WARNING for anyone thinking of filming or Hiring BEIGE MEDIA
Beige Media / Beige IO / Beige Corporation is an on-demand production company that contracts local creatives (usually at ridiculously low pay) and then outsources the post production work overseas. The problem... Beige is notorious for never paying on time.
Beige usually has the same generic posts on Craigslist that read in part like:
"1x dedicated professional videographer
Professional 4K camera
Gimbal & tripod required
Horizontal 4K recording
All unedited RAW footage required (no editing needed)"
For Videographers / Creatives considering shooting for Beige:
- Do NOT send them any footage until you get the full payment. Make sure this is noted in the contract. If they ask for proof of work, send them very low resolution watermarked versions. If you send them the footage before payment, the burden will be on you to get them to pay you, and they always have endless excuses as to why the payment is delayed.
- Require a timeframe in the contract for getting payment (like NET 30)... though the probability is high that Beige will NEVER pay you in time.
For Clients thinking of hiring Beige Media:
- Do NOT pay them in full until you receive all the deliverables. Beige might ask you to pay upfront in full, but you'll need leverage in the future to get them to deliver.
- Require a timeframe in the contract for deliverables.
- Get the videographers' contact information. If you haven't received the deliverables in time, reach out to the videographer to inquire about the situation (always crosscheck with the videographer any excuses that Beige gives you regarding delay of deliverables.)
If the videographer is still holding onto the footage because they haven't been paid, and you are not making any progress with Beige, you might end up having to pay the videographer the balance to deliver and maybe even edit your content. This is why you don't pay Beige in full upfront.
*** Edit / update: some commenters have been warning me about Beige suing me for defamation. While I have receipts, this post is merely a review about Beige's habit of not paying their contractors in time and what said contractors can do to get paid. It is not about Beige's quality of work or anything else about their business. But if they would like to sue me, I have no problem proving everything in court and making everything official.