Ok, here is my situation. I filmed a wedding a couple of months ago for a bride in another state, about 3 hrs away from where I live. She called me yesterday and told me that she went to pick up her wedding album from her photographer and long story short, she told him how happy she was with the job I did on her wedding video. She then told me that he wanted to ask me if I would be willing to edit a wedding together if he filmed it and sent it to me, because he didn't know how to edit. I told her that I would speak with him, but I'm not really sure how I should handle this.

There could be a few problems by doing this. One, the guy could try to pass this off as his work to other clients and screw me over, or worse, if this guy sucks at filming and I put my logo on this edit, potential clients could see this and think this is a reflection of my work. I'm pretty sure that since he will taking pictures this will be a unmanned camera job.

On the other hand doing this could build a good relationship between us and bring in more business for me, even though he is in another state. He seems to be a pretty good guy, from what I can tell after working with him.

So my question to everyone is, do I tell the guy that I'll do just the edit or do I tell him that I would prefer to film myself and just offer him a finders fee? And if I do just edit, how should I charge him? What would you all do in this situation?

Take a look at what he has, sit down with him, and see where it goes. Don't turn away work!

Good advice from keith,
atleast see how he(photog) works....style, etc. Unless youre booked to the hill and can afford to be picky, taking on some side work like this pays the bills, even if your name is not attched to it.
I am not a big fan of doing work like this without receiving credit but like i said...it all depends on where you are in this game....



Take a look at what he has, sit down with him, and see where it goes. Don't turn away work!

I would assume that you won't be doing a lot of weddings 3.5 hours away so in a way that isn't your market is it? If you can get work from a market out of your area that seems like a good thing. Also if the guy is a decent photographer he will probibly have a lot of video work for you if you do want to travel that far. As far a haveing the product reflect on you. If it is good raw footage put your name on the final product if it is garbage don't.

Best,

Mike

Look at it this way- If'n the two of you should mesh well, he can drop the tapes off at FedEx, and the finished DVD can be overnighted back. Unless you need to shoot one with him, you shouldn't have to leave town. Arrangements can be prearranged in advance.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think this arrangement could work out pretty well for both of us, I just have to get a lot more info about the wedding. The only thing I would be hesitant about is if he doesn't agree with me on what my time is worth to edit, because there is a lot of work involved on my part. Should I ask him how he would break down the pay for this, or do I go ahead and give him an estimate of what I would charge for my time? I'm not sure how many hours footage he is going to get or what extras he wants me to put on there.

Hey Jonanthan,
Where in SC are you? I am in Columbia. Where is this guy located? It sounds pretty risky to me but I would certainly check it out. Whether you edit somebody else's work or shoot for someone else to edit, it is putting yourself out of complete control of the final product. Anyway good to see somebody else from SC on here...
Bill