Typical business arrangement for film score

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Hello, my friend James and I are being hired to compose and record a
film score for an independently produced documentary. (James and I
comprise Chamber Corps: http://chambercorps.com/). We're about 99%
certain we'll do it but we still have to hammer out the business
details. Basically, they are interested in paying us fair market
value, and all we have to do if figure out what fair market value is
and what kind of deals are usually struck for this sort of thing.
Since the budget for the film, naturally, is very low, we'll probably
be taking a token amount up front and then a stake in the film in the
(unlikely?) event that the film makes any money.

At any rate, if anybody here has any experience with this and would
like to share, I'd love to talk to you and pick your brain. This is
our first film score and we truly have no idea what we're doing yet.
Hell, if you're in the Triangle area of North Carolina, I'll buy you a
meal and/or drinks.

Thank you!

Chris Rossi
--
Spacelab Recording Studio http://spacelabstudio.com
(919) 403-5502 http://chambercorps.com

My email address is 'chris' at the spacelab domain listed above.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

All negotiable is correct. I did a short film score a while back for a
very small independent that was a flat fee up front. Forty minutes of
original music, some orchestrated (all sample library instruments -
SampleTank, Kontakt, etc. - and no talent fees but mine), for 5 grand.
Considering that I get paid very well for doing thirty seconds of music
for advertising, it was quite a different experience paywise!

The movie made zilch, so at least I got something for doing it. It was
a small amount for the work that I put into it, but I liked the
subject, the director, etc. I pretty much would have done that
particular film for free, so that's part of my rationale on that
project.

Part of the tradeoff for not paying much was I retained more control
over the score. I also got some flexibility on the deadline so i could
work on it during down time. I don't know that I'd do it again for
that kind of rate unless I really believed in the project. But, then,
it was a piece of work that has gotten me other opportunities.

YMMV.