What kind of projects do you work on?

[Mark Collins]

Hey guys!

A little off topic here, but I'm wondering what kinds of projects people stick to on this forum. Is anyone union or do a lot of people do non-union work still?

I personally am union and work on series, features and MOW's, but not commercials or music video's too often, and occasionally the non-union independent feature. My rationale for working almost strictly in the union world now is that it's a lot more fun, and you get to see a lot of cool stuff. Commercials and music video's are too tedious for me.

So, what do the rest of you stick to or work on primarily?

 

[Liam Hall]

Good luck with that attitude. Most of the world moved on from this type of debate a generation ago.

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Good luck with that attitude. Most of the world moved on from this type of debate a generation ago.

I don't get that attitude Liam. I don't understand what you see wrong in what Mark wrote?

To answer the OP, I am non-union.

I work a lot of shows I think are boring or uninteresting - it pays bills. Just wrapped a music video on a 7D. I have a commercial coming up.

I work a lot of shows that are interesting and fun. I've worked two independent features that were great to work on. I've worked on a web series that was both a blast and a model of how not to shoot a project. I shot a pilot for Sony that was very interesting ... but I don't think its going anywhere for reasons way over my pay grade.

I'd like to work more union shows ... but I'm more interested in working more interesting shows - and those are just as often non-union as union.

 

[Zakaree Sandberg]

mostly all union commercial work.

 

[Liam Hall]

I don't get that attitude Liam. I don't understand what you see wrong in what Mark wrote?

Maybe I was being a little harsh

But, I do think it is wrong to be dismissive of certain sectors of the industry, particularly when you are just starting out. I also don't think it is smart to be reliant on unionised employment in a world where unions are becoming less important as economies become more global, more competitive and more flexible.

 

[Nick Gardner]

Well just because you are in a union doesn't mean you have to do union work. It's also much easier to get G&E work than it is camera. Most positions in the camera dept. there are only one of. There are usually 2 crews from g&e (rigging and set) plus there are a lot more jobs. I only joined the union so I could work on the big jobs when they came around. Specifically I joined to work on HBOs The Wire. Having said that, local 600 is a real shit sandwich of a union. They do nothing for you, and constantly give things away and negotiate crappy deals as long as long the union makes money.

Having said that, I got to day play on a Ridley Scott movie, I got to shoot some cool stuff for Die Hard 4, and a bunch of other opportunities I wouldn't have had otherwise. Back to the original question, I have a client I do corporate hospital videos for, I shoot documentaries for PBS, nat geo, discovery, etc, I work on commercials every now and again, I have done episodic TV (I hope to again when HBO's VEEP starts up), I do the occasional music video, features, both union and non union. Hell, I even went to the beach and shot a really wealthy guys bar because he called me up and asked me to.

What I enjoy doing most, is working on interesting things for smart people. I learned a long time ago that if you want to have a good looking show, don't shoot any crap. On docs a lot of times producers feel like you have to be shooting something all the time. When you are shooting crap, just for the sake of shooting, it makes it into the show. Always. The worst piece of shit shot always makes it into the cut. I think shooting docs is more like big game hunting, you are constantly aware of what is going on around you but you don't spring into action till the time is right. you watch and wait for the right moment, and think about what and why you are shooting.

I think the most rewarding thing is to sit down in a room with a group of smart people and a blank canvas. You create reality from the ground up and then weeks later the set that was designed and the costumes that we all talked about, the color pallet, all comes together and makes something great.

Nick

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

...

I do think it is wrong to be dismissive of certain sectors of the industry, particularly when you are just starting out. I also don't think it is smart to be reliant on unionised employment in a world where unions are becoming less important as economies become more global, more competitive and more flexible.

I agree ... as exemplified in the "Set Etiquette" thread Zakaree started, its never good to be reliant on one source for too much of your income.

I also don't want people to think I am being dismissive of "certain sectors of industry." However, I'm old enough to understand that if I don't really enjoy something I'll have trouble excelling at it, so its important to recognize what I like doing and focus on doing it better and better.

 

[David Diperstein]

I'm past the just starting out phase, but haven't made it yet so to speak. In the last 6 months I've directed a music video, shot two charity concerts, edited two shorts, directed a web series, gripped a couple of short deals, and edited a feature on top of teaching and freelancing as a media manager with a news station. I also started and folded a post company I'm developing a documentary and a comedy pilot right now. I've looked into IATSE 600 because I really want to get onto some big sets and have a thing for pulling focus.

 

[Eki Halkka]

I work as a freelancer (non-union), mainly on TV commercials, corporate videos and the like. The majority of my output is for SD PAL TV broadcast or for web/presentation use by the clients.

I do shoot and direct too, maybe two to three or so days each month, but my daily work is in post production, compositing and 3D. In addition to this "bread and butter" work, i occasionally do documentaries as a DoP, Editor and/or Co-Director, as well as work on TV series and feature films doing VFX work (both on-location consulting and post). These gigs are much more rare, maybe one to three each year. I also do music video work, be that directing, shooting, post... anything goes. I'm a Jack of all trades, master of none, as they say... but hey, that keeps me busy ;-)

 

[M Most]

Maybe I was being a little harsh

But, I do think it is wrong to be dismissive of certain sectors of the industry, particularly when you are just starting out. I also don't think it is smart to be reliant on unionised employment in a world where unions are becoming less important as economies become more global, more competitive and more flexible.

