Anybody else get furloughed from their job due to Coronavirus?

[Mike Krumlauf]

..because I did and 205 other hourly employees at my company did. They said we could apply for unemployment in the meantime but Colorado's unemployment office is overloading and I cant apply by phone or computer. Fun times we are living in. My company said they are expecting to have us return by June 1st but we will see. Hopefully its sooner.

[NorBro]

Most people here (those that post a lot) don't have full-time jobs, but appear to have lost almost all of their freelance work for the next month or two, three.

[Eric Coughlin]

I got a promising inquiry for a BTS interview for a feature film (which had already finished filming) to film this week. Talked to the producer on the phone who I gather didn't think I sounded excited enough about the project (that's just my personality; I'm not exuberant). Yeah, I definitely want to do your project. Well, I think he's going with someone else because I didn't sound enthused. Oh well. That's what I don't like about narrative film producers; they often hire you based off of your passion for their project and not based off of your actual skills and qualifications for the job. Corporate work rarely has this problem.

Still waiting for my next job to book.


On another note, I'm just asking here and now that the mods don't go lock topic crazy. The NAB coronavirus topic didn't seem to have gotten that political to me. If someone is breaking the rules and talking politics after being told not to, to as Barry Green stated, "proactively ban the morons who seem to think the rules don't apply to them," rather than lock the topics so we can't discuss something that is affecting everyone in the industry, affecting us moreso than whatever the latest and greatest camera is.

AbelCine just followed up with me today about stock for the Alexa Mini LF; yeah no; I'm not buying a camera in this economy. I do wonder though if owner/ops will start mass selling their gear if this goes on for long enough, which for people who do have money, could make for a good buyer's market for used gear (as in, used gear will sell dirt cheap), not that there would be many people in the position to buy.

[NorBro]

Yea, the topic/thread locking is getting out-of-hand, but it's their world.

I'm dumping the rest of any small pieces of gear I have here and there, I don't really want to own anything right now.

[paulears]

In the UK, we have a cameraman's Guild - members are reporting a stream of cancellations and a couple of the guys have NO work in the diary. I've had two myself cancel today - and it's getting really scary now. Most TV and video folk are self-employed, not employees so get NOTHING if they don't work. Employees get all kinds of state benefits, we don't!

[David Jimerson]

The NAB coronavirus topic didn't seem to have gotten that political to me.

That's because we deleted the political stuff, which was getting into name-calling (which political stuff always does).

We'll take it as it goes with the coronavirus stuff. If people figure it out after a few thread closings and refrain from getting political, there's no problem.

[Run&Gun]

Yeah, most of us are just SOL with cancellations, etc. For some people, the shoots may come back around. For others of us, they are gone forever, because the events were outright cancelled. And being a freelancer, sole proprietor or even owning your own company(Incorporated), you can't claim or collect unemployment.

CBS and Turner are going to pay their contract and freelance personnel for the work they would have done for the NCAA Tournament.

https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/ma...-turner-sports

[Barry_Green]

Regarding thread locking: I agree with Eric that locking should be as infrequent as possible, since it punishes everyone for the actions of one miscreant.

I would rather let the rule-abiding membership go about their business, and target moderation efforts specifically, swiftly, and decisively against those who choose deliberately to break our rules.

[mcbob]

Getting a temporary job as a clinical lab tech or UPS driver. I wish I was joking.

[NorBro]

You might like either. A lot of people in freelance end up getting a different steady job as it can be an unsustainable way of life for most for the long run.

I always felt like many people in freelance are very talented who either do this and struggle or do this and have trust funds. Rarely anyone in between (excluding those who actually set up a real business/company and operate as one).