Low-Budget Manifesto
At Sound Disposition we understand the difficulties many burgeoning filmmakers experience when it comes to budgets. We genuinely believe in fostering new talent and voices in our industry, and feel that great ideas should have the opportunity to come to life regardless of finances. Great films deserve great sound.
Consequently, we are happy to discuss discounts, sometimes extremely substantial, for clients who are in genuine need of support.
For our part, regardless of budget, we will always work to the absolute highest possible standard, and if we don’t think we can make something sound fantastic, we won’t work on it. If we do agree to work on your film we will give it everything we have.
Of course the flip-side is that as working professionals we need to be able to survive – and firmly believe that favours should be honoured. Discounted rates are always conditional, and by agreeing to work with us on a discounted rate, you implicitly agree with us on the conditions set out below:
1. We expect loyalty.
By this we mean that if we have negotiated you an amazing deal on a part of a project, it means we believe in the project, and that needs to be respected. We expect to get first refusal on any further audio work to be carried out on the project, budget or not.
2. Share the burden, share the success.
If the finished product secures a good release, or looks like it will be profitable for the producers or production, it is only reasonable to expect that we should see the full deferred rate for our work on the project. We expect the client to provide us with a contract which specifies this, and for our part we will supply a calculation of the full rate.
3. Flexibility.
We reserve the right to be flexible with our scheduling on the work performed on your film. In some cases sessions may be rescheduled at short notice, mixes put back a few days. We will always try to honour delivery deadlines but cannot guarantee it absolutely, as when it comes to scheduling we have to prioritise the jobs which feed us. That said we have never yet missed a delivery deadline for any reason within our control, and do not intend to start now.
4. Seriousness.
We will take your project as seriously as any other. We expect you as the client to take our time seriously too. Far too often on low-budget productions have we had the added burden of poorly-organised materials, a relaxed approach to sync, elements delivered late, and many, many issues besides which transform what should be a simple process and make it unpleasantly difficult.