Whether you went to film school or not, learning how to make movies is time consuming and super expensive. You had your big dreams of being the next big time screenwriter, director, producer while in school. So why give up those dreams to make someone else's come true? Working for credit on a project is never a good idea unless the project is actually going somewhere. Know the person you are dedicating a lot of time to before you sign on. Most of the time, another persons project is put together quickly and they beg, plea, borrow and steal to make that project happen at your expense. Films need money to get off the ground. People value you and judge you based on how much money you put into a project. Would Paranormal Activity ever have taken off as it did without the director putting in some money? Nope. If you don't have a budget for distribution and marketing, you will go nowhere. If you can't afford to pay the right people to make your film look professional, then you are just a man with a camera. You get so much more out of people when you pay them to do a job. I've worked on films where the director just plucked their unemployed movie enthusiasts friends to work for free because they had nothing else better to do. No wonder your camera and lighting kit got dropped and broken. If you are an emmy winning director in need of a PA to help on your project, you should pay them. Editing software costs money and so do the classes. If you must work for free, work with the pros. Forget the slow starters and the ones that have no means of getting their film off the ground. I know that it is tempting to work on a film because it is easy to get on, but you are doing yourself an injustice. I've worked on several film sets where I was hired as a script supervisor and nobody except me knew what a script supervisor does. They know the term, but don't know the job. So how are you learning if nobody is there to correct you? Be careful when asked to do multiply jobs on a film set. The only credit that works best for you is writer, director producer. Not PA, second assistant director, script supervisor and makeup artist. Sure it shows that you can multitask and have many talents, but it just reeks of low budget going nowhere film.
Anything Goes : Working for free on a film. Trust me, it's a bad idea. by Kristen Tinsley
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Add to that: Once you start working for free (or at ridiculously low rates), you become known as "The cheap guy", and every freeloader starts coming to you looking for a "deal" or to hoping to get you to work on spec. Frankly, I'd like to see people go to their mechanic, or barber, or whatever, and ask them to work for free. It's absurd.
I agree. I put off production on WOPS for 2 years until I raised enough funds and also for the BUTTONMAN short. People need money to pay bills and honestly, you get what you pay for.
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Exactly. The bank doesn't let me live in my home "on spec". The mortgage has to get paid. If some kid who lives with his parents wants to work on spec, that's fine. But the client will be getting a kid with little to no experience. You do indeed get what you pay for.
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And yet quid pro quo DOES exist. Most of our crew is getting paid - but they're not getting paid much. On the other hand, they get credit on a feature that IS going somewhere, and I've already stepped up to the plate to provide costumes for someone else's project who is on our team, as well as loaned out lenses and cameras to the director and camera crew. "Pay" doesn't always have to mean "money."
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disagree to a point. You have to start somewhere. Hands on experience is priceless and they can't teach you that in film school. I started that way and took all knowledge that I could working with crew that knew more than I did. I've had several PA's work for us for a mere $50/day. Very hard workers that I recommended to other productions. They worked their way up the ladder and several years later, one is a Director and another a DP getting paid well for their work. It depends on the project and the people you're working with. Just a thought.
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The bank doesn't let you live in your home "on spec". That's true enough. But if we take "on spec" to mean "until the money comes through" rather than "without payment of any kind", think of it this way. If you make something for sale and you aren't able to sell it, would you still expect to get paid? Of course not! Naturally, if you're an entrepreneur you take risks - such is the nature of entrepreneurialism - but in relation to that risk you get a higher return. That said, however, even if you are a minimum-wage dogs-body you are still taking a risk, although admittedly not as great a risk as the entrepreneur, that the enterprise is going to be able to pay you at the end of the day. As it is, even large agglomerations like the Ford Motor Company can run out of money, and when there's no money to pay you with, you don't get any and it's difficult to sue for it. What I am doing on Petronella the Opera is a lot more honest than the wage-slave stuff. Of course, the downside is you don't get paid until the project generates money, but there is a far greater chance the project will generate money, and lots of it, because there are many people caring passionately for the success of it than just one or two salesmen and a writer. Getting on board such a project is fantastic because it means everyone works as a team, and the end product is that much more polished and professional. Not only that, you will make far more money than if you just got handed a wage slip at the end of every week, you make royalties on promotional items sold even after the project is consigned to memory and because you were part of such a polished performance, the career kudos is far greater. The way I see it, everyone wins massively for few downsides. But like most other people, I am very cynical when it comes to working for nothing.