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Over the years, we have taken part in many tv and radio programmes, and we have appeared in numerous magazines, books and CD ROMs. On the whole, these have been pleasant experiences, but there have been a minority of media organisations who have manipilated us in pursuit of their own agenda. Therefore, we feel it appropriate to offer some guidelines about what we are, and are not, prepared to do in the future. 1. EXPEDITIONS If a tv company is prepared to fund an expedition (as UK's Channel 4 did, in 1998 - the Mexico expedition) then of course we will co-operate 'to order' - pieces to camera, voice-overs, establishing shots, and the like. However, our expeditions are usually self-financed. If a tv company wants to follow us, they must shoulder some of the expense, commensurate with the amount of disruption the filming will cause to the expedition's objectives, as well as either a proper honourarium for each of the people involved, or a donation to CFZ funds. Prospective media employers should realise that such activities are time-consuming, and that we are not prepared to waste time on them and disrupt the progress of an expedition that is wholly or in the main funded by ourselves. We would like to stress that this is not because we are being mercenary. Expeditions are costly (both in terms of finance and effort) and we feel that - especially because we are funded by private subscription - that 100 per cent of our effort should go into our quest rather than into making a television programme for which we are not being paid. 2. FILMING FIELDWORK IN THE UK During some of our most recent UK-based projects, most notably Martin Mere 2002 and Bolam 2003, we were inundated by requests for interviews and tv and radio appearances. We are happy to do these, but we are not prepared lightly to disrupt our activities in order to film television news pieces. If - as happened at Martin Mere 2002 - our activities are hampered by the presence of a tv news crew, who wouldn't let us get on with our work because they wanted to film us for a cable news programme (resulting in nearly half a day long) they can pay for the privilege. 3. THE WAY THE CFZ ARE PORTRAYED Although we take our work seriously, we are not po-faced about it. As anyone who has worked with us, read our publications, or seen us lecture will know, we do what we do with good humour. We are not averse to "playing around" for the cameras. However, we are not prepared to appear in programmes which make us look like idiots. Neither are we prepared to contribute to programmes which make our work appear trivial or silly. Finally, we are not prepared to appear in programmes which hold our lifestyle, personalities or physical imperfections up to ridicule. Yes, Richard is going bald and Jonathan is seriously overweight - these are not subjects for ridicule! 4. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES We can provide an integrated package at a competitive price. For example, a visting tv crew wishing to make a documentary about the Beast of Bodmin could be provided with eye-witnesses, locations, copyright-cleared photographs/video of the creature, a full itinary of places to visit, accomodation, car hire, etc, as well as the services of three experienced, funny and professional tv presenter. We are the only organisation in the world able to provide such a service, and we look foreward to hearing from you. 5. PAYMENTS We expect to be paid in English currency (GBP) within 30 days of the completion of our section of the project, unless otherwise agreed. We expect all expenses to be paid immediately, and preferably in cash. Prospective employers should realise that, although we are quite happy to go to London to do an interview, it is a 3 hour (minimum) train journey each way, and we require renumeration for at least one meal along the way. If the interview / work is to take place in the late afternoon or evening, overnight accomodation may be required. There is no fixed scale of appearance fees; these are negotiated on an individual basis, as are the fees for using material from our picture library.
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