We cancelled the shoot. What do we owe the crew?

A cancelled or postponed shoot leaves you with a compensation figure for every crew member, and whoever audits the budget will ask where each one came from. In Splinde, a compensation line is a Cost Item whose Fee points with @ at the crew line's Fee, with the percentage held in a Variable, so one edit moves every line on the same scale.

A cancelled or postponed shoot usually raises four separate cases that producers often run together: cancellation, postponement, a weather hold, and option days held but never used. Each one is the day rate times a compensation percentage, and the percentage comes from your crew agreements and the notice given. Splinde carries the arithmetic once you know the figure. This is a modelling guide, not legal advice.

Model one compensation line

1. Create a Section for the case so it reads separately from the planned budget.

2. Add a General Cost Item per affected position, or one line per group of positions on the same rate.

3. In Fee, type @, open the Cost Items tab and pick that crew line's Fee. The compensation now follows the day rate instead of repeating it.

4. Click the unit label above the middle number field, search Percentage in Search Unit and pick it. Do this before typing a rate, so the figure you enter is the percentage itself.

5. Open the Variables tab, click the +, choose Create new Variable, create a Variable of type % Percentage holding the percentage that applies, then type @ in the middle field and pick it.

6. In Amount, type the number of days the case covers.

For an allowance across the whole crew, type @ in Fee, open the Sections tab and pick the crew Section.

Compare the cancelled case against the planned one

Build the cancellation beside the planned budget, so the plan stays intact.

1. Scroll the budget editor to the right until the Add Scenario card is visible.

2. The card shows which budget the copy is based on. Leave it on Main and click it.

3. In that column, take out the work that is not happening and add the compensation lines.

4. The column header carries its difference against Main, as a signed money figure or percentage.

Good to know

• You choose the percentage that matches the notice given and enter it in the Variable. Change it there and every compensation line on that scale follows.

• Keep the four cases as separate lines or Sections, so each stays a figure you can defend.

Related

• The client wants a four-day and a five-day version. Can I avoid five spreadsheets?

• What does the extra shoot day actually cost, in money and percent?

• Can I point one line at another line's value?

• I want to try a different rate in one option without touching the others

• A contribution rate changed this year. How do I update every line at once?