Contracts, Insurance... You Thought It Was About Being Fair?

Being a senior technician apparently puts you into that sagely-wise bracket and for this reason sometimes other technicians phone for advice. Perhaps this is because some of us have lived through the ‘sign it or fuck off era’ and the ‘race to the bottom’ disorder that some will try and convince you is perfectly sound way to conduct a production when you find yourself agreeing to a rate that is on par with your rate 20 years ago.

Sometimes I get asked if I think the guild could help, and then you usually find yourself explaining why the guild can’t actually be a union.

….guys, guys, what, really?

It’s that go fast-go-silly time of day and the producers have just reiterated ‘no overtime’, the safety guy looks at the set up and has said ‘not on his watch’ and ‘not in those waders in that surf’ and so the sensible ones on the crew put on their wetsuits. Plastic around the camera as a splash-proof housing and a running sea not actually that suitable for the desired shot… but, a shoot is a shoot, and in the realm of just reluctantly following orders a wave catches the whole she-bang and the focus-puller’s monitor takes an unprotected swim. Bugger.

A $2.5K insurance claim to end the day – should be simple – I wonder when they can get a replacement? That’ll be a wrap, see you tomorrow bright and early.

As it transpired the damaged monitor was personal kit and didn’t figure (apparently) in the rental insurance or the general insurance or the ‘is this fair’ category or we’ll-see-the-guy-right and pay up department.

A low-budget shoot is just that. Fiscally challenged, as in, the money is short and we are expected to head into these situations with hope and a love for making great stuff (did I mention the race to the bottom?).

But an assumption just because it’s a low budget doesn’t assume that they are fair players and the word comes back from the production office is you should’ve insured it yourself… we are not paying even the excess. Really?

You know technically they are correct and possibly the technician should’ve had adequate insurance and well… with all that in consideration what might be fair? I don’t know. But insurance is a much more expensive outlay these days.

Possibly what is fair is a subjective notion that has something to do with is the producer a fair dealer or someone that just does things by the book?

$2.5K is a fair whack of the entire fee to do the picture and you can now see how this dilemma has arrived in the inbox of a few senior technicians with a WTF in the subject line.

Well perhaps the answer comes in two parts. The first part is the guild is not a union with the workers arguing from the shop floor (though we do have an elected crew representative), and secondly how does, ‘is it fair?’ rate in the dying throes of the free market capitalism world of film producing.

So let’s ‘unpack’ what is fair and what is not?

Now that’s a hard one to debate.

We sit around café’s and bars not so much talking about focal depth or third act structure, but, mostly we discuss who’s a good production company, which actually means who’s a good producer, the conversation will always skew towards the neoliberal discussion (for old time sake) and capitalism (to appear worldly and business-like) - attitude and fairness are always top of the list when discussing gigs and it doesn’t take much for an incident of perceived ‘unfairness’ to get about the hood.

There would appear to be two different versions of fair? What could’ve happened and what should’ve happened and what should the technician have done to protect themselves?

But being a freelance technician also includes that added hazard (you know that unsaid thing?) of ‘don’t be awkward’ and don’t create a fuss… sign the contract and wear the bits you don’t agree with? Seeming to be difficult is a hard reputation to live down when your existence depends on being employed by being compliant with the wants and needs of the employer.