Hatfield Court

Hatfield

Nr Leominster

Herefordshire

HR6 0SD

Phone: 01568 760333

April 1999

Dear George

Gypsy Songs Video

I’ve discovered I’ve been using the wrong address for the Gypsy Council all these years (missing out Aveley). A letter has just come back through the ‘Return to Sender’ and that must explain why one or two other things have gone astray, like the David Essex video with Esther Rantzen.

Anyway, as you know, I have to submit our accounts to the Arts 4 Everyone people by the end of May and at the moment I’m having a tussle with my accounts for the financial year just ended and having a problem about getting my figures to add up.

According to my figures the following money should have been received so far by the Gypsy Council:

agreed July ’97 Arts 4 Everyone £3,750

agreed June ’98 Leader II £1,342

agreed Sept ’98 Elmley £2,000

Total: £7,092 *

And the following is still to be paid to the Gypsy Council on their approving our final accounts:

Arts 4 Everyone £1,250

Leader II £1,081

making a grand total of all monies to be received as:

GRAND TOTAL £9,423

On present estimates, the film is going to be about £3,000 over this budget and I’m happy to advance this sum out of my own resources as, according to our original agreement, I can recoup it through sales:

(300 units sold @ £10 = £3,000

or 600 units sold @ £5 = £3,000)

However, I am not clear at the moment how much of the monies now owed us (i.e. £7,092 marked with an * above) have actually reached the Gypsy Council.

If any of the three donors have not paid up I ought to chase them up as they are long overdue.

So, do you think you could confirm for me whether all of that £7,092 has reached the Gypsy Council? (I think that there’s some sort of rule, at any rate as regards A4E and Leader II, that money must be claimed before a certain date or it is forfeit.)

A question of less importance is how much of the film money I’ve so far had myself on from the Gypsy Council. My impression is that I’ve had £4,700 and the answer is somewhere buried in my accounts files so that I could dredge it out but if you have a quick access to these figures that would be really useful as it would save me a few hours dredging through my accounts file, and I’m trying to get a sense of my credit/debt situation.

If at any point the Gypsy Council itself is suffering a cash flow problem there is probably no ultimate problem as payment to me on from the Gypsy Council can be staggered, or put against future sales. But now is the time I really am having to pay out a lot, so it would be really useful.

However, by the end of next week I will have parted with a further £1,000 per week for editing + editor, plus another £500-£1,000 later needed for promotion and premiere plus actually publishing the tape, and at that time if no more money has come this way I will have advanced about £7,750+ of my own money to the film and will be getting very close to the end of my own resources!

At this moment the film is being on-lined on an AVID 77 Digital editor and I’ve got the day off.

Don’t hesitate to query any of my figures as I’m not the most brilliant of accountants. And sorry to have laden you with these questions at a time when I know you’re already very busy.

The two important questions are on this page, in bold italics.

Lots of warm regards to you and Charlie.

Jeremy

P.S. Is it possible that Leader II have not made their first payment yet? I know they’re very slow as they are a government department (!) Luckily I know the man who runs our local office quite well so can get after him on a friendly basis immediately if needed.

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