As covered in this week’s page one story, the AICP is articulating its case for markup in areas that some agencies and cost consultants contend represent expenditures that should just be passed through. Here’s the AICP white paper on the issue:
Markup is designated as compensation to cove a production company’s overhead as well as profit. Denying markup is insinuating that there are neither overhead costs that are incurred by the production company, nor profit that is earned by assuming the obligation and risks involved with the job. There are three areas that advertiser’s representatives (agencies and cost controllers) have keyed on as not worthy of markup, with the consequent conclusion that compensation is not due. These are the explanations of why this thinking is unfounded.
PENSION AND WELFARE
Obligation–As a signatory to all crew collective bargaining agreements, the production company (as the employer) is obligated to make payment to the employee within the timelines of the various state labor codes. You are also obligated to make sure that all fringes are calculated correctly and made to the appropriate plans.
Risk–If payment is not made within the time limits of state labor code (usually two weeks), companies as employers are exposed to fines and class action suits; this is without any regard to whether or not the production company has received payment from the agency. The company is also exposed to audits by a multitude of plans that are obligated by ERISA to do regular audits of employers’ books. Most plans may conduct an audit for up to five years, require extensive preparation and assistance in conducting the audit, and also oblige the company to maintain all pertinent records.
TRAVEL
Obligation–The production company is required to make sure all members of the crew arrive at the location of the shoot at the appropriate time no matter where their home location is. They need to make sure that the crew arrives in a timely manner, and has accommodations that are in keeping with the requirement of various collective bargaining agreements.
Risk–In the case of overtime or extended shoots, adjustments may have to be made for all members of the cast and crew. The production company often commits to a firm cost for travel despite the fact that airfare rates change constantly and travel arrangements for crew must adhere to various union regulations dealing with travel and rest periods.
CASTING
Obligation–The production company has to set up, distribute tapes, coordinate shipping to multiple and changing locations of director, agency and client, as well as deal with spec changes, conflicts and talent schedule issues. The company also needs to abide by the rules of collective bargaining agreements that production companies are not signatory to.
Risk–Unknown at bidding time: quantity and type of tapes and Polaroids required, shipping costs, overtime. Yet firm price is submitted. Most agency contracts make production company liable for any issues arising out of violations of union contracts which employ agency employees (SAG/AFTRA).
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either โ more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More