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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Gig Cancellation Rate

T

Thomas Sidney McCallum

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What do you guys do if a client bails on a big shoot? Do you let them off the hook if its a 72 hour notice? Or keep things smooth and call it no sweat and move on....
 
language and etiquette is everything. If people use the word "booked" I start turing down jobs. If they cancel after that they can expect to pay in full. Thats why the industry standard is "Hold" until you are "booked" -- there is a "1st hold" (the person who called first), "2nd Hold" etc. If I am on hold and I get a call for another job I call the first people and say I got a call for another job and that usually forces a decisoin on their part. if it doesnt then the ball is back in my court to make a decision on what job i want. If i choose the 2nd job i always reccomend a replacement (if they permit) that will do as good of a job as I would. These are the rules of engagement in NYC. It works.
 
72 hours out means you're probably already out a lot of cash for stages, rentals etc. Plus it's way too short to rebook a job. Charge at least for expenses and if you happen to book another gig. They get off easy. As Jack said, Booked is Booked.
 
its your choice if you dont have an agent, this is where an agent really matters so you arent the bad guy. if its just you dealing with the situation you have to get a read on your clients, will they be so mad that they will never hire you again? if so, and you havent turned down any work, then just let it go and nicely let them know you are doing them a favor. there's been a few times that i really did loose work and charged the production company, only to never be called again. then there are the clients that have been hiring me for 15 years and have a couple of cancellations a year and pay us like it aint no thing...
good luck!
 
Be up front about it. If you don't have a cancellation policy, that's on you. It's not uncommon to ask for a small (25%) non-refundable deposit on your gear up front and/or have a 100% kill fee if the client bails within 24 hours, but you have to make your terms clear and get them to sign off on them in advance.
 
No different than any other event booking and cancellation. If I have to book locations, talent, rental equipment, etc... that costs me money and I'll usually lose my deposit on those items. So that transfers to the client. It's all included in our contract in black and white print. Try canceling a wedding or a cruise or even hotel reservations, you don't get off without incurring some charge. If your client doesn't understand this, they're being unreasonable.

Having an agent doesn't change this in the clients' eyes. It just means you have someone else, hopefully with more experience, to act on your behalf as an intermediate in these situations. As with most any other type of reservations, I almost always have a booking deposit and depending on the terms of the job, a portion, or even all of that deposit, is non-refundable. Doesn't make you a bad guy. It's just the way things are.
 
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