Terms of Service
Time Off the Clock
If production lasts more than 1 day, the minimum break between wrap and following day’s call time shall be 11 hours (Time Off the Clock). Reductions below 11 hours shall be charged at OT per every TOC hour incurred.
Pre-production time shall be charged by the hour as per the hourly rate.
Late Night Supplements (after midnight):
Between midnight and 3AM there is an additional attendance supplement of £25 per hour or part thereof.
After 3AM there is an additional attendance supplement of £75 per hour or part thereof.
Prep and Wrap Policy (Film and Commercial Only)
Prep and wrap is the working time scheduled at the beginning and the end of the shooting day. So if a 10hr standard working day is scheduled, then prep is scheduled before the shooting starts and wrap is scheduled for after the cameras stop rolling. The work done during this time is included in the daily rate. Overtime does not kick-in until after prep and wrap periods listed below.
Director of Photography
Prep (0 mins):
Wrap (0 mins):
Not Included: Any shooting time, pre-lighting, recces, production meetings, pre-call.
Camera Operator
Prep (0 mins):
Wrap (0 mins):
Not Included: Any shooting time, recces, production meetings, pre-call, extended de-rig.
Steadicam Operator
Prep (30 mins): Prepare own equipment
Wrap (30 mins): Wrap own equipment
Not included: Any shooting time, pre-call, recces, production meetings, extended de-rig
Insurance
I have £5 million public liability cover and £100,000 professional indemnity. Policy documents can be provided on request. My policies do cover me to procure and hire equipment but it would be preferential if any hire is taken out under the production’s budget and insurance.
Pencilling Dates
Days pencilled on a job can be done well in advance of the shoot dates with cost estimates provided, but the job must be confirmed at least 1 week before the shoot date. I reserve the right to accept other projects if you do not confirm your project within this timeframe.
Cancellation
Shoot Days: If the agreed shoot days are cancelled, fees shall be determined as follows. All 7 days of the week count for notice of cancellation. For calculating notice of cancellation given, the day on which notice is given is included but the shoot day is not. With shoots of 1-3 days, the fee applies to the whole engagement. With 4+ day shoots, each day is a separate engagement and the fee is calculated for each.
Percentage of anticipated rates charged as cancellation fee:
5+ days of notice = 0% 4-3 days of notice = 50% 2-1 days of notice = 100%
Pre-production: If shoot days are cancelled after a recce day has commenced, 100% of anticipated Pre-Production rates shall be charged.
Expenses
Expenses incurred during the period of my employment (including travelling to and from work) will be passed on to the client, these include but are not limited to taxis, transfers, flight tickets, subsistence, parking, road tolls, congestions charges, central London charges, ULEZ charges (applicable 24 hours a day/7 days a week) and fuel (charged at £0.50 per mile). Where there are high expenses incurred on a job these may be billed separately after the job and are required to be paid immediately.
Equipment Hire
As per BECTU terms and conditions “equipment hire fees must, at least, reflect the cost of ownership, maintenance, transport and depreciation of equipment, and should be agreed separately from hourly rates”. My shooting kit packages start from £150 depending on what’s required. I can offer a wide range of kit packages and quote upon request, but where only general kit guidance has been given I will choose a package that I feel best suits the brief and charge accordingly. Alternatively, you can build your own kit package, but this must be agreed in advance by me. Kit hire rates are per day.
Travel Days
Typically travel days are required where the job is more than a 2.5 hour drive from my home, 150 miles from my home, or an early start or late finish is needed. Usually, a travel day will be required for the day before, and the day after the job, with 2 nights’ accommodation provided – though this will depend on a number of factors (please ask before booking if in any doubt about whether a job will require travel days, and ensure these are booked in with me to avoid potential clashes with other bookings). Travel Days are charged at £225 per day (based on up to 8 hours total travel time). Where longer travel days are required additional charges will apply, please ask for details.
On travel days when I am making my own travel arrangements, I am free to travel at whatever time best suits me, and I am not precluded from taking other work on travel days. The purpose of the travel day before a job is only to ensure I am in the place where I need to be the night before the job begins. Should you require me to be somewhere at a certain time (for example for a meeting or recce etc) then this will be considered a working day. Where travel days require flights/trains to be booked for me, these bookings should be made in consultation with me so I can travel at a reasonable time. Where flights/trains for travel days are booked unreasonably early (requiring me to be at the airport/station before 6AM) or late (arriving at the final destination after 11PM) this will be charged at double the usual travel day rate. NB – Please remember flights require travellers to be at the airport 2 hours prior to flight time, so for example, a 6AM flight would require travellers to be at the airport for 4PM, and as this would consequently be charged at double the travel day rate.
Idle Days
Should the job be on location and require staying away from home, any days when I am not required to work will be classed as ‘idle’ days and charged at £250 per day (this is my special rate since BECTU advises rest days should be charged at the full 9-hour rate). NOTE – an ‘idle’ day is not a work day – should any recces/prep/pre-light/strike/meetings etc be scheduled then this will be classed as a work day.
Sound
I am a Director of Photography – I can handle basic audio recording (where it is a maximum of two subjects and two feeds into the camera) but for anything more involved than this you should source a separate sound recordist/boom operator as appropriate. I have a number of sound recordists that I can recommend.
Payment
Unless clearly stated in contractual terms, invoices are to be paid by default within 30 days from submission of the invoice. Payment outside this period will incur late payment fees as per HMRC’s ‘The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998’ at the rate of 8%pa plus BoE base rate, and collection compensation under section 5A. Compensation fee = £40 up to £999, £70 from £1000 to £9,999.99 & Late Payment fee = 12% of invoice total per late day.
Rushes Transfer
I offer to copy the rushes personally, back them up on my system (see below) but should you wish to copy the rushes yourself on set or have a third party do so on set then this is at your own risk and I take no responsibility for missing/corrupted files. Media cards may not be taken away as they will be required for other jobs.
Footage Archive
All footage captured during a shoot will be kept on secure encrypted hard drives for one month from the shoot date unless otherwise directed. Any requested archive beyond this time will incur a charge of £20 for up to one year, with each additional year costing an additional charge of £25.