Hi everyone

Just wondering if any kind people might be happy to share their contract for 2nd shooter contractors? I am (finally) getting myself organised and need to cover things like pay, travel, expectations etc and have no idea how to set it out..

Thank you!!
Diana

one of the things you need to consider is how you are employing your 2nd shooters - if you are drawing up a contract with conditions you may be hiring them as employees and you'll be liable for tax & workers comp etc.

If you don't want that then you have to hire them as subcontractors and pay attention to the tax office requirements for sub contractors - that's your starting point.

As Paul hints you open yourself up to a host of legal commitments hiring contractors. 'Workers Comp', 'Work Cover' and 'Witholding Tax' for starters if they are sole traders. The only legal way to avoid all the pitfalls of hiring freelancers is to stipulate that they are registered Pty Ltd companies and are registered for GST and obviously have an ABN number. Covering yourself this way the contracting Pty Ltd is held liable to meet the legal requirements for all insurances and taxes. Given that you are often considered to be 'The Producer' in many production instances you should also carry your own Public Liability Insurance. The absolute minimum I would suggest you carry is $10 million. Most venues, airports, councils and public municipalities etc now require a minimum of $20 million.

You can Google all the above terms on the ATO site. Witholding Tax and Super can be found through this link and the tabs on that page.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/Withholding-declaration/

If you need a few pointers in this area PM me off forum and I can put you in touch with my better half who's business specializes in all these nasty legal business requirements for numerous big and small clients. I'm sure I can convince her to give you some pointers without it costing you anything. Good luck!

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney