A few months back, it was mentioned that GM was discontinuing its policy of paying advances for photo shoots, instead opting for a “within 60-75 days” time frame to pay the agency and in turn, the photog.
Interestingly enough, though, the Wall Street Journal reported today that the beleaguered automaker will maintain an ad budget between $40 million and $50 million a month while tied up in bankruptcy court. With that kind of scratch to spend, why eliminate the practice of paying advances to agencies and artists in the first place?
But of course the problem doesn’t just lie with GM as agency umbrella company Omnicom soon followed suit by changing its terms and conditions, in turn transferring liability to independent photographers and producers while also nixing advances to reps.
We’re not sure if this type of financial fracas is still occurring or more commonplace than we know, but that’s where you come in. Feel free to let us know by using the poll below.
How often is your agency/prodco expected to foot the bill months before a check comes?(poll)