I have a childish question…, but I want a serious answer: how I can be happy in heaven if my friend or my family is in hell…
(more…)

What do you do when a client continues asking beyond the signed agreement? He did a recap after our 1st phone conversation that said 3 rounds of notes from the client. He is my client, his client is person B, whose client is company C. I have done 7+ rounds of internal notes/versions for A, have done 2 completed rounds of notes and versions for B, and now company C is asking for further changes (official notes #3), which would be version 4 (The final completed version post 3rd round of notes), but then obviously they would want to look at it and give another round of notes. Everything has been approved (music, story / picture lock, graphics and even color), but now client C (my clients clients client) is having me change the music, which obviously changes the flow, remove images and make changes to lower thirds etc, various logos (bug, intro/outro etc) which were already approved, etc. I did not request any payment up front (which is totally my mistake, I should have known better), the client A has been professional and great up to this point, but they now are trying to get more and more saying, with your background in advertising you know how it is. Its a $750 flat rate worth over $1500+ now, which in the agreement was supposed to be done by 9/20, but to no fault of my own, their clients have taken excess days and have pushed it into my other gigs and now we are in october and I feel like Im being taken advantage of despite their appreciation. Client insists that our first conversation we agreed upon 3 TO FIVE rounds of notes, however in the immediate phone recap email he sent, it does not say that and only says 3 rounds of notes from the client. He is extremely meticulous, so had that been said, he would most definitely have written it into the email agreement! Person A is my client, but even so I have honored person B to be the client. They are breaking their own contract if this does not turn out to be the final edit, and I have yet to get paid. What do you do? I thought everything was great since we had things written down & signed, but now I fear not getting paid unless I submit to unlimited revisions until its done. I think its ridiculous having to please 2 generations of clients past my own client, once the first 2 tiers have already approved. Tomorrow they are coming to my home studio for the 3rd in person edit session (I have blocked off a half day/4 hrs), that clearly proves and shows that there have been over 3+ official versions & edit sessions. I sent an email asking for them to confirm and to please bring the check, but that is the first and only email I have not gotten a response from (they have been prompt for all other emails). The main problem in addition to me worrying about unlimited revisions before getting paid, is now that their lack of scheduling and managing of client expectations is now spilling into my current gigs, which I am on an extremely tight deadline for.
(more…)

Hope this question is okay for this forum. I have some questions on doing my taxes and am having trouble finding the answer so I thought Id try here. I have had many expenses in the past year related to filmmaking/editing work: for instance plane tickets to SF and NY for film work, educational products like seminars and equipment purchases HOWEVER as of this moment I actually havent made any $$ on any of these gigs (my expenses were usually mostly paid). I have contracts on several films signed where I earn % of profits (eventually) and deal memos regarding % of box office I get for organizing/scheduling film tours (however the actual touring doesnt start for another month so I havent actually received any $$ yet). I do have one small check from a film shoot in Sri Lanka I did but thats it. I am wondering how/if I can declare said expenses on my taxes for this past year. In other words, if my main focus has been on editing/filmmaking (30-40 hours a week) and Ive had expenses out of pocket I paid BUT I was still working my day job (only 10-15 hours a week though) for 9 out of the 12 months last year what exactly is the deal? I am confident it was my transition year and that 2015 will DEFINITELY see income generated in filmmaking but in the meantime Id like to get any tax returns possible on what I spent last year on film/editing work. What kind of paperwork do I need to show to prove this? Are deal memos/contracts enough? What about the reciepts for things like flights/equipment- what form do I need to produce these in ect? Does still having my day job last year screw me (even though it was minimal time?) Anyone have any recommendations as to where to get my taxes done in my field? I am in NYC/LA. Does anyone do turbotax? H&RBlock? Or do you go to specialized tax guys for artists? I am completely lost but hoping I can declare and properly get some money back from 2014. Any help would be greatly appreciated…
(more…)

Canon XF Utility Question! I am about to cut a 5 camera show with c300s all around. They are shooting 1080i Last time I did this (same show) they shot 1080P 29.97 (which network complained about having to convert!) Anyway I last time to avoid the multie-file-stitch weirdness with LONG takes I used Canon XF Utility MERGE. Which worked great. But I have NOT used merge with interlaced footage. Im doing my homework today on making sure upper/lower field dominance is correct (I havent touched interlaced since I was 16 lol) I assume that the XF utility can merge these long takes and NOT mess up the field order, but if someone could confirm this is true that would be great. Also does anyone know if theres a good way to TEST if field dominance is set up correctly? thanks!
(more…)

Question: Best DCP exporter for 4K flat & scope? Long story somewhat short, I started on Avid and migrated it to Pr after uprez to see if it was possible (what a headache, but yes, doable incase anyone wants to know)… Ive read questionable stuff on Wraptor but it seems to be dated (2014/5). Is renting a month of Wraptor pro worth it, or does anyone have any better solutions that are as simple?
(more…)

I have a question regarding when you started out in editing. What did you charge and how did you come to that number. Did you charge daily, weekly or hourly and why? I’m just trying to figure out what I should charge. Don’t want to charge too much or too little. Thanks everyone!
(more…)

Maybe its a dumb question… but can I export a 1920×1080 project to 2K ? Do I need to emigrate to MC 8.3, right?
(more…)

Quick Premiere question. I have footage that is mp4 that was shot free run time of day. I imported into premiere and every clip says source timecode starts at 00:00:00. Checked metadata settings in bin but I dont see any choices that show me the actual timecode. Advice?
(more…)

Quick Premiere question. I have footage that is mp4 that was shot free run time of day. I imported into premiere and every clip says source timecode starts at 00:00:00. Checked metadata settings in bin but I dont see any choices that show me the actual timecode. Advice?
(more…)

Leapfrogging off a question from another thread: What transferable skills does an editor have that would translate well to professions other than editing?
(more…)