Financing / Crowdfunding : Paying for IMDb credits as an actor by Ruben Whitter

"A fun tool that can be a little bit helpfull" yet it's of "no value"? What do you mean by this? And do you think it's harmful to bbuy such credits?

Take $$$ MONEY over imdb credit. It’s a con job by con people if they’re exchanging imdb credit for free labor.

"an extra" is not acting work, and casting directors/directors can see the difference on your resume. No one legit really cares about imdb, it's for the public, until you get into the lead roles...

I am only commenting, because I read Willem's comments. I have to be honest, calling IMDb, "a fun tool that can be a little bit helpful," is just bizarre. If you're an actor and you're not listed on IMDb, then your projects are not real. IMDb lists everything from features to shorts, and your film projects don't meet the qualifications, well, you're not cutting it. Every producer I know, goes to the site. It's more than just a database. It's your resume. Especially on the Indie level. If you're not at a studio, you're absolutely using it. But, again, the key to me is that if your projects aren't listed, how real can they be? By using IMDb, that fun little tool, you can find out a person was Nominated in any Festival from the Northeast Film Festival to Sundance to FLICKERS Rhode Island. Or if they won. You can see their reel and resume. Pictures of them on-set working with Oscar-Winners. And, Willem, if you think that's not valuable, I'm not sure where you're working. If you think exchanging resumes, giving the information needed (and where it's not validated) is better, then good luck. But, this is absolutely bad advice. Amazon, BTW, owns IMDb, Withoutabox (one of the two major Festival Submission sites) and CreateSpace. You should look into all that.

Maybe I don't understand what you are saying? Someone is asking you for money to 'hire' you for free? IMDB is of some value here in the US, but I see that you're in the UK. I have no idea how valuable it is/isn't over there.

Hi guys, just a polite yet very simple explanation to this.

I do believe that everyone commenting seems to be misunderstanding Rubens comment and also, Ruben you have slightly misunderstood the credit that these indiegogo pages are referring to.

I have accessed funding through Crowdfunding platforms like indiegogo in the past and what these filmmakers are doing is offering rewards for donating toward their funding goal. these rewards for your donation vary, some are merchandise from the film/project that is being funded, posters, autographed merchandise and the big talking point here - CREDITS in the film/project which will be on iMDB - this is usually as an 'Exec-Producer' or 'Associate Producer' as you have helped to FUND the film/project.

Ruben they are not offering you a 'fake' Actor's credit, they are offering you a producer credit for the donation that they are asking you for to help make their movie.

So everyone commenting perhaps just take a deep breath!

Ruben, as a Producer I would recommend that you continue to find auditions and fight for the roles, thats how you will build your resume' - through the project you work on as an Actor, some in the beginning you might be doing for free or expenses but you will build that resume' and be able to demand payment as your experience and talent speaks for itself.

Peace out. Iain.

If they want you to donate/fund for a part, why not a role that's front and center with lines? Booking extras is difficult on lo/no budget productions and is a great crowdfunding perk for friends, family, and other "regulars" looking to participate for the thrill of being part of a film.

I agree with Iain. Keep auditioning. Don't give up. Being an extra won't help your reel if you're serious about acting. (Extras don't have lines, right?) The professional extras I've met do it for bills and networking while they continue to audition for speaking/starring roles.

Lol. The hustle is real...

I think the issue with IMDB is that its so easy to manipulate these days and there is very little accountability for the information that is posted to the site. Prior to the Amazon by out they tried their "best" to vet as much information as possible, these days you can more or less post anyone to anything that you'd like. Then you have to consider the "vaule" of an IMDB credit, is there any wonder why its always the first thing people are willing to give away for free?

I would agree with William that there are much better ways of finding information than IMDB, especially now that its running the risk of almost becoming a social media site. It's good to look up who may of been in what, but at the same time always taken with a grain of salt.

As for being an extra, it has its place. Being an extra on a professional set can give you a world of experience in set ops, as well as decorum, that you'll never get in books. Plus sometimes extra roles get bumped up. Happens more times than you would think. Plus it can help pay the bills in the interim until something else comes along, just make sure you don't let it become all consuming.

You make some great points Rian Bishop

Sam Borowski Sam Borowski , Bollywood director Shyam Benegal had over 900 legitimate credits (including documentaries, publicity shorts, adverts and so on), paid work, before he did his first "feature." The vast majority of those credits are not on IMDB.

The director of Benji had a career making industrial/corporate films before Benji. But, they're not listed there. It was professional stuff, he was making a living from it, yet it's not listed there.

Then there's that guy, Ridley Scott, who did a few films you may have heard of. How many adverts did he work on before he did something that gives him an IMDB credit? I think he probably lost count.

So many professionals, especially in advertising and corporate film (and also educational) don't need IMDB.

Now, looking up an unknown actors IMDB credits is a joke. The site was built for academics, who are only concerned about films in the cinema and on TV. It's useful if you can't remember the name of Tarantino's cinematographer in his second film, or how many times Hamlet was adapted, things like that. It is useless for hiring people or anyone in the actual film industry.

I have hundreds of shorts that I could get on IMDB if I paid money to the right festivals.

Short films on IMDB tend to be those that waste money on Withoutabox festivals. It's a big con job, and I would not hire anyone who promotes the site. It's like the "Who's who of engineers."

P.S. Ed Wood has more IMDB credits than I do.