Use on a TV Show.

Hello!

This isn;t so much an 'as seen on...' but a 'maybe soon to be seen on' depending on the advice I get!

Ok... I've had an email from someone who deals with licensing clearance for use in film and TV. They want to use one of my clips on a high profile TV show and have sent over a release from for me to sign if I'm interested. There's no mention of money in the release from or in the email, so I'm guessing they want me to give it to them for free.

Sure, it's a big show and it would be good to show the grandkids. When I have some. But that's not going to pay the bills. It's only cheap on here, but the Pond 5 standard license wouldn't cover what they're asking for in the release form, which I guess is why they've emailed me rather than just buying it. So I guess the ball is in my court when it comes to terms/price.

Is there some kind of standard procedure when it comes to price for having your stock used in a US TV show? Could I provide it free in exchange for a credit ' additional motion graphics by...' etc. The worry is that I'm number X on a long list of other people they've emailed and if I even mention cash then they'll just say "Ok, no worries. Next!"

Should I try a bit of haggling, or should I just think "This doesn't happen every day, Ok, I'd love for you to use my footage in your popular, multi-million dollar TV show, free of charge."

Cheers!

I have never heard of a large production asking for a clip for free. I have sold to many large productions with full price, but they have sought further releases/licensing, beyond those the p5 offers.

Don't give anything away for free. If this is a "high profile" show they certainly have a big budget.
No, we don't see our work in a TV show everyday but personally I don't get caught up in that fluff to give a clip away.

But here is my question, did they say they want a clip for free or are they buying one from Pond5 and want you to sign a release for the clip to be aired on their show?

If they just need you to sign a release for the clip they bought do it and move on. You aren't going to get more money than whatever you asked for on Pond5.

Jake

Several years ago DreamWorks bought a large number of clips through P5 for the movie Eagle Eye. I sold three to them on that deal. They wanted an additional release to ensure we would not ask for perpetual royalties or fees. P5 negotiated this release and sent it to me to be signed. In exchange for this additional release the P5 price was doubled covering P5's time and ours. I believe P5 amended their standard release to more cover these incidences in the future. I have had several of my clips on high profile first run TV series. No additional release has been needed.

A couple of days ago I also received an email about one of my P5 clips to be used in a major production. It was a crowd with many people and asked if I had or could get releases. It was impossible and I told them that the release that P5 attached is all that was available and the ability to get further releases was impossible. I believe it sold.

A few weeks ago one of my little league clips I had the same question asked for use in another big production. I told them that I could get the release from the players (I know them) but I felt a donation of some bats and balls would be appropriate to the team as a donation. They decided not and I believe they still bought the clips anyway.

Like Jake said and I agree, giving clips away will not result in marketing that will make a difference. If it's charity then I have, if it's business then buy it. Good luck.

p.s. Great work getting a sale with only 14 clips here at P5 ... well done.

Thanks guys! They hadn't bought the clip yet and they wanted an upgrade on the standard terms. For saying the clip was only $15, I didn't feel I could charge them ridiculous amounts of money, but we agreed on a price that is still quite a lot more than that.

I'm not getting a credit, but I didn't think I would... I was probably pushing my luck with that. But anyway, it's all signed, sealed and delivered, so I'll post again when I know which episode and what have you. Knowing my luck, they'll end up cutting it out! It's for 'House of Cards' by the way... the entire season will be available on Netflix on the 14th of Feb apparently. I better start watching it from the beginning I suppose.

Yeah, I get about five or six sales a month on average, which I guess is pretty good for saying I haven't got many clips and none of them are really that good! I had 16 sales in August for some reason... which was nice!