I haven't seen much talk about this lately, but I figure with summer around the corner, a lot of people graduating and trying to get into the industry, find work, etc, this is a good time to talk about it.
This month it will be two years since I graduated college and went into the industry. Not knowing how else to build up my portfolio, I took my share of free gigs for hopes of demo material, contacts and possible future paying gigs.
My quick advice is this: Don't. This is not a hard and fast rule, as I've since done gigs for free for friends and for a project that I *really* feel strongly about. Sometimes there are hard working people with really great ideas who just don't have the money to pull a crew together. But more often than not, these people are shady, cheap and looking to make a quick buck off of you and your work.
A good example: I took a gig off of Mandy.com right after I'd gotten my HVX. It was a concert featuring Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. Big name (I didn't know him, but doing some quick research, he had a legitimate site under Sony's label), so I agreed to it. I showed up, everyone was very professional, i got some good material for my demo, autographed CDs, and one of the other cameramen later called me for paying gigs and I've been working with him regularly, putting music videos on my resume.
A bad example: I took a gig (also off of Mandy.com) for a music video for Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Big name with a production company out of NYC, another music video for my roster, sounded great. Big problem, however - they sent the grips out into this abandoned barn to set up a dolly track with the warning, "Watch out for the nails!" (apparently they knew the field had a bunch of rusty old nails in it but neglected to clean them up). Well, I found one of them, rather my foot did. They told me to go to the doctor, get a tetanus shot and they would cover it. Well, my insurance denied the claim and the LLC (Alibi Pictures, ran by Adam Feinstein for anyone interested) has since dropped off the face of the planet and won't return correspondence, leaving me with a $800 bill on a free gig.
I haven't lost any gear on shoots or had anything stolen, but there are some very shady people who prey on desperate folks looking for reel material, students and just-graduated types looking for a foot in the door. Be very wary of these people, because they ARE out there.
I generally will pass on anything that shows a "No compensation" or "credit/copy/meal" only, but I do look out for particular scenarios:
- If an ad is particularly well-written and structured, showing a great deal of thought put into exactly what they're looking for, I will give it some thought. Especially if there's a website or photos involved. If it looks like they've really got their stuff together and it sounds like an interesting project, I will give it consideration.
- If the ad is filled with spelling errors or doesn't give a clear, concise definition of what they're looking for, off the table immediately.
- If they promise big things "down the road," ie "this might lead to more paying gigs," or somesuch, I pass immediately. These are people that either have not made the connections they need, are way too naive and idealistic to put together something serious, or are in need of you to provide their reel for them.
- If they toss out big names right off the bat (Madonna, "this will get play on MTV," etc), I pass immediately. My question to these people are, "If you're working on such a big project with such a big name artist, WHY IS THERE NO PAY?" These are complete rip-offs and generally are either shady individuals, or people who think they know someone who don't have anything scheduled or put together but figure they can take YOUR work and show their connection to get it passed on to the name in question.
- If they want someone immediately, or have unrealistic demands, I will pass. "I need you to be here right now and I need an HD camera with 14 P2 cards, 7 P2 stores and a full Arri lighting kit." These people just annoy me.
Generally, if they're not paying, you should pass. Especially if you have good equipment. But I know many of you will take free gigs, I took some myself. But with the amount of free gig ads out there and people that still respond, many people will be looking to free gigs to give them the foot in the door they want. Well, I can tell you this: My first paying gigs didn't care about my demo, that I got through calling and talking to them.
If you're gonna work free gigs, make sure that you don't bring your gear (or at least your good stuff, cos they're not paying for it). Get lots of contact info to make sure you can get ahold of somebody later if you want footage or you meet a good person, bring lots of business cards to network (this is really the only way you're gonna get something out of this), and make sure you communicate well in advance to make sure this is legit. If you ever get a bad feeling, don't do it.
