Todd Gilpin

I agree Jon, I would never do the retainer thing either. That suggestion was only offered to illustrate the absurdity of this whole thing. I would never limit myself on the amount of work or diversity of clients. That's one of the things I love about this business. Todd Gilpin Director of Photography/Camera Operator Ohio

Well, the way I see it is that I work for who I want to work for. If I start to allow this producer, or that producer, to tell me who I can and can't work for, that is really setting a precedent for something bad. As I told his secretary when she called (didn't even call himself), I work for whomever wants to hire me, I make that decision, and I really don't appreciate the ultimatum. If they decide to push the issue, I figure I'll tell him if he wants to pay me a salary to sit out and only work on his productions, put me on retainer......fine, we'll talk. Until then, I'll work for whomever I determine I want to work for. I can see if I was backing out on a commitment to him or something, but when the days don't even conflict, it's none of his business. And I appreciate the fact some may decide to listen to their ultimatum because they could use the work and have to think responsibly when it comes to supporting a family. That would be a tough decision to make. Bowing to an ultimatum like that is just setting yourself up for more troubles down the road. I also think that the fact this particular company is only getting the contract for PART of this particular campaign, when in the past they would have been doing the entire campaign, shows that perhaps they are losing their particular client, which I believe is one of their larger clients, at least based on the work I do for them. So for my own future, I see it only benefitting me to get on board with the production company that seems to be picking up more and more contracts. I'm a loyal guy, but I also think I need to look out for myself as well. Because if I don't, nobody else will. Thanks for the replies, it's always good to hear that others have had this happen, and to hear some other opinions on the matter. Todd Gilpin Director of Photography/Camera Operator Ohio

I was just wondering if any of you out there have experienced a client demanding that you NOT working for another production company, putting forth the ultimatum that if you did, you would no longer get work from them. I'm sure it's happened, but I just had it happen to me today for the first time. One company I work for quite often, and really have no problem working for, called me to specifically tell me that another company was coming to town from out of state to shoot a portion of the same commercial campaign. I was very specifically told that if I worked the shoot for this other company, I would no longer be hired by the first company. Any experiences like this? And if so, how did you handle the situation? To me this seems very childish. I understand they are not happy about losing some work to another company, but in my opinion, it is none of their business who I am working for when I'm not under contract with them. Anyways, thanks for any opinions. Todd Gilpin Director of Photography/Camera Operator Ohio