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client wants Prod. company logo taken out of credits

C

Cameron McKinlay

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Hey everyone,
Just wrapping up the edit on a short film, and the director/ producer has asked me to remove the production company logo at the very end of the film that fades out with the music.
Common practice is for production companies to be one of the first things listed in a film.
Any advice on how to respond?
 
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Is this an ad like situation, or a sponsored independent content situation ? Are they letting you have a text credit but not wanting to see your logo? Do you want to work for them again? Was any of this negotiated at the beginning of the process? I take it the producer is not from the Production company.
 
Credit size and placement are sometimes part of a contract. I know for sure it is with actors: they'll negotiate as part of the deal whether their name appears before the title, whether they get a single card by themselves, what percentage their typeface is compared to everybody else's, and so on. I would bet it might be possible to negotiate that production company logo, for example, if it was made smaller and alongside other similar logos (like those for city & state film commissions, camera rental companies, and so on). I would think a sit-down meeting with some compromise on both sides might yield a positive result. I have worked on films where a production or post company or a vendor had a color logo, and the producer had us make the logo B&W just to make it less distracting; the logo is still there, but just not as visible.

If they flat-out refuse to work something out, then it might be time to call a lawyer, if you're prepared to take it that far.
 
Mark K. said:
If it makes you feel any better, no one watches the credits on short films through to the end anyway...
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It doesn't make him feel any better.

Few watch all the end credits in features as well. It's not a matter of informing viewers and clients, that is what reels, portfolios and imdb are for.
It's a matter of principle and giving credit where credit is due.

There may be exceptions in cases of special purpose projects, such as promos and campaigns or particular presentational styling from film's start to end, but in general, standard end credits include all entities making the film happen. Presented in credits fitting visuals (size, color, order).
 
maybe we dont have all the info, but common practice is to negotiate the placement prior, not add it to the credits on your own.
Did you add your logo without discussion prior?
 
Mark K. said:
If it makes you feel any better, no one watches the credits on short films through to the end anyway...
Click to expand...

if someones interested to findout the prod company they'll check the end credits :)
 
Two things:

1. Did they pay you enough $
2. If your work is good enough anyone who cares will automatically seek you out because you did the work.

Post your trailer cut on Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, vimeo, YouTube.

People will seek your company that way more than a .5s credit.
 
This is an independent artist who hired my company to create his short film. The logo placement was not openly negotiated at the beginning. My fault. He did state I can place it with my name in the scrolling credits but it's just a bit frustrating when I have been working on this project logo.
I understand the point of making the client happy if I want to work for them again. But quite honestly, someone who doesn't respect the amount of work I put in, makes me not want to work for them again.
Appreciate your input Marcus.
 
Thanks for taking the time Marc, I will have a chat with the client as he is not regular in this industry. I will see if we can come to an agreement. I think A lot it comes from I (client) paid for this film, so my name should be the only name they see. Again, my fault for not negotiating the credits. Lesson learned.
 
Cameron McKinlay said:
Thanks for taking the time Marc, I will have a chat with the client as he is not regular in this industry. I will see if we can come to an agreement. I think A lot it comes from I (client) paid for this film, so my name should be the only name they see. Again, my fault for not negotiating the credits. Lesson learned.
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I've worked for several post facilities in LA where we had a contract with our clients that specified they had to give credits to the online editor and the colorist (and hopefully also the assistants) who worked on the show. In many cases, the client elected to just say "Post-Production by Company X" and that's all. In some cases, we'd push back a little bit and politely point out the contract, and the client would sometimes say, "if this is a problem for you, we can always go to another company who doesn't mind their people being uncredited." :ohmy:

So even with a contract, a credit isn't guaranteed. I agree with a short that you need to be credited because it's kind of a calling card for future potential work. Maybe this is just a compromise where they'll agree to give you your logo if it's small and just part of the credit crawl, kind of like the "Kodak / Red / Panavision / Deluxe / Technicolor" logos that appear at the end of major feature films' credit crawls.
 
