Peter Vander WallFounder driving creative community growth

The Cost of Not Taking Contracts Seriously

Name: The Cost of Not Taking Contracts Seriously
Uploaded: 2023-06-02T15:00:10+00:00
Duration: 49 s
Channel: Peter Vander Wall
Description: A first-person anecdote in which the speaker (Peter Vander Wall) describes losing money on a last-minute Uber Social commercial shoot in New Zealand…

2 Jun 2023 · 1 min

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A first-person anecdote in which the speaker (Peter Vander Wall) describes losing money on a last-minute Uber Social commercial shoot in New Zealand because he failed to secure a contract. The agency split and a partner absconded with funds, leaving the speaker unable to pay expenses and unpaid for the gig; the clear takeaway is that contracts are essential.

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What's the biggest mistake you made in your business? I got screwed over by Uber because I didn't take contracts seriously. How did that happen? I was in New Zealand, last minute shoot to shoot an Uber Social commercial. Took the gig, was supposed to get the contract in place. I didn't get it soon enough. They then told me they were going to send me one. I didn't follow up. Making sure they sent it to me, did the whole job. The agency that I was brokered through to do the job with Uber ended up basically getting into some stuff with the other client and their agency split, blew up. One partner, took all the money, ran because I didn't have a contract, I got nothing and so I was out. All the expenses that I put into the shoot, I had to hire all the models, pay all the location permits. The middle of nowhere and on the other side of the world in the country, I had to say to everybody, hey, either I can't pay you, or I was trying to pay people. I just didn't have any money to do it. And I was also out like thousands of dollars because I didn't get paid on the gig. So contracts are your friend. Brutal. Brutal.