FAQs

No. THECARTEL is an agency that represents many established CG and post-production studios. We do have a core production and supervisory team that leads projects and plays a major role in productions, many a times, even before the CG studios come on board. Think of us as a super team that you can reach out to in the earliest stages and then rely upon throughout the project.

You are in the right place. THECARTEL has producers in-house, who will help you navigate through the maze of CGI and device a sound production plan for you. We go beyond that, and manage the project for you till it’s delivered.

That’s a common sentiment, especially in the VFX industry, as there hasn’t yet been an effort to standardize services and terms of engagement historically leaving both sides (Clients and Vendors) to fend for themselves and aggressively look out for their own interests at the expense of the other’s objectives. This is not the case with other sectors of the creative industry or other industries where agencies and aggregation services are trusted and increasingly depended on for quality output (For example: CAA, UTA, Upwork, Airbnb, Fiverr, Uber, Canva etc)

THECARTEL is well placed and determined to close that ever widening gap between the Clients and Vendors and shifting the focus to the singular objective of supporting the project in the best way possible. In that respect we make sure what’s right for the project is achieved.

This is a valid concern as distance and lingual differences can sometimes make even simple tasks extremely difficult or at the very least time consuming if not handled effectively. THECARTEL has been outsourcing for over 5 years across cultures, time-zones and diverse projects from long-term feature films to extremely short-term advertising projects. We have a multilingual team that has learned through prior mistakes what works and what doesn’t when it comes to cross border outsourcing. Listen to our advice and you will see the project go smoother than what you would have experienced with a local studio.

Not to mention, our recommendation could in fact be a local studio if it’s suitable to your project. Remember we only recommend the best possible process for your project.

Depends on the project. Our vendor studios have established supervisors and directors who make sure the quality delivered is top notch as promised and THECARTEL doesn’t need to add another level of review. When the project is big on the other hand and requires multiple vendors at various stages of production, then THECARTEL sets up a “Supervision and Production Hub” dedicated to your project that manages quality checks and consistency and provides additional support to our vendors and clients on the project amongst other things.

But please remember – You still have to play the role of a client and conduct your own quality checks and approvals. 

We understand your time is valuable, so we offer flexibility. You have a choice to make contracts directly with the CG studios that THECARTEL recommends on different terms that each of the studios work with. OR you can make a single contract with THECARTEL and we can handle the administrative work on the subcontracts for you. The cost to you remains the same except that there are slight differences owing to taxation based on which country the vendors are located in.

Depending on the extent of the change and its repercussions on the production input and time, we need to issue a change order (an additional cost). In most cases the changes are minor and don’t incur any additional costs but in cases where the direction changes so as to redo the work we put the effected shots on hold and help work out a solution that works for both parties.

We have yearly contracts or project-based commissions under THECARTEL contracts from our vendors that include standard project management expenses. Unless special services are requested of us for example – Hiring a director or other recruitment activities, creating pitches and treatments, special onset visits which are not part of a contract or travel/lodging allowances where applicable. Any cost due to THECARTEL remains transparent and brought to your notice before the activity takes place.

The vendors we represent have been with us for a long time and any new entrants to the roster are vetted well and understand how important our purpose is to them and to the industry. Hence, it’s also part of our legal contract terms with the vendors to avoid such a scenario. However, there might be cases where such a transgression occurs that is beyond our control. We would humbly request you to not entertain any such requests and notify us as soon as you can so we can take appropriate action. This also helps protect you by not having to deal with someone who has acted unethically and shields from future harm the reputations of other vendors we represent.

Drop us a line and one of our producers will revert back as quickly as possible. Click here.