So this filmmaker friend of mine wrote this piece about dreams that I thought was nice.
He said to me "I'd like you to direct it."
I said, "Okay, but I'll change some aspects of the story. I'll take out all the parts about 'hope' and make it about the death of dreams."
After some thought, after I explained it, he said "Fine."
Then I said, "I'd also like you to have a budget. At least for feeding people and for the props if you want to do it properly."
"How about $1,000?" he asked.
"Fine," I said.
He has already spent some money on props, and he will have enough for food and is doing a lot of legwork getting extras.
Now as we get nearer to the shoot, I thought it would be nice to have a crane as we discussed such shots and a dolley, since I like moving shots so much. So I just spent $1,000 including shipping and handling and import duties on these two items, of my own money.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110887004956&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:1123
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300706144789&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:1123
Now, we talk every other day about the upcoming shoot and actors and such. But we never mention the amount I just spent. He made one mention of how I will be able to continue to use my toys that I bought, but how the amount he is spending on props and food will be totally wasted. Also, this is his movie. He owns complete rights.
Here are the thoughts in my head.
1. I'm completely okay with him having all the rights. In fact I don't care about the rights, nor do I want any.
2. He mentioned wanting credit as a co-director. I didn't say anything to him, but upon some reflection I realized I didn't really care about the credits. I just wanted to be busy planning something. I still don't care about it and he can have co-director credit if he likes.
3. He also wants me to edit the thing.
4. I'm not being paid anything. He is a friend of mine, and I didn't ask him for anything.
The only thing that started bugging me in the last two days is that this is completely somebody else's project, and I just spent a thousand bucks on equipment. Granted, the reason I bought it right now, was because I wanted to use this equipment anyway. I'd rather learn to use it on someone else's project than on mine (I'm just being frank here). So in reality it's kind of a win / win for me if I'm really going to be honest about it to myself. However, I was just wondering... juuuuust wondering. If I wanted him to pay something for using my equipment and two more weeks of my time and god knows how many more hours of post, maybe I want him to chip in something monetarily for my contribution. He seems to be happily going about his business but I was thinking of bringing up some 'fees.' I kind of think it's only fair. But he might just become sad if I asked him.
He's a good guy. Generally very helpful. And I'll need him to help me out in the future with scouting for locations and such. He has a weird sort of facility about these things that I lack. He has helped me in the past also. And I've never paid him anything.
So.... should I bring up payment of any monies to me? Or should I just not bother? And if the right answer is that I should bring it up, then what is an ideal way to do so. He can definitely afford it. Unlike most filmmakers I know, he has a well paying job.
thanks
ps. apologies for the long post.
He said to me "I'd like you to direct it."
I said, "Okay, but I'll change some aspects of the story. I'll take out all the parts about 'hope' and make it about the death of dreams."
After some thought, after I explained it, he said "Fine."
Then I said, "I'd also like you to have a budget. At least for feeding people and for the props if you want to do it properly."
"How about $1,000?" he asked.
"Fine," I said.
He has already spent some money on props, and he will have enough for food and is doing a lot of legwork getting extras.
Now as we get nearer to the shoot, I thought it would be nice to have a crane as we discussed such shots and a dolley, since I like moving shots so much. So I just spent $1,000 including shipping and handling and import duties on these two items, of my own money.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110887004956&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:1123
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300706144789&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:1123
Now, we talk every other day about the upcoming shoot and actors and such. But we never mention the amount I just spent. He made one mention of how I will be able to continue to use my toys that I bought, but how the amount he is spending on props and food will be totally wasted. Also, this is his movie. He owns complete rights.
Here are the thoughts in my head.
1. I'm completely okay with him having all the rights. In fact I don't care about the rights, nor do I want any.
2. He mentioned wanting credit as a co-director. I didn't say anything to him, but upon some reflection I realized I didn't really care about the credits. I just wanted to be busy planning something. I still don't care about it and he can have co-director credit if he likes.
3. He also wants me to edit the thing.
4. I'm not being paid anything. He is a friend of mine, and I didn't ask him for anything.
The only thing that started bugging me in the last two days is that this is completely somebody else's project, and I just spent a thousand bucks on equipment. Granted, the reason I bought it right now, was because I wanted to use this equipment anyway. I'd rather learn to use it on someone else's project than on mine (I'm just being frank here). So in reality it's kind of a win / win for me if I'm really going to be honest about it to myself. However, I was just wondering... juuuuust wondering. If I wanted him to pay something for using my equipment and two more weeks of my time and god knows how many more hours of post, maybe I want him to chip in something monetarily for my contribution. He seems to be happily going about his business but I was thinking of bringing up some 'fees.' I kind of think it's only fair. But he might just become sad if I asked him.
He's a good guy. Generally very helpful. And I'll need him to help me out in the future with scouting for locations and such. He has a weird sort of facility about these things that I lack. He has helped me in the past also. And I've never paid him anything.
So.... should I bring up payment of any monies to me? Or should I just not bother? And if the right answer is that I should bring it up, then what is an ideal way to do so. He can definitely afford it. Unlike most filmmakers I know, he has a well paying job.
thanks
ps. apologies for the long post.
