Code of Ethics

Austin Film Meet Code of Ethics

General

Treat all people with respect. No name-calling, racial slurs and discrimination based on age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion or financial status. This obviously excludes certain casting restrictions.

Be nice. Rude, hateful, or harmful behavior is never necessary. This includes verbal bullying and threats against others, whether spoken, written or texted. This does not mean you should refrain from expressing yourself honestly. Rather be tactful, caring & considerate. Treat others as you wish to be treated. Simon says, “use your words.”

No inappropriate sexytime. Sexual harassment of any kind will not be tolerated. This includes casting couch situations. It’s harassment if the other person doesn’t like it.

No spamming. We must not spam people for any reason. We do not add people to email mailing lists without their permission either. We do not send emails or social media messages in mass on a regular basis, except for consent-required subscription lists. We use basic internet courtesy at all times.

Be good to gear (& locations). We are respectful of other people’s property and belongings at all time. Theft, vandalism or destruction is never cool. We care for others things as if they were our own.

Violence is not a problem-solver. We believe violence encourages more violence and we do not promote violence as a problem-solving solution. We only like violence when it’s pretend. So, keep your cool and take out your temper in your movies.

Making Movies

All producers should provide a basic deal memo for all cast and crew members that includes shoot dates, locations, compensation, specific job position and description of responsibilities.

Filmmakers should respect locations and leave them in the same or better condition.

Actors and crew should be fed a meal if they work more than 6 hours in a single day. Never ask your cast & crew to “brown bag it” or bring their own food, especially if they are working for no or low pay. Instead feed them well, even if you have to get food donations or sponsors.

Try to schedule at least 10 hours between consecutive shoot days, with a minimum 10 hour turn-around. If a location requires long travel time, consider that when planning for necessary sleeping hours.

Try to keep shoot days under 12 hours. Exhaustion can cost dearly, especially lives when people are tired.

As professionals we think you should notify the appropriate individual(s) as soon you know that you will be late or won’t be able to make your commitment.

Austin Film Meet asks that if you utilize our events, services or website in the making of your project, please consider giving our organization a special thanks credit, as well as appropriate screen credit to any Austin Film Meet supporters who help with your project.

In shooting environments with temperatures exceeding 95° F, we recommend the following safety requirements:

• Provide a “cooling off” station with air conditioning and shade and access by foot within a very short walking distance to primary shooting area.

 

• Provide plenty of water (both chilled and room temp) at all times while in hot temperatures.

 

• Provide access to chilled electrolytes beverages, such as Gatorade or Power-Aid, at all times on a heated set.

 

• Provide seating on set in case cast or crew needs to rest.

 

• Provide heavy shade from tree or umbrella on set for actor to rest under between takes and crew as necessary.

 

• Provide cooling off breaks for everyone on set, no less than once every 80 minutes for at least 10 minutes.

 

• Provide cool, wet, wash rags available for crew while on set.

 

• Pay special attention to each individual. Check each person frequently to make sure they are okay, still responsive and not experiencing heat stroke or other heat-related difficulties. Often filmmakers won’t disrupt shooting and will work silently until they pass out. So, check on them.

We recommend the following crafts service tips:

• Provide water, but not bottled. We recommend using a reusable 5 gallon jug and individual reusable thermoses.
• At least 2 additional beverage options including 1 non-soda option
• Crackers
• Fruit
• 3rd snack option

Filmmakers should provide finished project on DVD or as a digital file to all cast, crew and individuals who have been promised a DVD within 30 days of project completion.

Austin Film Meet cares about our Earth, so we do our best to be green and make smarter, more sustainable choices every step of the way. While we understand, you may not always be able to make the greener choice, we urge you to incorporate the consideration of greener options in your normal filmmaking process.

Being environmentally conscious, we recommend as a minimum, recycle all recyclable materials discarded on set or as a result of our projects, give preference to the use of reusable bottles or reusable cups over bottled water, and avoid individually packaged items and Styrofoam.

Live weapons are NEVER acceptable to use on a set. In certain occasions, blanks can be used, but live ammo should NEVER be on set with weapons. Accidents happen. More about firearms.

As artists, Austin Film Meet respects the rights of other artists and does not use copyrighted work without appropriate permissions. There are many musicians and composers who are part of Austin Film Meet who are happy to help other filmmakers find/make/purchase the right music and the rights for the music for their projects. This also includes using copyrighted artwork.

Finally, we believe in a pay-it-forward attitude. We believe in helping each other help each other, acknowledging that giving is as much of a gift to the giver as to the recipient.