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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Don't you hate hearing these production woes....

Oh well, I'm doing this right now, and we're having much more fun than any paid job I ever did! It's my project and I do it with all my actors and crew friends... I see this as a Rock band, but instead of music, we make films... Some people play football on sundays, well we make movies! I like to keep myself busy, and those friends too, so between jobs, we gather and shoot our film... No one looses money or jobs, we organize around everyone's schedule, and do our thing when all are available...

Steve, I too made a free music video for guys in the champagne village where I bought a barn, and they're all happy! There was a crazy party for the 'premiere' where the entire village came to watch the video, listen to the concert and party. We drank entire cellars of champagne and that was the best feeling ever (except for that one where I'm kind of a half-god there now)... And I made new friends and they give me a hand renovating my barn every once in a while... So there's many point of views to that thread in my opinion... I'd like to hear some great rewarding stories too, about working for free...

But no rant here, I get the point, and these ads crack me up too... I might not do that based on an ad, but when you actually meet the people, things can be really different...

I like Steve's and Dino's attitude. It's on a passion level. There's life beyond money, and we don't die with it... But yeah, eating is important too... You guys love to take the piss so much... :reddevil:
 
Nothing ventured, nothing gained...

A little pro-bono work is a good thing, everyone should do it once in a while, particularly if it helps someone or an organization that can't afford the real deal. Nothing wrong with that, even if they're jerks, well maybe not if they're jerks:)
 
1. It's not about the gear, its about the talent and script... btw we need your gear for free.

2. How much do you charge by the hour?

3. I really had to go to the bat for you with the producers to get you a little something. Don't tell anyone how much you got. Here's $200... (proposal for a multi-day RED camera shoot)
 
"We have a great script, but no money.
Our budget is really, really tight.
We can't pay you but we'll give you a copy."

when you're starting out in the business - many times these are good for experience and networking ... after you've been in the business several years they do seem a bit same ole story= been there , done it ...

what i didn't like was the agreement/contract they wanted you to sign to work for free ( deferred/points) these can be 2 - 20 pages ... i found that the more pages in the agreement the less likely i was to ever be paid from those type projects .... the only times i was ever paid (years later) was based a verbal agreement sealed with a hand shake ...
 
i only really rented my camera for money... hardly shot anything for it.

anything i generally shoot is for the indy folks down here.
 
One for the real, one for the meal, and one to...
 
I did a CL job for LOW MONEY w/camera.. turned out the producer was legit, and ive been hired to operate /DP for him on big projects.

However, be smart.. its not hard to tell the legit guys from the saps.

anyone who says "were making a feature after this and if we like your work we will bring you on" is usually full of shit
or the whole deferred pay thing.. dont even respond to those.. its usually a bunch of kids who have a shitty story, and even shittier execution.
 
I have to say, I'm guilty for post ads like this, and well as falling for some, (steve that one I asked you to help with, was one of these... )
 
I've had a rental lined up for a week on one of those doorpost projects and then had it snaked out from under me on the first day of shooting by someone that came in at a quarter of my price. I was a little mad about the whole thing but I understood why they did it. This is the reason why I love shooting stock footage or my own projects because then I don't have to deal with all this BS of people trying to get something for nothing. Its like they don't realize that all this camera equipment costs money.

I do my share of free gigs but I mainly only do it for friends or people that seem appreciative. I've done too many free music videos with people that are just dicks or they have no idea what they are doing.
 
My line is "Who doesn't have a $10m production deal lined up for next year?"

"If you just help us out now for no money then we'll bring you in to do the payed job next year. The investors just want a little proof so we're doing the short to prove we can deliver and they they're all on board and really excited."

Go ahead and do those jobs... just so long as you aren't expecting it come true--it almost certainly won't.
 
Gavin Greenwalt said:
"If you just help us out now for no money then we'll bring you in to do the payed job next year. The investors just want a little proof so we're doing the short to prove we can deliver and they they're all on board and really excited."
Click to expand...

Translation: "The investors"= ANY investors. We can't sell the script on merit and we have no real prospects. We're really hoping that you can bring enough production value to this turkey that we can convince some trust fund babies that we are worthy of a couple mil. :tongue_smilie:
 
I disagree with a lot of the cynical opinions in this thread. A lot of people don't come from privileged backgrounds, but have the talent and drive to actually try and do something.

I'm making a short film in December with a budget of £10,000. My mum earns less than £12,000 a year, and I have no other family. I'm 20 years old, I go to University full time, I also work a job. I'm pulling in a lot of favours from really nice people I have met along the way that are agreeing to help me for little to no money, and I'm putting everything (literally) I have into getting this film made.

If you run a business that’s fine, I understand that. But don't hit the little guy too hard. Everybody's different, and comes from a different situation. Not everybody has hundreds of thousands to spend, and while I agree people shouldn't put up with running businesses and doing charity work, there's no need to take the piss out of people like myself. A lot of people are just trying to get a break, and that's really hard when you don't have the resources or contacts, and you have to try everything you can. The film making community would be a cold and lonely place if people just lay down and died.

Just becasue I don't have hundreds of thousands to spend, doesn't mean I'm not upto the job of creating a decent film.
 
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We've all lived through too many false promises.

I would actually feel better about someone just saying," Look, I know we're asking a lot but we're gonna say everything you want to hear and then we're gonna screw you over anyway."
:reddevil:
 
strange business

strange business

Shawn Booth said:
Whoa - trading sex for production work? THAT is a new one...
Click to expand...

I had a proposal from someone wanting production assistance either free or if necessary, in exchange for her professional services which included "tantric massage" -- but I had no inclination to pursue the matter, so I have no idea if it was for real.
 
Jamie Havill said:
I disagree with a lot of the cynical opinions in this thread. A lot of people don't come from privileged backgrounds, but have the talent and drive to actually try and do something.

[...]

Just becasue I don't have hundreds of thousands to spend, doesn't mean I'm not up to the job of creating a decent film.
Click to expand...

Jamie it's not about doing spec work or discount work. I don't know many privileged filmmakers we've all begged and pleaded for free work. Hell I'm even having to do it right now for a project. The negativity isn't directed towards to those without a budget.

What people are cynical towards is when someone is trying to cheat them. If you say "Look I have no money. This is just for the love of the art. It probably won't make money but who knows" people will be inclined to help you. But a lot of film schools try to teach their students (I know because I've sat in MANY of these classes) on trying to oversell their project. "Look I just need to bang out this trailer and then the funding is there for sure. You'll get payed." When you get roped into a project on false premises you feel used and are in no way inclined to help that individual out ever again. These are also usually the productions run poorly, everyone gets treated like dirt and spit out at the end.

Then there are the sleazy producers who will demand to be flown around first class but want everyone to work on deferment and aren't going low budget because they can't get a budget but because they're lazy and it's easier to collect an assortment of overly helpful crew instead of doing their job and getting funding.

Never do work for free and expect to get payed. That's my view. That's not to say you shouldn't for free. Just that you should go in knowing you won't get payed and only do it if it's still something you want to do.
 
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