Eligibility and Application

Standby accepts self-produced, non-commercial productions by individual makers or non-profit organizations only. Work for hire or any form of commercial work is not eligible. Projects funded by the individual, a non-profit organization, a foundation, or a government agency usually qualify to access Standby's services. To register your project please complete the online form.

Scheduling

When you use Standby, you must conduct all initial transactions with the Standby Program staff. Do not contact the studio directly regarding transactions for your project unless you are instructed to do so.   Inform the scheduling person of all source formats. The more you can tell us about your technical needs the better we can serve you.

Deadlines

We operate on a standby basis. This means that we are subject to being bumped by commercial projects. If you do have a deadline, inform our staff; we will try to accommodate your needs as best we can. You may want to make secondary arrangements in the event that we cannot accommodate you within a certain time frame. Keeping a window free around this time is also important. Scheduling 2 weeks in advance is suggested. 

Access Fee

Standby charges an annual access fee of $85 for Individual Artists and $150 for Institutions and Organizations. The fee must be paid prior to the beginning of a job.

Deposit

We require a 50% advanced deposit based on the estimated cost of the job. Time cannot be held and work will not be done without sufficient funds on deposit. Personal checks must be submitted at least one week in advance. There is a $25 service charge on all bounced checks.

Billing

After the edit, your editor will fill out a job card and ask for your signature. Look it over carefully before you sign. Your signature is verification of the accuracy of the job card. The studio will then send the job card to our office, where we will issue an invoice and send it to you for your final approval. If at the end of your project you have money in your account we will issue you a refund check at your request. At some of our co-operating facilities, the editor may not obtain your signature at the end of a job session. You are still responsible for payment for all services rendered.

Storage

Bring to the edit session all video and audio materials needed for your edit including the rough cut. Storage is available on a very limited basis only. You will be asked to take all materials with you at the completion of your edit. You are responsible for the organization of your materials; neither Standby nor the studio assumes liability for these materials or for their safe storage. All materials that you bring to the studio must be labeled with your name, phone number, project name and the Standby Program's name.

Cancellations

Please let us know as far in advance as possible if you need to cancel or postpone your edit date. Cancellations must be made at least 24 hours in advance. Failure to give us this consideration will result in a charge for one hour of editing time. Excessive or persistent lateness will also be charged as edit time.

Breaks & Overtime

Editors at Standby observe union working conditions. Your editor is allowed to take a one-hour lunch break. The editor may choose to break up this time, taking shorter breaks more frequently; s/he will inform you of break periods. Please treat your editor with respect. You will be working as a team during the duration of your edit and will make the working relationship difficult and unproductive if you put undue amounts of pressure on your editor. Providing food for the editor during the session is a standard courtesy and is always appreciated.

Credits

The Standby Program is a non-profit organization; as such our continued visibility is crucial to maintaining the private and public funding we receive. We strive to keep our fees to artists as low as possible for access and fiscal sponsorship services. In exchange we ask that you give Standby as prominent a credit as possible. Where possible we ask that you include Standby's logo, which we can send to you as an electronic file.

For post-production or preservation services:

Services
(specify: Preservation, Editing, Color Correction, Audio, etc)
Provided by
The Standby Program
At Name of Participating Studio

Please don't forget to credit the editors who worked on your project as well.

For fiscal sponsorship:

Fiscal Sponsorship Provided by
The Standby Program
www.standby.org

To help us continue making our services available credit should appear in the credit rolls of videos, films, in exhibition materials, on websites and promotional materials.