music videos and they are great, jumpy wild camera all over the place style. He refuses to use a tripod so a ton ofvthe footage from the camera he was shooting on is worthless.

Anyway, just curious if director could or should b fired.
 
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GuerrillaAngel said:
Finish your film and don't look back. Take the high road with your local community. There's a big world out there, it will all blow over unless you keep feeding that fire.
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Yep. I don't think one person can ruin your reputation with the local community, especially since that person was fired, and so most people will just think that he/she is bitter and therefor will take everything they hear from them with a grain of salt. Be as diplomatic as you can; don't say anything mean about them, and if anyone asks what happened, just vaguely explain that it wasn't a right fit but you wish the best for them, or some other nicety. The local goodwill you get should be a reflection of your own behavior. :)
 
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I hadnt really told anyone. Was just gonna let it roll off like it got completed by him.

Really was a question if it was ok to fire and replace him or if i needed to go ask him back.

And how about credits? He directed about half very poorly.
 
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