MissLillyArt
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So I'm currently working as a freelance illustrator and animator and I'm currently working on four projects, all of which I'm supposed to be getting paid for. I know for a fact that I'll be paid for three of them, but it's the fourth job I'm worried about.
I was contacted through the animation school I used to attend along with three of my old classmates, it's a decent project, an animated TV series which could turn into full time work for the rest of the year. We've been working on it for a few months and haven't been paid yet, there has been talk of it, but nothing yet.
So I guess my question is; how do I ensure I get the money I've been promised without being rude? and at what point should I jump ship if it looks like we won't be getting anything?
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I was in a similar situation the last month.
I was approached by an american company to start illustrating a graphic novel, everything looked fine, except they didnt make clear how the payment will be managed.
So i just jumped forward and asked them directly. (And everything went fine btw)
If they consider questions like: how are you going to manage payment? single payment? monthly? what kind of contract i have to sign? how many rights i will retain from my work? it is probably because they didnt wanted to pay you anything from the start.
MissLillyArt
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Yeah, that's what I'm concerned about, there's nothing in writing, none of us signed anything, and money was only briefly mentioned in one of the early meetings. I hope I'm just being overly cynical about it...
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No, you are not.
If you didnt signed anything then you are basically working for free, because they dont have any obligation to pay you. Oficially, you never worked for them.
Now i really think that you should ask them directly before spending more time and effort.
And if they get offended or come with evasives, then... well move on, because they never wanted to pay you.
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If they had any intention of paying you, they would have asked how much you charge. How can they know if they can afford you otherwise? (I know not everyone who tries to hire artists is smart but heck) or maybe they think they can get away with paying you whatever they feel like? Don't draw one more line before you have a statement of how much they will give you and when.
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Payment's something you discuss before putting the pen to the tablet.
Always.
ALWAYS.
As a freelancer you can back out anytime you like anyway. Ask them about payment, and if there's none, you've got no obligation. You can quit.
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Yeah...I'd say move on before you waste any more time and in our business time is money. A few months and no proper mention of pay yet? Its not going to happen. Sorry :(
MissLillyArt
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Well it turns out he sent the work to someone in the States to do it instead, I got paid a grand total of $300 for a month and a half's work (less than I was earning in a week working in retail...)
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That sounds awful.
I've learned (through experience unfortunately) to always have a contract, request a percentage up front (at least for new clients), and to send an invoice promptly upon completion of work. If they don't pay, send another invoice, just to be sure they got it. I try hard to give the benefit of the doubt.
Remember that you're running a business. It's not at all rude to ask about payment, to request a down payment, and to pursue the payment that's due. If they get squinky about talking about payment, then it raises a red flag for me. If they have all intentions of paying me, why would they balk at talking about the nitty gritty of it?
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Man that sucks! I hope you're getting better-paying projects now.
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Oh god this reminds me of something that happened to me last year.
Over the summer of 2013 I got a two-week internship with a media startup in South London for photography (I used to be a pretty OK photographer until all my camera kit got stolen one night, then I had to go back to making images the old-fashioned way...), which turned into three months of illustrating, doing photography for, assisting with the graphic design of and generally keeping together an attempted magazine launch (on top of this I was homeless at the time, but fortunately I'd paid up my gym membership a few months in advance before I completely ran out of money so I went in every day to shower and make myself presentable - top tip if you find yourself homeless, keep your gym membership running!).
So I was working 16 hours or more a day for these people, every day. Pulled more than a few all-nighters fuelled by cans of Monster and packets of cigarettes, working in the back room kept me warm and off the streets at least. Being completely green and taken in by these charlatans, whenever I asked about money and vague mentions were made of 'forthcoming government funding' and 'eventual payment' I thought they were serious.
Eventually I discovered the boss was in fact an ex-heroin dealer who'd served time only to try and reinvent himself as a media tycoon and had a list of debts as long as your arm. When it became evident that any money coming into the company would most likely be embezzled by him to clear his debts, I made my excuses and got out of there immediately.
On top of that, somebody from the adjacent office asked me to storyboard a music video and again, being new to the whole thing, I didn't negotiate money up front. So I worked for two days solid getting it planned out with the singer, from writing a script to drawing it out panel-by-panel - only to be told the concept had been changed and I'd need to redo it by the next day. 24 hours without sleep later and I got paid for my troubles... £30.
Always, ALWAYS negotiate the money first. Also have a clear idea how much your work is worth. I later found out that here in the UK, storyboards on a fast turnaround can run as high as £600/day for an experienced artist.
In conclusion, fuck Brixton.
