Mark LeBlanc Posted March 3, 2010 Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 Curious if anyone has had to get a Lawyer to send a registered letter to a production company so you could get paid? Did a one day gig back in early January, it was a mess and in addition to my work invoice, had to invoice them for missing equipment. They have "LOST" my paperwork 3 times and keep getting, "Yea, I'm on top of that issue". Haven't seen any paycheck and pretty much fed up with them. I have a Lawyer that owes me a favor and would write the letter gratis.. ML Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Toline Posted March 3, 2010 Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 Curious if anyone has had to get a Lawyer to send a registered letter to a production company so you could get paid? Did a one day gig back in early January, it was a mess and in addition to my work invoice, had to invoice them for missing equipment. They have "LOST" my paperwork 3 times and keep getting, "Yea, I'm on top of that issue". Haven't seen any paycheck and pretty much fed up with them. I have a Lawyer that owes me a favor and would write the letter gratis.. ML It might be a bit too soon (6-8 weeks) to get a lawyer involved but It couldn't hurt since the chances of you working for them again are between slim and none. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProSound Posted March 3, 2010 Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 I would send a a registered letter with all the documentation you have copies of emails etc and tell them you are giving them 7 business days to respond to you. If they don't have the lawyer send one. Only issue I have ever had was resolved by me sending a a registered letter myself to the owner of the companies home address. I got a check via fedex less than a week later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted March 3, 2010 Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 good advice, already... I'll add another option: file a mechanic's lien on the project, a legal notice of your not being paid for the work you did on the project. depending on the nature of the project, it can be a PITA for them, and is another tactic that might get you paid... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark LeBlanc Posted March 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 Good advice guys. The operation is out of Atlanta and I'm in Louisiana. Any small claims complications? I got worried the day of the shoot when the camera guy I was working with told me he had been working with them for over 2 months and had not been paid. I would not doubt that the only address I have for them is no longer active.. Sucks.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Toline Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 Good advice guys. The operation is out of Atlanta and I'm in Louisiana. Any small claims complications? I got worried the day of the shoot when the camera guy I was working with told me he had been working with them for over 2 months and had not been paid. I would not doubt that the only address I have for them is no longer active.. Sucks.. Why not contact my friend, mixer Mike Filosa in Atlanta and ask him if knows them or if he can be your collection department there. 404-636-9988 Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole Hankerson Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 I'm in Atlanta and I know a bunch of people here. I just had to do the same thing. But I sent a letter along with my invoice to the company and I was given my check in two days after having to wait almost 3 weeks. My check was hand delivered and an apology email was sent. I hope you get your money. Good luck. Nicole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Linkow, C.A.S. Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 Good advice guys. The operation is out of Atlanta and I'm in Louisiana. Any small claims complications? I got worried the day of the shoot when the camera guy I was working with told me he had been working with them for over 2 months and had not been paid. I would not doubt that the only address I have for them is no longer active.. Sucks.. I am not a lawyer, but you should check with your local small claims court. I believe that you need to file in the court that has jurisdiction in the community where your work took place. But you might have to file where your employer has his legal address. And when the camera guy said he had been working for them for over two months and hadn't gotten paid, I probably would have thought twice about working for them at all. I see it was just a one day shoot. I hope you didn't get burned for too much money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 If you are working on an invoice, 30 days is quite common. Payroll should be handled much faster, typically by the end of the following week, if not sooner. On commercials, for example, I am paid for labor in a normal time-frame, but equipment checks vary from a couple of weeks to a couple of months at the longest. The law actually mandates LABOR be paid much sooner, as you are actually being laid off when the job ends. I believe labor laws require payment by the end of the 2nd or 3rd business day, or something like that. But that is generally looked past in our industry. There is no such protection for rental income. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ken Mantlo Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 Seeing that it's out of your state, use your lawyer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ken Mantlo Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 You don't have to be a lawyer to send a letter of intent so not being a member of the bar in that particular state doesn't matter. It's just scary receiving one from a lawyer. They don't know if the lawyer's firm is a licensed member in their state or not. I say use your resources and scare them. What have you got to lose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 " to serve the company in their state, this can be done through the bailiff's office at no charge. " most jurisdictions have charges for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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