But in general, try not to take them. If people get their work for free, they don't have to pay, and if no one's investing money into a local film community, there will never be a strong enough community to start attracting bigger projects.
This month it will be two years since I graduated college and went into the industry. Not knowing how else to build up my portfolio, I took my share of free gigs for hopes of demo material, contacts and possible future paying gigs.
My quick advice is this: Don't. This is not a hard and fast rule, as I've since done gigs for free for friends and for a project that I *really* feel strongly about. Sometimes there are hard working people with really great ideas who just don't have the money to pull a crew together. But more often than not, these people are shady, cheap and looking to make a quick buck off of you and your work.
A good example: I took a gig off of Mandy.com right after I'd gotten my HVX. It was a concert featuring Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. Big name (I didn't know him, but doing some quick research, he had a legitimate site under Sony's label), so I agreed to it. I showed up, everyone was very professional, i got some good material for my demo, autographed CDs, and one of the other cameramen later called me for paying gigs and I've been working with him regularly, putting music videos on my resume.
A bad example: I took a gig (also off of Mandy.com) for a music video for Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Big name with a production company out of NYC, another music video for my roster, sounded great. Big problem, however - they sent the grips out into this abandoned barn to set up a dolly track with the warning, "Watch out for the nails!" (apparently they knew the field had a bunch of rusty old nails in it but neglected to clean them up). Well, I found one of them, rather my foot did. They told me to go to the doctor, get a tetanus shot and they would cover it. Well, my insurance denied the claim and the LLC (Alibi Pictures, ran by Adam Feinstein for anyone interested) has since dropped off the face of the planet and won't return correspondence, leaving me with a $800 bill on a free gig.
I haven't lost any gear on shoots or had anything stolen, but there are some very shady people who prey on desperate folks looking for reel material, students and just-graduated types looking for a foot in the door. Be very wary of these people, because they ARE out there.
I generally will pass on anything that shows a "No compensation" or "credit/copy/meal" only, but I do look out for particular scenarios:
- If an ad is particularly well-written and structured, showing a great deal of thought put into exactly what they're looking for, I will give it some thought. Especially if there's a website or photos involved. If it looks like they've really got their stuff together and it sounds like an interesting project, I will give it consideration.
- If the ad is filled with spelling errors or doesn't give a clear, concise definition of what they're looking for, off the table immediately.
- If they promise big things "down the road," ie "this might lead to more paying gigs," or somesuch, I pass immediately. These are people that either have not made the connections they need, are way too naive and idealistic to put together something serious, or are in need of you to provide their reel for them.
- If they toss out big names right off the bat (Madonna, "this will get play on MTV," etc), I pass immediately. My question to these people are, "If you're working on such a big project with such a big name artist, WHY IS THERE NO PAY?" These are complete rip-offs and generally are either shady individuals, or people who think they know someone who don't have anything scheduled or put together but figure they can take YOUR work and show their connection to get it passed on to the name in question.
- If they want someone immediately, or have unrealistic demands, I will pass. "I need you to be here right now and I need an HD camera with 14 P2 cards, 7 P2 stores and a full Arri lighting kit." These people just annoy me.
Generally, if they're not paying, you should pass. Especially if you have good equipment. But I know many of you will take free gigs, I took some myself. But with the amount of free gig ads out there and people that still respond, many people will be looking to free gigs to give them the foot in the door they want. Well, I can tell you this: My first paying gigs didn't care about my demo, that I got through calling and talking to them.
If you're gonna work free gigs, make sure that you don't bring your gear (or at least your good stuff, cos they're not paying for it). Get lots of contact info to make sure you can get ahold of somebody later if you want footage or you meet a good person, bring lots of business cards to network (this is really the only way you're gonna get something out of this), and make sure you communicate well in advance to make sure this is legit. If you ever get a bad feeling, don't do it.
But in general, try not to take them. If people get their work for free, they don't have to pay, and if no one's investing money into a local film community, there will never be a strong enough community to start attracting bigger projects.
