CCA Guidelines

CCA CREW WORKING TERMS – Applicable to all stills shoots or film shoots not governed by CPA

Standard Day:

• A 12 hour working day consisting of pre-production-, shoot-, and or post-production activities.

Gear Check/Travel Day:

• Charged at 50% of the assistant’s day rate.

Half-Day:

• 6 hours or less.
• Charged at 65% of assistant’s day rate.

Options:

• If a client holds 1st option on an assistant, the assistant reserves the right to issue a 24hour confirm or release on this option.
• If both a 1st and 2nd option is held on an assistant – the client holding the 2nd option may issue a 24hr confirm or release on the 1st option should the assistant approve the request.

Confirmations:

• All 1st options to be confirmed at a minimum of 72 hours before the first shoot day.
• Assistants on 1st option not confirmed within prescribed timeframe may be booked on other confirmed jobs and will be replaced with an assistant of an equal skill level and calibre on the job that held the initial 1st option.
• If an assistant is confirmed on a job and cancels the booking, a 10% penalty of the total gross value of the booking can be imposed on the assistant.

Overtime:

• Charged at 10% of assistant’s day rate per hour worked over the standard day of 12 hours.

Night Shoot:

• Charged at Premium rates (X1.5 the standard day rate)

Cancellations:

• Cancellation means either the cancellation of a confirmed shoot day or the cancellation of a confirmed crew member.
• Confirmed jobs cancelled within 4 days of the first shoot day will be charged as per the breakdown below.

Remuneration for cancellation within 5 working days (Monday-Saturday) of commencement of a confirmed shoot day shall be paid at the following rate:

100% for days 1 and 2

50% for days 3 to 5

25% for days 6 to 7

Personal Vehicles: 

• Vehicles used by an assistant to get to set will be billed per km at AA rates (based on assistant’s vehicle type) on jobs further than 30km from Cape Town CBD.
• Vehicles that carry crew, props, gear and/or craft will be rented at a day rate specified by the assistant &  fuel will be charged based on fuel consumption during the job. 

Meals:

• Breakfast to be provided on all sets starting before 9am.
• Lunch to be provided on all sets.
• Dinner to be provided on all sets exceeding 8pm.
• Sufficient water and snacks to be provided on all sets.

Payment:

• Payment for crew will be paid within twenty (20) working days from submission of an invoice by CCA.

PRODUCTION CREW / SAASP WORKING GUIDELINES

Scope and Effective Implementation Date:

These production crew working guidelines are effective from season 2017-2018.
The guidelines herein aim to provide clear guidance regarding managing production crew working conditions by SAASP members with regard to production-related activities. It is noted that the guidelines set out below may not always be achievable, however in unusual and unavoidable circumstances the producer may reach an alternative solution in consultation with the affected production crew member.

Furthermore, the aim of this document is to protect the producer as well as his production crew by instilling a “safety first” approach and to prevent unsafe practices within the industry. It is noted that these guidelines are purely for stills production crew, and that TV crew will still be governed by the CPA rules.

Definitions:

Production Crew means any production crew member who works on a freelance basis on set in the Stills Production industry.

Pre-production includes, but is not limited to, any of the following pre-production related activities: pre-production meeting (PPM), styling/props checks, location recce, set building check and approval, gear checks, pre-lighting.

Stills / Stills Productions / Stills Shoots includes any Advertising, Car, Catalogue, Editorial, Pool Shooting and or Photo Library.

It is noted that stills production in the classic sense are the most common form, however with advances in the consumption of media, hybrids are becoming more common, and SAASP wishes to clarify which of these this document aims to cater for:

1. Full-Governance:
   • Stills Production with no video crew
   • Stills Production with a making-of videographer
   • Stills Production with a viral clip/moving-image component which includes a DOP with an assistant
2. Part-Governance:
   • 2.1) Stills Production with a DOP, Loader, Grips, Focus Puller, DIT as a secondary unit to the main production.
     • Further to the 2.1, the video crew mentioned above may be governed by the CPA rules in which case the producer would be required to adhere to such rules.

As an overarching guideline, should production crew be booked through film / TV agents who are members of the CPA, then the CPA rules shall govern said production / video crew, regardless of the type of production. Conversely, should production / video crew be booked through a still’s agency or directly with the production / video crew member, these guidelines would apply.

Guidelines:

