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2007 AICP Guidelines

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November 30, 2006

Re:2007 AICP Guidelines

Dear Darren Stevens,

After careful consideration, the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers has revised the AICP National Guidelines.  The changes, which have to do with the payment schedules, reflect ways in which the industry is developing, and the need for adapting the new realities.  

Under Payment Guidelines:

  • The new 75-25 Plan replaces both the 50-50 Plan and the 50-40-10 Plan;
  • The Payment Guideline for Post Production, Computer Graphics and Animation is now Payment Guideline: Digital Production, and calls for a 75-25 Plan for productions completed within 120 days, and an extended payment plan to facilitate cash flow for longer productions. 

The board's decision to make these changes was not arbitrary one.

  • It is estimated that more than 70% of the cost of a production is laid out within the first ten days of a shoot.
  • Many state labor codes requires the crew be paid in two weeks or less of employment.
  • Digital productions may take months to complete during which staff and overhead still must be paid, but 75% up front may not be practical.
  • Production companies are increasingly going into debt to finance production until payments are received.

The circumstances, plus chronic late payments by advertisers and agencies of the final installments on a contract, prompted the AICP Board to revise the Guidelines.

The AICP Guidelines are recommendations developed to help foster responsible business practices between production companies and their clients.  We trust that as the industry evolves, and our companies rise to meet the challenges, that your agency will cooperate with its production partners and work with them in a fair and reasonable manner.

Sincerely,

Signature
Matt Miller.

Source

"AICP Roundtable Discussion." Panelists: Denise Gilmartin, AICP; Matt Miller, AICP; Frank Stiefel, radical.media; Bob Fisher, Celsius Films. ANA Production Management Committee Meeting, 05/01/07.

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