Addressing Late Payments

One element of concern I have been hearing from both crew and vendors is about recent productions who have been less than “prompt” in paying their bills on time (if at all). When I say crew and vendors it can be a bit blurry where that line is. As the crew in New Zealand mostly all operate as contractors, we are all vendors in a sense but in a pure sense “vendors” are classified as those renting gear, providing services, and selling expendables to production
as well as providing labour. This can be the company providing the timber to construction, the portable toilet supplier through to a camera operator/ 1st AC who is also providing some specific camera gear in addition to their technical skills.

Working for delinquent production companies who “stiff” the crew and vendors used to be a lot more common back when I started a few decades ago, and has become much less common in recent years, but this just means it comes as more of a surprise to those affected by it. Most often when a production is running too close to the wire financially and are struggling to meet their short- term financial commitments, they will borrow in the short term to meet the weekly payroll only and put all the non-payroll expense on the back burner. The theory for this is that vendors and suppliers have skin in the game and will tolerate a greater level of tardiness on payment than the crew and workers. Generally, if the payroll is not met the production will very quickly grind to a halt as people refuse to show up to work and provide their labour when faced with lack of payment.

I recall a number of years ago on the “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” sequel shot in Auckland when the infamous Harvey Weinstein had not sorted out his funding properly before starting shooting in NZ and the production borrowed hundreds of thousands from BNZ to meet their weekly payroll commitments while at the same time owing hundreds of thousands to the vendors and suppliers for up to three months such as the caterers, the timber suppliers and equipment rental companies. It’s easier for unscrupulous production companies to use the crew, vendors, and suppliers as interest free short- term banks or bridging finance than paying for it legitimately.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is you need to be very careful about who you work for and any if you do business with people who have a track record for poor behaviour and lack of integrity it's likely you will experience the same behaviour when they deal with you. Some deal with these situations by demanding cash up front, others just take the chance and others still refuse to work for certain people/organisations.

Whatever happens the Guild is here to provide advice and help to its members, we have a lawyer on retainer, we have members with long memories and years of experience who can mentor and offer advice. We can even approach a production and try to reach out on your behalf. What we can’t do is force “bad actors” to make good in a situation when they refuse to act with integrity. My best advice is to only do business with people you can trust.