In all honesty, and you might not want to hear this, but if it's my film, I would be royally pissed if someone insisted on putting their logo on it. If it was contractually agreed upon, that's one thing. For example, if you use a SAG-AFTRA contract, you are supposed to include their logo in the credits. I would be more than happy to properly give credit. If you were an editor, then you deserve an editing credit.

But it sounds like you were subcontracted out to help finish the film. Maybe you did the lion's share of the work. I understand you want your logo at the end, I understand you're mad that you were told to take it off. That's all fair. But it's not your film, and my feeling, if I were the filmmaker, is that if you are going to give me static about this you're totally out of line.

One of the most annoying things about making a film is people who worked on it overstepping what should be clear boundaries.

NOT crediting you, that's one thing. But if I just don't want your logo at the end of my film, that's totally reasonable and is totally my call as the film's maker and owner.

I don't mean to sound like a hardass, and I'm sure you did great work. So are they most likely being stupid pissing you off. But this issue is for them to resolve, IMHO.
 
Marc Wielage said:
I've worked for several post facilities in LA where we had a contract with our clients that specified they had to give credits to the online editor and the colorist (and hopefully also the assistants) who worked on the show. In many cases, the client elected to just say "Post-Production by Company X" and that's all. In some cases, we'd push back a little bit and politely point out the contract, and the client would sometimes say, "if this is a problem for you, we can always go to another company who doesn't mind their people being uncredited." :ohmy:
Click to expand...

Unbelievable!
 
Peter Moretti said:
In all honesty, and you might not want to hear this, but if it's my film, I would be royally pissed if someone insisted on putting their logo on it. If it was contractually agreed upon, that's one thing. For example, if you use a SAG-AFTRA contract, you are supposed to include their logo in the credits. I would be more than happy to properly give credit. If you were an editor, then you deserve an editing credit.

But it sounds like you were subcontracted out to help finish the film. Maybe you did the lion's share of the work. I understand you want your logo at the end, I understand you're mad that you were told to take it off. That's all fair. But it's not your film, and my feeling, if I were the filmmaker, is that if you are going to give me static about this you're totally out of line.

One of the most annoying things about making a film is people who worked on it overstepping what should be clear boundaries.

NOT crediting you, that's one thing. But if I just don't want your logo at the end of my film, that's totally reasonable and is totally my call as the film's maker and owner.

I don't mean to sound like a hardass, and I'm sure you did great work. So are they most likely being stupid pissing you off. But this issue is for them to resolve, IMHO.
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I agree with this.
If he paid you or even if it´s pro bono work, you talk about the film as it belongs to your client then he decided who goes on where and in what order of the end credits and no, you can not demand someone to have your logo on their film no matter how much work you think you pitched in and no matter for how little money. Simply its not your film. So sure you can look at it as he is being an asshole of demanding you to take it off but simply I think that is his right.

I dont know how many times I been siting working months on a feature and then when I sit together with the Producer working on the end credits they simply forgot to put me on it. Usually I say nothing and then they find out and call me about it later, and well what do, feels a bit odd to charge them extra to put my name on the film, remake the dubs and DCP´s etc. But actually I dont care much about it, If we did something astonishing then people will find out no matter what.
 
Björn Benckert said:
I agree with this.
If he paid you or even if it´s pro bono work, you talk about the film as it belongs to your client then he decided who goes on where and in what order of the end credits and no, you can not demand someone to have your logo on their film no matter how much work you think you pitched in and no matter for how little money. Simply its not your film. So sure you can look at it as he is being an asshole of demanding you to take it off but simply I think that is his right.

I dont know how many times I been siting working months on a feature and then when I sit together with the Producer working on the end credits they simply forgot to put me on it. Usually I say nothing and then they find out and call me about it later, and well what do, feels a bit odd to charge them extra to put my name on the film, remake the dubs and DCP´s etc. But actually I dont care much about it, If we did something astonishing then people will find out no matter what.
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No demanding was done. I put it in during a solo edit, he wanted it out. I took it out. No questions asked. I just wanted to see the consensus here.
 
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