indeed, I think it is fair also. If you don't want to use the term "Scotland Yard," then shove off, mate.

I think it's fair, but can they be considered paid actors now and have to join the Actor's Guild?

Forgot to add the 15% of the back end sales is nutty no way anybody is going to go for that. The 500 per day is cool though.

Cash strapped? They really turn in ALL the cash into the evidence locker??

Am I the only one who isn't really that disturbed by the subject of a documentary wanting a cut of the profits from that documentary?

Disgusting. It's difficult enough to make a film as it is, particularly a documentary with the number of people outside the industry who are convinced that filmmakers have huge budgets to spend freely and are ripe for the picking.

That certainly isn't the case with British films and most definitely with documentaries. I've known several people to devote years of their lives to getting a single documentary film made, constantly working to negotiate whatever sources of information, subjects, locations, kit, facilities and that most rare of commodities, actual money to spend. I've had to abandon locations because in the day it took me to raise the small amount of money someone wanted in exchange for allowing me to shoot for a day some other person convinced them to raise their asking fee tenfold or more. And being shocked when I refuse to spend £1500 on one location used for one afternoon in a film with a total budget of £2000.

It's a very expensive process as it is, there's never enough money and never enough time and only a tiny percentage of films will ever recoup their own costs let alone turn a profit. The last thing we need are more people lining up to make it that much more difficult if not impossible to do our work.

Gordon Bennett: Disgusting. It's difficult enough to make a film as it is, particularly a documentary with the number of people outside the industry who are convinced that filmmakers have huge budgets to spend freely and are ripe for the picking.

That certainly isn't the case with British films and most definitely with documentaries. I've known several people to devote years of their lives to getting a single documentary film made, constantly working to negotiate whatever sources of information, subjects, locations, kit, facilities and that most rare of commodities, actual money to spend. I've had to abandon locations because in the day it took me to raise the small amount of money someone wanted in exchange for allowing me to shoot for a day some other person convinced them to raise their asking fee tenfold or more. And being shocked when I refuse to spend £1500 on one location used for one afternoon in a film with a total budget of £2000.

It's a very expensive process as it is, there's never enough money and never enough time and only a tiny percentage of films will ever recoup their own costs let alone turn a profit. The last thing we need are more people lining up to make it that much more difficult if not impossible to do our work.

Cue the tiny violin pic.

I'd rather have a better funded police force than better funded small films. You think you should be entitled to use police resources for free because your industry is hard?

Now that they are not getting paid by the Murdochs they have to do something to raise revenue.

The Numbers: Cue the tiny violin pic.I'd rather have a better funded police force than better funded small films. You think you should be entitled to use police resources for free because your industry is hard?

I expect the police, paid for entirely with public money, to do their utmost to serve the public. If they are too busy to work with a film crew, fine. If they do have the resources to spare and are only holding out for a cash handout, then it isn't fine.

Their contract also calls for only blue M&Ms in the dressing rooms.

Gordon Bennett: I expect the police, paid for entirely with public money, to do their utmost to serve the public. If they are too busy to work with a film crew, fine. If they do have the resources to spare and are only holding out for a cash handout, then it isn't fine.

Money is a resource. Given that money, the department can turn it into more resources. For example, a department might pay some officers to work overtime.

Looking up their pay, Let's say that it gets them either 2 Constables and a Sergeant for a day(COPS type show), limited access to higher paid Inspectors, detectives and such. Using pay averages from the middle of the chart: ~£30k per year per constable, ~£37k per Sergeant. Wages for a Constable should be £115, £142 for the Sergeant. That's £372, but we can't forget support/overtime expenses - typically 50% of wages. Now we're up to £558.

Now, I'm sure you can negotiate - want LOTS of police support? It'll cost more than $500. Doing a student film? They might agree to less. The 15% fee WILL probably strangle for profit shows, but they'll figure that out eventually. Given that I think that £500 a day is quite possibly a low end of expense for the hassle that a film crew can cause, trying to eck some additional profit out of the commercial, for profit, films/shows is reasonable.

The Numbers: Cue the tiny violin pic.

I'd rather have a better funded police force than better funded small films. You think you should be entitled to use police resources for free because your industry is hard?


So you prefer a better funded force with availability issues because cops can be rented out to people paying cash. If the police force is charging money for public benefit then they should be available to the general public...not just the paying public.

Are police boxes fair game? Might be worth having another look at that chameleon circuit.

JK47: So you prefer a better funded force with availability issues because cops can be rented out to people paying cash. If the police force is charging money for public benefit then they should be available to the general public...not just the paying public.

Personally, I see a difference between the police charging for resources available for you to make your documentary, movie, or TV show, and charging for their actual duty - law enforcement, catching criminals, public peace, all that.

Charging for non-duty stuff like filming actually helps ensure that resources are available for their actual duties. In the USA many departments charge to provide police security at stores, malls, and events. This helps ensure that the rest of the city isn't stripped trying to guard something special.