Tito is the best part of a rather sad story about creativity. What it is and what it is not.
Things that bug me at night or during the day… what made me sad after the deal. Dealing with band managers and big wig film people that act like sugar but are not to be trusted. I am learning the hard way and if you are nice, they will screw you. It is so contrary and confusing.
Last year having someone from Universal email me about an image from Flipside to use on a T-Shirt for a film was an interesting story.
The first point being is I was amazed that Universal sought out original source. Next the image was found on a T-shirt for sale at a store in Los Angeles.
The person who used the image from Flipside took it and just used it. He made a silk- screen and sold it for maybe twenty bucks. A copycat for profit. He was not creative enough to come up with his own original design but ripped off someone else’s work.
Next there is the designer who wanted the image to be used on a T-shirt for a big wig film.
This designer most likely got the credit for designing a T-shirt with an image which received permission from Universal to use. That is because they found me, original source. The designer was not creative enough to come up with their own original design but ripped off someone else’s work.
I only got $200.00 for letting the designer use the design originally from Flipside Fanzine. A picture taken by Al Flipside. Since he is not around to defend his work, I try and do it for him.
At the time images were taken to put in a Fanzine, created by fanatics of their punk scene. It was done to support and promote bands when no one else did. Flipside hardly did it for money but for the love of a scene. It was a hell of a lot of fun. We got our perks in many different ways.
Yet I sure would like to know how much the designer got for taking someone else’s image and putting it on a T-shirt. A copycat for profit. When you think about it, it kind of makes no creative sense.
I am sorry that seems like a pretty strange way to make money. In the film the actor covers the T-shirt anyway.
Both the guy who sold the T-shirt at the store in Los Angeles and the designer come from the same bag. A rotten one for sure or maybe since I was dealing with Universal, I might have asked for more money, maybe ten grand. Hey what is ten grand to a big wig company like Universal? Maybe I should have told them to go screw too. Yet it was exciting to be part of a film in a very very very very small way.
In conclusion an uneasy thread to pull and reflect upon.