Giving actors footage from shoot for their use

[trulyd123]

Hey, Everyone:

I've learned so much from this forum and again am turning to you all for help.

I've been approached by a number of actors in my feature film for a snippet of their scenes to be used in their resume reels. Compensation was originally listed as credit and meals but I'd like to accomodate them if possible.

Any thoughts for or against giving them access to this? My ultimate goal, like everyone else, is film festivals and distribution.

Do you think giving them a few of their scenes may be problematic?

Thanks in advance!!

Tru

 

[directorik]

Allowing actors who worked for you for free to have a scenes or two for
their reels isn't problematic - it's essential. If an actor knows they cannot
use any of their work with you on their reels there is really no reason for
them to work for free. Credit and meals are nice. But being able to show
others they can act is necessary for their career.

Cut together one or two nice scenes that really showcase their talent and
give it to them.

 

[trulyd123]

Sounds good and thanks for the input!

Tru

 

[indietalk]

Personally I'd give them the film on DVD. This won't hurt festivals or distribution, and I'm sure they'd like to have the whole thing.

 

[Clive in Cannes]

I'd do both... a DVD of the film (but with a time code stripe across it to prevent illegal copying and distribution) and then provide them with a "show reel" clip, which I normally provide as a variety of QT files.... encoded at full SD and also a H264 version for them to use online (It makes sense to do this yourself, partly because it's a good gesture, but also to quality control any web encoding). In the past I've also provided actors with advice on web hosting for video... discouraging them from using Youtube in favor of higher resolution providers... and where they have to use Youtube I've offered to encode and upload for them.

It helps me to remember that my cast and crew are the real investors in my project. When I sit down and calculate how much I should have paid them as professionals, I realise how much I owe them. Then a little extra work and a few blank DVD's seems like a small cost.

Once you've secured distribution, you can then follow up with a second "clean" DVD copy.

 

[trulyd123]

Wow, you guys are awesome! My cast have certainly worked their butts off the past 4 weeks (sometimes 12-15 hour days) and I'd like to do as much as I can. Thanks, again, for the feedback!

Tru