Composer's Expenses
Composer's Expenses
I guess it depends on how THEY define composer's expenses.
But I would caution you about accepting deals like this. Basically you are assuming their business risk by taking a job on these terms. They are saying, if we're successful, you get paid, if not, you've worked for free (minus expenses). You are not the Producer of the project so it is not fair for you to have to assume any business risk for the project's success or failure. What if the project is never released or the production company goes bankrupt? You should see yourself as a vendor offering your services to the production company regardless of the success/failure of the project.
As far as what are composer expenses. Usually, in a deal where it is the composer's obligation to produce and deliver the final master, it means the composer must book the sessions, schedule the musicians and mix and master the final master. So to do this you have spent time getting the sessions booked, interfacing with the musicians and recording studio's schedules (a lot of work), creating parts for the musicians, then attending the recording and final mixing sessions. The studio time is your expense, the musicians costs are your expense. But your time executing and managing all the details of the session is also your expense. Like a lawyer, you should bill for your time (maybe not use lawyer's rates though). In a deal where you deliver the final master, you are really the project manager for the music soundtrack. So to submit expenses, it would be studio and related costs, musician and releated costs, and time spent.
If you are creating the soundtrack in your personal studio and there aren't studio costs or other musician costs then your expenses are much less. You can bill for the time spent creating the project. On a deal where there really isn't any payment except for the promise of future sales, then you're really saying you are foregoing your creative fee (the actual cost of your services) until the project earns some money. I would ask for compensation for time spent.
If they are considering giving you a piece of future sales, you should look at something to compare against. What have they released in the past, what did it earn? Honestly though, I would steer clear of this type of arrangement. I mean, yes, John Williams, gets points on the future earnings of the films he's involved in, but he is also getting a pretty substantial upfront payment for his creative fee too. He's in demand enough that HE can ask for points on earnings. It's to his benefit.
As a composer, you have spent a lot of money creating a personal studio and invested time learning the equipment, learning how to produce a recorded master that is professional and that will function as a soundtrack in a film. Those have been your costs-of-doing-business. It's no different than the local McDonald's franchise owner that has invested a lot of money upfront to open his store. He doesn't then give his food away for free. He has to recover his costs. You have invested your time and money, now it's time to be compensated for your investment.