1. I didn't see him being dismissive at all.

2. It's easy to dismiss the importance of unions if you live in a country where national health insurance exists - which is most of the civilized world. If you live in the US, however, that's not the case, and it's very difficult to get health insurance unless you happen to work for an employer who supplies it. In a freelance industry like ours, that's almost never the case. Hence one of the primary reasons for the continued existence and relevance of the union.

 

[Liam Hall]

1. I didn't see him being dismissive at all.

2. It's easy to dismiss the importance of unions if you live in a country where national health insurance exists - which is most of the civilized world. If you live in the US, however, that's not the case, and it's very difficult to get health insurance unless you happen to work for an employer who supplies it. In a freelance industry like ours, that's almost never the case. Hence one of the primary reasons for the continued existence and relevance of the union.

On point 1, we'll have to disagree. Maybe the OP can enlighten us as to why his non-union work is tedious and doesn't have any cool stuff

On point 2, I'm not dismissing the importance of unions, I was merely saying not to be reliant on unionised work. I work all over the world and hire local crews wherever we go. There are fewer and fewer instances where being unionised is relevant to what we do. Oh, and boy do we have fun with all our cool gear...

 

[Craig W. Bickerstaff]

I'm past the just starting out phase, but haven't made it yet so to speak. In the last 6 months I've directed a music video, shot two charity concerts, edited two shorts, directed a web series, gripped a couple of short deals, and edited a feature on top of teaching and freelancing as a media manager with a news station. I also started and folded a post company I'm developing a documentary and a comedy pilot right now. I've looked into IATSE 600 because I really want to get onto some big sets and have a thing for pulling focus.

Looks like your doing better then me, I've directed 10 shorts and worked on various other things but have yet to get paid for anything.

 

[Mark Collins]

On point 1, we'll have to disagree. Maybe the OP can enlighten us as to why his non-union work is tedious and doesn't have any cool stuff

On point 2, I'm not dismissing the importance of unions, I was merely saying not to be reliant on unionised work. I work all over the world and hire local crews wherever we go. There are fewer and fewer instances where being unionised is relevant to what we do. Oh, and boy do we have fun with all our cool gear...

1) It might just be the group of people I work with are all also just starting out, and as such they never have any money, so it seems that whenever I work non-union I'm usually doing it for free, with crap hours in even worse locations with no food or indeed any type of compensation. That's been my experience, and of the union stuff I've worked on so far, it's all been interesting stuff that we're doing. For example, I got a rigging call last week for Total Recall, which even though it was a daily was still pretty cool for someone starting out, working on a major hollywood flick.

2) So far I've had good luck with unions. I don't doubt their importance either, or that some people have had bad luck with unions. I'm still starting out so I don't work all over the world yet, though if I got the call to work outside of the Toronto area I could take it if I wanted to. I've liked union sets better than most of my independent sets though, and based on what I've worked on, the unionized shows have had their shit together far better than non-union.

 

[Imran Farouk]

Well...isn't the best work the work that you feel lke doing? What excites you etc.

I mean I do as I please, if it doesn't peak my interest, there's no sense in me doing it, if it does, well heck, all aboard!

but i can understand the need for a union in most situations and sticking to that kind of work, given some people I know that are doing freelance don't get paid for a while or they get stuffed over by the ridiculous handling of budget...

e.g. A budget of 1mil and the producer, director and first AD get 750,000 (all together) the rest goes to the film, the crew get paid zilch because there apparently isn't budget for it...

So yeah, a union probably would've helped there I guess?

 

[Mark Collins]

Well...isn't the best work the work that you feel lke doing? What excites you etc.

I mean I do as I please, if it doesn't peak my interest, there's no sense in me doing it, if it does, well heck, all aboard!

but i can understand the need for a union in most situations and sticking to that kind of work, given some people I know that are doing freelance don't get paid for a while or they get stuffed over by the ridiculous handling of budget...

e.g. A budget of 1mil and the producer, director and first AD get 750,000 (all together) the rest goes to the film, the crew get paid zilch because there apparently isn't budget for it...

So yeah, a union probably would've helped there I guess?

Yes a union would have definitely helped.

I worked on a small feature with a budget of $80 000. No one really got paid, we used all borrowed gear, shot on the 5D, and our art department had maybe $5000, if that. So yeah, it was an $80 000 film that looked like a $5000 film.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

There's room for both union and non-union work. Like most things in life, there are pros and cons to unions. In the end though, it's about the work. When there is a good crew, that is treated respectfully, quite often it shows in the work. I have no idea where things will end up in 5 to 10 years with our industry unions, but the one thing to keep in mind, especially if you are young and haven't faced some of the harsh realities of life, is that you sometimes need protection to avoid getting taken advantage of. Too many times I've seen this in our industry where people are never paid for work they have done. Whether it's union or non-union, you deserve to get paid according to the terms set forth in your contract, deal memo, hand shake, whatever the case may be. Because mortgage companies, banks, utility companies, landlords, etc aren't going to cut you much slack when bills are due, and if you want to raise a family you may need insurance. All of these things must be kept in mind as one progresses in the industry. Working for meals, or never getting that deferred payment may be okay now, but someday it may not be enough to sustain you. It's important to keep everything in perspective.

 

[fREDeric ChAMbERlAnd]

Same boat as Steve on this topic. I've done a lot of non-union work when asked at the time and most of the gigs were ok but I also got screwed a couple of time on pay or worst, never saw the money . I mostly do union jobs now and I sometime take it for granted (all the benefits that comes with unionized jobs) but knowing you have someone to turn to if anything bad happens is a relief in an industry as volatile as ours.
I mostly do TV series for US release . Lots of TV commercials and local feature films .

Cheers.