Deferred Payments In Micro-Budget Films
March 24, 2007 by clive
One way in which penniless filmmakers have turned micro-budgets into workable budgets, is by offering deferments.
A deferment is when you agree to pay the cast member or crew member the scale fee for the work they do on the film, as and when it goes into profit.
On paper this seems to solve a lot of production problems. Firstly, both you and the talent feel like they’re not working for free and the whole thing feels more professional.
Secondly, by taking the contract, the crew member or cast member becomes contractually bound to the project, exactly the same way they would on a waged project. You and they have agreed a fee for their labour; they are “under contract’ to complete the work as agreed.
And finally, when the distributors ask your for the budget on the production, instead of saying $1000, by adding in your deferments, you can legitimately say “Hey, it came out at just over $700,000.”
It sounds like a win, win, win situation.
The only problem is this…
EVERYONE ONE IN THE INDUSTRY KNOWS DEFERMENT MEANS:
YOU WILL NEVER, NEVER, EVER GET PAID!!!
So, at their core everyone knows deferments are a lie — and the truth is, even when everyone knows they are a lie and chose to go along with the lie, at some point down the road they’re going to forget they knew it was a lie and just call you, the producer, a liar.
Not only that, they’ll have a piece of paper which proves that you’re a liar.
On the $1000 movie there won’t be any deferments. Simply because I’d rather ask people to work for free, on the understanding that I’ll move heaven and hell to turn out a film they’ll be proud to have worked on, and on the understanding that if the film ever does make any money we’ll throw the best party we can with the cash that we make. Whether that’s a week long yacht party at Cannes (because the money really came in) or bag of chips and a can of lager all round, if the whole thing bombs.
In an industry full of BS merchants who promise big and deliver small, I’ve found it’s always better to do it the other way round.
In this game it always pays for your mouth to be smaller than your wallet. (Which means at the moment I have the smallest mouth of any producer in the world).
But, unlike sex, in the world of $1000 film making it REALLY isn’t about how big it is, it IS about what you do with it.
Yes, when I first started looking for cast and crew for my indie TV pilot I was thinking about using a deferment contract. Then one of the actresses I was auditioning said flat out that she would work for free but if I started talking about deferments then she would just walk away. I guess a lot of people had been burned in the Vancouver, BC area as well.
The UBCP has a standard contract for no budget shoots that means I’ll owe the covered actors 10% starting with dollar one… but that isn’t likely to happen any time soon. A presentation pilot that doesn’t get picked up by anyone doesn’t have much of a resale value.
Knowing this going it, the food budget ended up being the single biggest expense and I once I had a rough cut, I rented out a theatre to let them and their families watch the show on the big screen. I’m also keeping a list of everyone who helped on on my all volunteer shoot and if it ever comes into my power, I owe each of them at least one paying job.
Great points Clive. Instead of concentrating on potential money, spend your time harvesting REAL passion!
Also, it gets rid of nasty paperwork, negotiations, contracts and lawyers!
And it is ALL about the CAST PARTY!