An Important Message

Despite the fact that I work for an advertising agency (and formerly, one of the Omnicom agencies in question), I have spent far more years working on the supplier side of the business as a producer, writer and director. With that in mind, I found the recent news pasted below quite disturbing. This excerpt is taken from Rob Haggart's excellent blog called A PHOTO EDITOR.

So, it appears that Omnicom Group doesn’t want to be responsible for paying vendors if the client hasn’t paid them. It certainly seems to be the trend these days where citizens are held responsible for corporations that can’t pay their bills but an advertising agency eliminating their traditional role as financier for advertising campaigns maybe signals an impending overhaul of the way business is conducted. It seems like some kind of insurance may be required to pull off a big budget shoot in the future.

Here’s the media alert ASMP sent out:

Omnicom Passes the Buck

It has been brought to the attention of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) that the Omnicom Group, the world’s largest advertising agency holding company, has changed its terms and conditions in an effort to limit their agency liability and in so doing transfer that liability to independent photographers and producers. Basically, by disclosing their agency status and for whom they are acting, the advertising agency is only liable to the extent that their client has specifically paid them for any amounts payable to you. Additionally, ASMP has been informed that reps are being told that there will no longer be any advances on assignments.

These new policies are most probably the result of the market and governmental pressures experienced by major corporate clients such as GM who in their effort to avoid bankruptcy are now prioritizing their financial obligations and will make payment according to those priorities. In other words, some suppliers will be waiting significantly longer to be paid depending upon the client’s priorities. That being the case, agencies do not want to be left on the hook for reimbursement of monies expended on behalf of their clients, especially where the fear of bankruptcy exists.

These terms and conditions are simply not in the best interests of photographers, producers or clients. This action, clearly taken in anticipation of increasingly difficult financial conditions is a unilateral effort to shift the burden onto those who are least prepared to bear it. Should an independent photographer of moderate means be the banker for a Fortune 100 company? By eliminating their customary role as intermediate financier, agencies are removing value from the value-added chain, and that will ultimately lead to an overall dampening effect on commerce.

Meanwhile, there is no incentive for the agencies to make photographer friendly changes to their terms and conditions as long as photographers are willing to accept the current terms. Notice of these changes should be included in your blogs and discussed on related lists and social networking sites. The issue needs to become viral and requires significant support from key photographers in order to gain traction and effect change. If it is business as usual for the agencies, then nothing will be accomplished.

ASMP would recommend that photographers include in their paperwork a statement making it clear that there will be no grant of copyright license until all related assignment invoices are paid in full. Images should be registered with the Copyright Office immediately upon completion of the shoot and prior to first publication and/or possible infringement so that in the event that legal action - a last resort - is needed, recovery of statutory damages and court costs will be possible.

In addition, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) recommends the following:

“If an agency’s internal policy insists upon these payment terms (sequential liability), the production company should:

a) Make sure the advertiser (“client”) also signs this agreement. If it is a rider, the terms of payment and the full contract price should be added to the rider.

b) Be provided with the advertiser billing and contact information.

c) Copy the advertiser on all invoices.

d) Notify the advertiser of payment due as soon as terms of the contract (payment dates) are not met by the agency.”

As a possible course of action, since the agencies are shifting liability to their corporate clients, perhaps photographers should consider approaching the clients directly for advances and or other payments prior to the beginning of the assignment.

Ultimately, this is a case of the supplier beware!

Eugene Mopsik

Executive Director, ASMP

mopsik@asmp.org

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Anyhow, I've started a new project that I am calling Traveling Without Moving. It's a series inspired by very short pieces of ambient sound captured around the world and married to photographs shot in a single room in Manhattan. It's a work in progress and I will be writing an artist statement and formalizing the project this weekend but for now, it's my little way of dreaming about travel again.

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Your Support

My friends Zachary Sluser and Jonathan Lynch, the talented people behind movies like The Retreat and music videos like Phosphorescent's A Picture Of Our Torn Up Praise are raising the last bit of funds for their new project. If you have a couple of bucks and see fit to support the arts and some very talented young folks, please read on.
Hi Everyone,

We're excited to let you all know that we’re preparing to shoot a new short film out here in LA this April. The film is called Path Lights and is an adaptation of a Tom Drury short story (published in The New Yorker 2006).

We’ve gathered a great team and will be shooting on the new RED HD camera (the closest thing to 35mm in the digital world thus far). The good news is that with this team and some favors we’ll have the same or better production quality as our last short films for just over half the budget. So far we’ve raised $8,000 from family, a few friends, and Jonathan and my own personal contributions. We are now reaching out to approximately 300 friends and associates (including you) to pull together the remaining $4000.

We know that things are tightening up for everyone financially these days, and we only want to humbly ask for whatever is comfortable to contribute. We are suggesting $10-20, the cost of one or two movie tickets. If everyone can do this we will have enough money to pull off the production. You may contribute more or less, these are only suggested amounts (the different categories for contribution are listed on the site).

If you can comfortably be a patron to our film just click on the link below which will take you to our page at fundable.com. There you can enter any debit, credit card, or paypal information (click on the paypal button or the debit/credit card icon). It is totally secure and will take less than 3 minutes. Your contribution will only be processed if we reach our goal of $4000 within 21 days, otherwise it will be credited back to your account.

http://www.fundable.com/groupactions/groupaction.2009-02-28.5984269419

We would like to thank you for all the support you have shown to our creative endeavors over the years. Your time, generosity, or emotional/financial support has allowed us to follow our dreams and pursue this challenging but rewarding career out here. Thanks again, and we’ll keep you posted on the progress of the film.

Best,
Zachary Sluser and Jonathan Lynch

SYNOPSIS
Path Lights, based on the short story by Tom Drury (published in the New Yorker in 2006), is a short film about the many forms of mystery, in art, in our imagination, and where the line of dreams and reality blend together. Bobby, our narrator, is the voice of pulpy detective serials on audio, as well as the automated answering service of a tree cutting company. One day, when walking his dogs in the Pasadena arroyo, a bottle falls from the sky, almost hitting him. Bobby decides, based on the obscure brand of beer, to trace down the culprit. As he goes about the self-acknowledged specious mission, he finds himself lost in thought about a current probe on Mars, how his detective alter-ego would go about the beer bottle case, and finds himself in the center of a much weirder tale than he originally imagined. Path Lights is a thought provoking, comedy-noir that puts a human spin on the tradition of detective hero films.