1. Call Time
   • 1.1) Call time begins with the commencement of the first production related activity.
     • 1.1.1) Outgoing transport time for non-driving production crew is included.
2. Wrap
   • 2.1) Wrap is defined as being the end of each individual production crew member’s last production-related activity for the day.
     •  2.1.1) Returning transport time for non-driving production crew is not included.
3. Standard Day
   • 3.1) Standard Day means any pre-production-, shoot-, and or post-production day, with a minimum of 6 hours’ turnaround time.
4. Premium Days
   • 4.1) Premium days only apply to the first night of a full night shoot, and is are charged at 1.5 x the production crew member’s full day rate. Premium day rates are not paid for Sundays or public holidays.
5. Overtime
   • 5.1) There is no compulsory overtime payment for production crew. However, extended hours are to be considered carefully by the producer, regarding:
     • 5.1.1) Safety: this cannot be compromised for any reason.
     • 5.1.2) Remuneration: continuous and repeated extended working hours, with no reduced hours in lieu, should be remunerated at 10% of full day fee per hour.
   • 5.2) Production crew are to be consulted in advance should there be any anticipation of continuous and repeated extended working hours.
   • 5.3) It is the producer’s responsibility to quote for and supply additional crew for safety reasons, particularly driving, should continuous and extended working hours be unavoidable.
   • 5.4) No less than 6 hours rest should ever be given to crew members. No crew member shall work without having had 6 hours rest.
6. Travel Day
   • 6.1) Travel days, as well as applicable remuneration, if any, must be briefed to all production crew before confirming them for the job.
     • 6.1.1) If a producer has not negotiated partial payment or non-payment of a travel day with a production crew member in advance, it will be taken that the travel day will be paid at the full day rate.
   • 6.2) Remuneration for travel days for production crew, and the amount thereof, is up to the producer. The destination and ability to conduct production-related activities of the shoot should be taken into consideration when negotiating such.
7. Night Shoot
   • 7.1) A night shoot shall mean any shoot day in which the majority of the shoot occurs after sunset. For clarification, a night shoot can start before sunset.
   • 7.2) Night shoots must be briefed to all production crew before confirming them for the job.
8. Weather Day
   • 8.1) Weather day means a shoot day which was cancelled or postponed due to inadequate shooting conditions on account of adverse weather.
   • 8.2) Weather day cancellation fees equate to the full day fee for the production crew member.
   • 8.3) Cancellation fees for weather days vary depending on the circumstances, namely:
     • 8.3.1) Should the production crew member be informed of the weather day before leaving home, and the shoot day will be repeated, then no cancellation fee is applicable.
     • 8.3.2) Conversely, should the production crew member be informed of the weather day after leaving home, a 100% cancellation fee will apply.
     • 8.3.3) In any instance whereby the production crew member is cancelled due to weather and the shoot day will not be repeated, or the production crew member is not booked for an additional day on the same job, a 100% cancellation fee will apply.
9. Payment
   • 9.1) Payment for production crew will be paid within twenty (20) working days of submission of an invoice, but it is subject to negotiation with crew agents.
   • 9.2) Payments will only be made once any outstanding floats, if applicable, have been reconciled with the producer. In the event of any queries, the producer may only withhold payment for an individual production crew member and not the entire agent’s statement for any given production.
   • 9.3) Should a production crew member invoice a production company directly and not through an agent, income tax must be deducted by the producer at the rate as specified by the South African Revenue Service (SARS), unless the producer is provided with a specific written tax directive from SARS for the applicable tax period.
10. Cancellation
    • 10.1) Cancellation means either the cancellation of a confirmed shoot day or the cancelled production crew member.
    • 10.2) The minimum cancellation period needed for a confirmed booking is prescribed as follows:
      • 10.2.1) for a confirmed booking with a duration of up to 7 days (inclusive), 4 days’ notice.
      • 10.2.2) for a confirmed booking with a duration of between 8 and 14 days (inclusive), 7 days’ notice.
      • 10.2.3) for confirmed booking with a duration longer than 14 days, 10 days’ notice.
    • 10.3) Confirmed bookings cancelled in accordance with the prescribed timeframe found in 10. 2. will not incur any cancellation costs.
    • 10.4) For clarification, confirmed bookings cancelled within the prescribed minimum cancellation period found in 10.2. will incur 100% costs of full cancellation across all cancelled shoot days.
    • 10.5) If a production crew member is confirmed on a job and cancels the booking, a 10% penalty of the total gross value of the booking can be imposed on the production crew member.
    • 10.6) Further to 10.5, the cancellation period will follow the same timeframe as 10.2.
    • 10.7) For any production crew booking, confirmation via email, sms, whatsap, telephone or fax is binding. The confirmation must include:
      • Confirmation of the booking;
      • Position of the production crew member;
      • Number of confirmed days;
      • Rate applicable for the production crew member;
      • Budget (if applicable);
    • The onus is on the production crew member to request confirmation in writing should they so desire.
11. Meals
    • 11.1) Breakfast: On an early call time, namely before 08h00, breakfast needs to be supplied.
    • 11.2) Lunch: A sufficient lunch needs to be supplied for day shoots
    • 11.3) Dinner: A sufficient dinner needs to be supplied for night shoots / divided day shoots exceeding 20h30
    • 11.4) It is the producer’s responsibility to quote appropriately and to ensure that all production crew are fed at appropriate intervals and that there is enough sustenance available throughout the day.
    • 11.5) All meals can be running meals, i.e. hand-held meals and do not necessarily need to be a sit-down meal.

Note to Producers:

1. Although not explicitly mentioned in the definition of production crew, a producer needs to bear in mind that the above guidelines should be applied to all production crew members on set booked in South Africa.

2. We work in a volatile industry, and stills operates the same internationally. We need to manage our stills production guidelines carefully. The guidelines are here to show that there is a need to handle our local industry with more care and that our production teams are not put under unfair or unsafe expectations. Regardless, there will always be exceptions in stills production, and we will always run into issues which are not highlighted here, but that is the nature of our industry as we are not as structured as film / TV. This serves as a reminder that whilst this document is certainly not exhaustive and that each job needs to be assessed on an individual basis, the objective is to highlight the best practice for production houses, producer’s and their production crew, and these guidelines should be applied as closely as possible.

3. Producers need to assess and look at their briefs while quoting and ensure that they quote sufficient production staff to ensure safety on set at all times. It is also the producer’s duty to remind the production manager and staff to alert the producer on time if safety is becoming an issue so that it can be addressed.