VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Dave Elvin · Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 15 Location: Seattle

Pretend you're in a medium-large market and you have a good relationship with the studio manager of one of the big post houses in town. He calls you directly for a spot, the producer likes your demo, so you move forward and do the gig. At the end, it's billing time; no agent was involved, it's non-union, and as a matter of course the invoice has the percentage for the agent's fee. It's the studio manager who go you the gig, and you have no agreement with your agent(/manager/whatever) to pay them for every job you get.

It seems right, since he basically got the job for you, to forward that percentage to the studio manager. But...how?

Ever encountered this?

Zenga Zenga,
D.
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Whit · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:35 pm Post subject:

Who are you billing? The post house or the producer?

Deirdre · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:36 pm Post subject:

The studio got paid by the client for the work they did, so you really don't "owe" anyone anything.

You might want to send a thank-you note or cookies, but paying him a cut of the money his company paid you for doing work there is a bit like a Klein's bottle of Finance.

Or a kick-back. Don't do it.
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Whit · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:44 pm Post subject:

Yes, what DB says, and I was going to say that if you're billing the studio, it's likely they already added something to the talent portion of their client's bill for casting and handling talent payment in addition to your rate.

Dave Elvin · Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 15 Location: Seattle

Cookies it is. Thanks all.
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Zak Miller · Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:17 am Post subject:

My thought is that since the studio did not have to pay the 10 or 20% agent casting fee, the studio has already made that money by contacting you directly. You owe them nothing except to be a pro in the booth, good session conduct, and a heart felt thank you.

Trust me, the studio manager just made his/her boss happy by getting the talent that the client needed with out the added expense of a middle person. Keep them on your end of the year list and note this session in some way (or the sessions following for that matter.) and your thanks for coming directly to you for the work.

Hope they keep coming back man!

todd ellis · Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:34 am Post subject:

what everybody else said.

http://www.harryanddavid.com
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Bruce · Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:37 pm Post subject:

todd ellis · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 6:39 am Post subject:

bruce - i had no idea!!! they are my "go to" for client gifts.

i will order pears immediately and encourage everyone else to do the same.
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jsgilbert · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 11:41 am Post subject:

I'm a big proponent of getting that 10 or 20% to your agent(s), no matter what. Resecting the partnership and that there is agreat deal your agent does for you that you may not be aware of will go a long way. If you have been doing this and not getting the "love" you think you should from your agent, then it's time for a sit down.

As for referrals, etc. I've been directly responsible for getting tons of people work and in many of those cases, there was nmo personal gain for me, but perhaps even a bit of a risk, as in "what if the actor doesn't do a stellar job?"

I can count on my fingers the number of ties I've gotten any real type of thank you beyond the obligatory e-mail. And I hate to say this, but everyone likes to be acknowledhged in some small way.

One local actress sent me a handwritten thank you, along with some inexpensive toy store "chatchkes", explaining why she chose to send them to me. I still remember this 3 years later and refer her with pleasure. She always sends some sort of little thank you, even just fro being referred. The fact that she is a very good actress helps.

There are quite a few actors I won't refer or audition. In particular, I spent hours trying to get an actor work last year, which he would never have had a chance at and I was solely responsible for him getting a gid that paid between $3,000 and $4,000 and was a considerably above average rate for the type of work. I wasn't getting a commission or booking fee or anything.

I would say that a nice Harry and David's basket would have gone a long way towards my going out on a limb for him again. I got a little e-mail.

Now, when I'm producing somethng, that might be a different story, although my actors should know that I never mark them up. With rates often teetering on barely acceptable, I sometimes direct money from production to give the actors a little extra. Not only that, but I occasionally lose out when I pay a talent and the client fails to pay me.

Maybe I'm a horses ass, but hell yeah, some sort of anything would be nice.

And every year I spend several thousand dollars sending gift baskets out, although last year I switched to the Costco gift baskets from Harry and Davids. They are actually done by Costco partners and are a much better value than Harry and David's. My friends and clients actually expressed that they preferred them. This may be becuase you can send out approximately 60% more product for the same price as Harry and David's.

I contact my clients with job leads, information about their clients I think may be important, industry news and in other ways try to show my appreciation and desire to be looked at as a "partner". Currently I have 9 relatively high end imprinted items I hand out as thank you's, etc.

This past year I paid to have some work entered in awards competitons for my clients, when I found out their companies wouldn't pay for it.

I will also be hosting a Spring Bar B Q get together when the weather gets nicer and will invite those who have helped me in my career and personally.

And even then, I wish I could do more.
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jsgilbert · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 11:50 am Post subject:

Here's a pic of one of my imprinted items I hand out.

It's a corkscrew/ knife

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Monk · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 1:51 pm Post subject:

I don't do the cookies, I do however send along a thank you mug and offer to buy the first round at the local tavern.

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Deirdre · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:40 pm Post subject:

JS always has the best "stuff", and that pic of Monk is adorable!
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Dave Elvin · Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 15 Location: Seattle

Thanks, JS. Inspiring.
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Jan Anderson · Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:45 pm Post subject:

What a great discussion! Thanks for all the great ideas, everybody!! Laugh