Re: client renegs on deal

I had one of these a few months ago. A shoot for a department at a major university. They contacted me...and were shopping around but the shoot was about four days away...so they couldn't get many takers.

We negotiated a terms and she wanted me to talk with her supervisor. Over the weekend I contracted freelance help...scouted the location...coordinated with the technical director of the facility. Got everything in place...fast.

Spoke with the supervisor the next business day...everything was cool...I told her since it was quick planning I would need payment of 50% the next day before beginning the shoot with the balance to be paid upon completion of the edit. She agreed...no problem.

The next day about 3 hours before the shoot I got a call from another faculty member who wanted to go over some details...by the end of the call the guy wants to cancel the shoot.

My gut instinct was they couldn't afford the project (or chose not to pay spend the money). But I got stiffed. I'm just glad I asked for money up front...rather than doing the job and getting stiffed at the end.