Now, let’s talk about when you need the job to be finished. Wow. Really? That soon? Yeah, I can do it, but it’s a pretty tight schedule. You will have to get everything to me by tonight or I won’t be able to make the deadline. Let’s put in here the schedule when you need to get everything to me, right next to when I need to deliver. What’s that? Because if you don’t deliver what I need on time, I won’t be able to deliver on time and we need to be clear on that.

One last thing on the schedule. I’d like to point out this line in the contract that states that any approvals which take more than 24 hours will increase our deadline by the same amount of time or I will have to charge you rush fees.

Believe me, I don’t want to have to do that either, but I can’t keep missing dinner. You know how it is.

Right. So here’s the total. Ma’am, why are you crying? Do you need a tissue? Yes ma’am. I’m worth that much. No ma’am. I didn’t put the decimal in the wrong place. For small projects I invoice once I’m done, but on larger projects, such as this one, I need to get an advance and we’ll put the payment schedule right here on the contract.

We also need to include in the contract charges for expenses and supplies. Some of my projects have extra expenses such as freight and materials. If I buy the materials I will mark-up the cost of buying them. Why? Because I’m then investing in the project and the mark-up helps pay for the time it takes me to find and purchase the materials.

Now, how would you like me to deliver the finished work? Digitally? Hard prints? Carved into a granite slab? Very good. I’ll put that down right here.

I would like you to take a look at the rest of the contract, which covers rights, cancellation costs or kill fees, change orders, promotion, licensing and other boring stuff. Let me know if you have any questions.

You do? What a surprise… I mean, what would you like to know?

What if you cancel the project? Kill fees discuss how much I will bill you if you cancel this project and that is dependant on how much I have completed. No ma’am. It doesn’t matter if you change your mind and don’t want to cook in the new kitchen. I charge for the work I do, not what you do with it.

Facial Expressions by Mark Simon.

Yes ma’am. If you change your mind about any part of this project after you’ve given approval on it there will be change fees. If I get halfway through painting your living room and you decide you want it to be a different color, I will have to bill you for repainting it. While it may seem to you that this is what I do and you only want to pay for the finished product, my time is valuable and my rates are based on both the value of my work and the amount of time it should take me to do it. Changes take time. Even small changes add up.

No ma’am, I can’t start until you sign the contract. It is my work permit.

Yes ma’am, I’m glad you feel confident in me and like that I’m being upfront about everything and how professional I am in handling your project. Yes ma’am, this project should go very smoothly. Um… No ma’am. I’m a married man… but thank you for the compliment. My wife doesn’t approve of those kinds of side jobs.

Mark Simon is an award-winning animation producer and lecturer who is also the author of Facial Expressions, Producing Independent 2D Character Animation and Storyboards: Motion in Art. He can be found lurking around at www.FunnyToons.tv and may be reached at Mark@FunnyToons.tv. Mark’s books may be found and purchased at www.MarkSimonBooks.com.