SIPA and Barcroft Media

I worked with Sipa for about a year and it was a disaster but if you travel extensively you may do well with them. They are a large agency but their operation in the States is increasingly geared toward red carpet celeb crap.

I shot a few jobs for them 3-4 years ago, and had HUGE problems being paid. Not sure I’d ever work with them again.

I still haven’t been paid. Bastards!

Good to know the information, as for red carpet crap, unfortunately, at least here, half the kiosk is red carpet gossip, and the other side 5-8 football daily´s, and 6 or so newspapers, then some magazines.  



When there is only 3 or so magazines for current events, and 12 plus or so on red carpet crap, that is the sad trend of things.  In the last several years, I have been doing a lot of traveling doing the film festival and music circuit, and it has been paying my bills. 



I won´t do stalking restaurants, airports, muesum´s etc, have a 3 yeard old son I would rather kick a football around, and there is another on the way so the easy cash while I handle the school schedule, laundry, etc, being a Mr. Mom is nice.  The red carpet if its here in BCN,  is what I call Gimme´s, 2 euros for a there and back again Metro ride, a couple of hours at a social function event, maybe some beers with the talent, and home again.  I also put the sports work in the same category, gimme´s, 2 hours of football work and I have some cash in the pocket.  Easy work, and there is a schedule I can adjust  while juggling or being a Mr. Mom who has some small ones who need and deserve the attention they need.  Now I have travelled back to the US for festival work as well as to other parts of Spain, and possible Germany this December, that part, the travel can be hard while I am away from my son and girlfriend.



It´s important to find out who is on timely schedule  with your check, who will give you the highest pay for your work, who will support you logistically, and push your work in a tight market.  



I have never done anything for SIPA, and flirted with Barcroft Media, and I cannot really give an objective advice, as I only turned in some photos of Rocco Siffredi from an erotic film festival and some odd and ends for that festival for Barcroft, nothing more.



I believe Barcroft is fairly new and have been recruiting via Lightstalkers for more content providers, and I noticed some stuff on their website today of the Drew Barrymore and boyfriend in Brazil, or some kind of football controversy. 

I need to set the record straight as regards my time with SIPA PRESS in New York. My posts above were rather hasty and unconsidered. They responded and paid me and it was a little more than I had anticipated. I sometimes regret having left Sipa so soon, after only one year. I don’t think that was enough time to really establish a good footing. The staff in the New York office are terrific and extremely welcoming in availing of their facilities. However, I think I entered the relationship with a somewhat flawed expectation and I have since learned a lot about how the agency world works.
Sipa are a large organization with global reach and should you spend enough time with them I’m sure you could generate plenty of sales.
Apologies to Sipa for my hasty remarks. And thanks to Gary for talking things through with me.
Good luck.

About working for Barcroft Media, they are an interesting company but their contract is rather harsh. They pay a day rate, but then want you to sign a contract in which they share copyright with you and pay you nothing from any syndicated sales or additional payment for space rate over shoot rate. They offer:

“BARCROFT MEDIA retains the exclusive right to distribute the material for financial gain for the next 50 years and will retain 100% of all gross sales of said material”

In other words, they take your copyright for 50 years for a day rate. That is unfortunate, especially coming from an agency run by a photographer who is also a member of Lightstalkers.

I have been associated with SIpa for over a year and I had a few assignment. They represent me for my reportages. I haven’t had trouble being paid and I don’t have anything but good things to say about communication with the staff.

As for their “red carpet” part of representation, it is the market trend (sniff).

I wish I have made more sale on “Serious social feature” but is it them to blame or my choice of subject?

It seems that Madagascan children working in mines between gangster instead of going to school, the social and health price of sticking to traditional rice culture in a third world country or Algerian nomads having nutrition problem because of motorized tourism chasing away their hunting games, are no easy features to sell in these days.

I wish I could write english text instead of french to accompany these stories. Maybe i would have more sale. Anyway, I don’t know if it is SIPA, the market or my choices. But I can say that they are quick to pay assignment and I have a good professional relationship with them.

Hey, Marc, your English is fine. I know my written French could not be as good without a little resurrection…

It seems this discussion is more about Sipa than Barcroft Media? Perhaps a sepaate discussion should be started about Barcroft? Any feeback?

I haven’t being paid by Sipa. I am in to put the bad clients that don’t pay. So search for this topic here in lightstalkers and put your experience.

Thanks Neal.

Indeed my english is correct for short text (with some mistakes) and I am comfortable to do extensive journalistic captions, but not as comfortable to do long text (5000 -10 000 words). I think those kind of text need rythm and storytelling caracteristics.

As for the topic of this discussion, since Alexandra is living in Paris, she most probably wouldn’t do business with SIPA-USA, which all of us who have answered worked with, but with the head-office in Paris. I did two assignment for SIPA-Paris and got paid quickly, first for my shooting rates and then for my copyright royalties as the stories got published. True I had to ask my NY editor to check with the bookkeeper if I made any sales in the last months, but then I received a check within two weeks and that was my royalties of a sale.

Best