The struggle is real. Contract work often means gambling with each new client and gig. While you might get paid half upfront, you usually work without any guarantee—billing upon completion. That means a lot of uncertainty—especially for small video crews and owners/operators who rely on each project and its corresponding cash flow to pay bills, buy equipment, and stay in operation.
For their part, clients may have a net 90 invoicing policy, a small accounting department, or an unstable financial situation. Often, you’re the one at risk if any of those operations hit a snag. So you get a signed contract, do your best work, and hope your client follows through on their end of the deal.
The good news is that there is an alternative: You don’t have to rely on a handshake and a roll of the dice.
Three ways Crew Connection brings payment security to contract work
Problem one: Many companies, especially the big ones, have 90-day payment terms, meaning you could wait an extra 60 days to have that cash in hand.
Solution one: Crew Connection guarantees payment for crews in 30 days regardless of the client’s terms.
Problem two: Onboarding paperwork slows down the process of working with new clients. Setting up contracts and payment terms takes valuable time and often, different companies have different expectations for how and when they want to receive invoices.
Solution two: Crews invoice the same way every time (which happens to be very easy, by the way) regardless of who the shoot is for. Crew Connection takes care of the paperwork.
Problem three: Unfortunately, small companies without internal legal teams often get paid last or not at all when there’s a dispute or a client hits financial troubles. Some clients never pay. Who wants to waste time and money pursuing payment for previous work when you have new work to get to?
Solution three: Crews receive money for the project regardless of whether or not Crew Connection ever does.
The bottom line
Crews often bring new clients to us to make sure they get paid quickly even on their first project together. It benefits clients, too. We built our online database to make finding a crew fast and easy for clients and to make getting paid for contract work fast and easy for crews. Beyond that, it makes communication and record-keeping a breeze. It’s a win-win for both parties. We take the gambling out of contractor pay so crews can do great work, get paid quickly, and move on. Save the gambling for Vegas, baby!
About Crew Connection
Crew Connection puts a suite of marketing tools at your fingertips. Get your demo reels, stills, gear, awards, and more in front of the biggest clients all over the world—for free. At Crew Connection we pay video and post-production providers within 30 days of receiving your invoice so your work and your life are never interrupted. Need live assistance or want to add quality jobs to your pipeline? Our crew coordinators are on call around the clock. Sign in to Crew Connection, call 303-526-4900, or email info@crewconnection.com.
