[Atherium]

From February 21st to March 5th we will be accepting applications for several positions in the early concept development for a feature fantasy genre script.

We are looking for a combination of seasoned professionals as well as amateurs who have a strong passion for sci fi concept design and fantasy influenced visuals.This script has full legal protection and nda's will be standard agreement with this production. All applicants should be aware that this is a non paying contract. This is a co operative effort to gain production funding from investors who have shown serious interest in this script.

Competency in computer based applications such as photoshop etc. will be a strong asset although classical mediums such as pen, marker and paint are welcome. Applicants should know that 80% of the communication between the design teams, writers, and directors will be through email so even classical medium productions will still have to be scanned.

Applicants will have to show a strong knowledge of environmental based work, character design, mechanical and industrial design. (Basically just flip through the art of star wars and if any of it scares you then you know this is not the job for you.)

The script revolves around both earth and another world set in the year 2251. A trio of humans is forced to make voyage to another world in hopes of discovering the origins to an artefact and preventing one of them from falling to it's unique influence as well as reigniting an extinguished holly war which could spill onto the lands of earth itself.


All applicants should submit their work and resume to [email protected]

[Drew]

Man, seriously? The more I think about this the more odd it seems.

http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?p=284676&highlight=#284676

Atherium:"There is no "compensation" and if you actually consider it that then you are doing it for the wrong reasons. I don't expect people to quit their jobs over this, I want them to do it because they enjoy it and want to be apart of it for the actual experience and seeing it progress, it will be something long term but I would neevr want it to get in the way of their jobs and family life."

Atherium:"LOL I will receive NO compensation for this, actually I will because if people do want to jump onto this project then the past years of busting my ass to get it done will have been worth it. As I said i am not doing this to sell it, I am doing this to make it. "

And now you're looking for "seasoned professionals" who are on the level of the Star Wars concept artists, the script is NDA'd, and you're trying to "gain production funding from investors who have shown serious interest in this script." What in the world is that money to be used for if no one's getting paid? Why is the script distrubuted with an NDA if no one will ever make money off of it? Why would anyone invest in your project if they stood absolutely no chance of making any money back?

And finally...

Atherium: "I want people to understand where I am comming from on this and what I am trying to do here both on the creation side as well as the industry side."

Dude, you've left us clueless.

Oh, and I would bet it's a "Holy" war, not a "Holly" war.

[ceenda]

Hahahahahahahahahaha...

Oh... and Drew said everything that I was going to say.

Except that I was going to make a really lame joke about "holly wars" and Santa.

[Pat]

-Pat

[FONGOOL]

For what it's worth (probably not much) here's my take on this:

I get the impression your heart is in the right place and this is an honest attempt to realise a dream, but this is one of those typical naive setups that nearly always end in a massive shitstorm.

What I mean is, If you're still trying to get people to work for free, out of the goodness of their hearts and because they believe in your vision, what happens when someone buys your script and gives you a budget to make your film? Will you really make sure everyone who helped gets hired? What if the powers that be won't LET you pick and choose who gets hired? Will you pay everyone out of your own pocket for all their hard work?

Whatever happens, you can practically gurantee that someone will feel cheated when they don't get a good chunk of that money for helping you get to where you are. Even if that's not true, or you don't happen to believe it's true. People are funny critters and you never know what's going on in their heads.

Artists are always getting ripped off. I don't know how many times I've heard stories where people were promised "some payment if this makes any money" and then the guys run off with the finished work and the artist get nothing, or pathetic promises of "think of all the exposure your work will get". It's nearly always a load of garbage. And from the sound of it, since it's all under NDA, the people putting in their time couldn't legally even show their work to potential employers.

I think you (and anyone seriously considering taking part in this) really need to think through what's really being offered here and set very specific limits to expectation and be VERY clear about issues of payment and intellectual property ownership. LEGALLY clear. Otherwise you're just setting yourself up for some serious ugliness to occur later on.

I personally would never even consider volunteering for something like this unless there were legitimate legal documents drawn up by actual lawyers specifying what I own and don't own and what I can expect in the event any money changes hands.

Just to be devil's advocate for a minute, here's an example: you tell me "I need a plucky adventure chick with a wacky alien sidekick" and I design one. Does that mean that I've basically given you a gift of original art and design for nothing in return? Do I now relinquish all and future claims and use of the design? Even if your movie never gets made? Do I ever regain use of my design, to sell to another client, use for personal promotion or submit to Spectrum? What happens if it's a massive success and action figures get made? Do I get a piece of that? Or is all I get a warm "thank you" and the knowledge that I participated in something huge while I work at my dish washing job?

Just things that everyone should think about before accepting original designs or submitting original designs to anyone...

Again, just my thoughts on the subject in the hopes that they'll be helpful.

[Atherium]

Drew I agree with you on many points and trust us that when we say we have considered all possible options, we have.

Yes, everyone who is brought onto the team at this point will be guaranteed positions when the budget has been confirmed. The part that you are missing is that the investors understand this is the creative process which is being taken and if they have a problem with the creative team then they dont have a script to purchase. It is simple as that, this is a team effort, everyone is under contract and legal obligation to support each other in every way possible.

Those who we meet through the interviewing process which we may see as a potential risk to the team both personally and professionally will not find themselves being asked for a second interview. It seems kind of cut throat but everyone on this team already understands the commitments. It is not a quesion of "Let", they have no choice.

If someone ends up feeling cheated then we will deal with those particual situations as they arise. And of course it will probably happen so why bring that aspect up?

You are right, artists do get the run around all the time but the heads of the creative teams for this project ARE ARTISTS. They know how to look after their own and anticipate situations because they are heavily experienced in this particular field.

The NDA's are standard, all artists understand this and realize it comes with the job. Artists who think they should be able to use unreleased copy written material as self promotion need to understand that it just isnt a possibility to do so without risk to the project. Nuff said.

That last paragraph is based on a personal set of questions which are very legitimate and would be taylored specifically into your contract because we understand that not everyone has the same experience professionally nor do they have the same professional agendas. Those with concerns before being brought onto the project will be delt with for both the artists and employers benefit prior to any final confirmations which would or would not take place.

The understanding is this. You are being brought onto this project as a non paid freelance artist who will be placed specifically into a section of the creative team. Now this TEAM's production is a cohesive package which comes with the script, there is no bargaining here, no half way deals, no bs. From our current team's perspective the designs are one half and the words are the other. With the contracts we have being made up right now I am confident that the artists involved will be more then satisfied. The writer and team have put their ass's on the line and the potential to simply just sell the script as just the script but instead they know how important the look and visuals to this feature is and have taken the risk of not selling it at all because of this commitment, we only ask the same of the visual team.

Drew you are missing the point, the idea is to produce enough work so that the investors can't say no, there is not current cash flow outside of paying for the legalities of all of this to make sure the second phase moves as smoothly as possible with a team of this size.

Thanks for your concerns guys, hopefully you asked some questions others were and we were able to give them the answers.

[Drew]

"Drew you are missing the point, the idea is to produce enough work so that the investors can't say no,"

You can't be serious. This whole thing strikes me as so much of a clusterfuck that I don't know what to say.