This is a very unfortunate situation to be in.
Last week I was booked to shoot press and promo images for a new production of Alice in Wonderland at a theatre in London. Got there in good time thinking that after all the fashion shows Ive just covered this will be a breeze. Unfortunately not.
When I first arrived, nobody knew I was coming. Further, nobody seemed to know the person who’d arranged for me to be there. In hindsight I should have taken this as a big in-your-face signal to leave but I persevered and they agreed to let me stay. I’m glad I did too. Never before had the opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes of a stage production, at least at this level, and watching the play begin to form and take shape in much the same way as a jigsaw puzzle was fascinating. Had the opportunity to chat with most of the cast, and the director too which was great for networking.
As they approached the start of the full dress rehearsal, the cast started to get into make-up, their costumes and their characters too. Great opportunity to get some individual shots although it was a little hit and miss with the tech. crew adjusting their lighting setup. Nevertheless I persevered and got some lovely images in the can.
Then it was straight into the dress rehearsal and wih the theatre to myself I could work in a T formed by the centre aisle and the gaps between rows 3 and 4 to get some cool shots (one of which features as the intro to this post). Unfortunately I couldn’t stay for it all as they were running and I was in severe danger of missing the lst bus home.
It wasn’t until I sent the proof images out that disaster struck
The director was my main contact point during the rehearsal and naturally we swapped cards so I could send her the proofs. After all, nobody seemed to know the person who’d booked me and I needed to know where to send them. I queried this with my booking contact in the week and she confirmed, the director and the two producers (who also happened to be the lead actresses).
I sent the link to the proofing gallery on Thursday to the director on the grounds that I’d had absolutely no communication with either of the two producers, only to be chased on Friday by the booking contact asking where they were. It was rapidly becomming aparent that the booking client only had a very cursory relationship with the production as a whole and I started to get very worried about who my client was, where my images were going to go and what they would be used for. After all, I’d given up about 15 hours of my time to do this for them, for free and I wanted to be sure that I was going to get all the necessary credit for doing the work.
I now find myself in the situation of having the director and the booker telling me they are my contact points and I should only be dealing with them. There is also a very nasty argument brewing over who has copyright over the production – the producers who wrote it (according to the booker) or the production company who are putting it on (according to the director).
No idea how this can be resolved or indeed if it ever will. I’m not prepared to release or license any images to the wrong person, particularly disputed images such as these. If things deteriorate further I’ll have no option other than to destroy them, unfortunate and painful as it may seem.
Could this have been avoided or resolved?
Probably – it has every hint of a severe breakdown in communication rather than something sinister.
Would I do anything different in the future?
Yes – early warning signs that something will go awry need to be heeded. If something is a bit smelly its a good time to bail, particularly for a free job such as this.
Your thought, as ever, always welcome.
DISCLAIMER
I’ve deliberately kept the names out of this post to maintain some degree of anonymity for thos involved. After all, as I tweeted earlier in the week, I really enjoyed the bits of the play I saw and I see no reason to do aything to discredit it or the cast.
