Shooting fashion show for free and selling DVDs/photos.. need release forms?
 

I am working out a deal with a producer of an Asian fashion show to shoot the event for free and in return make a profit from the DVDs/photos sold to the models/guests. Would I need release forms from the models in the show?

Ah... the ol' shoot it for free and you can sell the copies to the models and guests trick.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the producer gets his copy for free and he told you it would be a great way for you to add to your demo reel/ portfolio.

In a nutshell, yes you need releases.

Jeff

I am not a lawyer but IMHO this is clearly a case where you'd need release from everyone involved, including the parents of any of the models under 18. If you were shooting as a stringer for a TV news broadcast you shouldn't need them - it would be news coverage - but since you plan to sell the DVDs this is clearly shooting for commercial purposes. In fact, depending on just who the models are you might find you need to pay them as well - amateurs or students from a local modeling school probably not but if any of them are actual working models I would expect to hear from their agents - after all, appearing in shows, photos, and videos is how they earn their living. Plus be sure to post signs to the effect that filming is going on and entering constitutes a release of their image to cover shots of the audience. Oh, and don't forget licensing the music as well - the promoter's performance license for the show (if he has one) doesn't NOT cover your using it in the soundtrack of your video.

Sounds like the producer is trying to get a video of his show to use for his own purposes without paying you for your work and in the process shifting all the costs, headaches, and legal risks of making the video over to you while giving you the hope of eventually making a buck. Far better to do it as a "work for hire" - charging him $500 to shoot the show and turning the tapes over to him at the end of the night (as he hands you the cheque, not before) for him to do with as he wishes. If there's so much profit to be made selling the DVDs I'm sure he'll jump at the deal <grin>.