why pay for actors, music, etc. for short films?

Interesting topic. From a filmmaker and composers point of view... I have scored dozens of short films for free. Sometimes on crazy deadlines where I have to stay up til 5am the next day completing the music for someone elses film. I do this for free for a few reasons. I understand what it's like being an independent filmmaker and having no money left over for score. I also see it as an opportunity to get some more experience. And personally, I didn't want to start charging until I felt I was at a level when I could. I see a lot of guys charging to do short films or whatever and if the quality of work is pretty low, then I feel a little wierd about that.

I guess it just depends on who you can find and what sort of person they are etc. In the past I have worked with 3d animators, working for free, progress was very slow, but when there's cash involved, things start to happen. It just depends on the people, passion for the project etc.

To an extent, I agree with "you get what you pay for". But personally I have given the same effort to the projects I did for free. Exactly the same as the ones I have been paid for. I wouldn't take a project paid-or-unpaid if I was just going to put in a crappy effort, unless I was on like an insane deadline and couldn't possibly do my best work. But that's just me.

I'm sure there are lots of people out there who will work on a short film or whatever for free if the project looks like it's going to be awesome. Otherwise, it's tough to take on too many projects if you're trying to get some money and make a business out of it.
 
if you want people to work for free, try to recruit friends and family. maybe you could find someone off of craigslist that is just starting out and will be willing to do it.

but if you want to hire professionals, that is going to cost money.
 
I think my original post arose somewhat out of the recent economic tusumi, seeing my mutual fund investments crash and burn; six months ago i thought i had some extra cash to throw at several people to help me make some shorts. Now, I am sort of on the flip side of your comment; actors, etc have mortgage and tuitions to pay, but filmmakers also have bills to pay and the thought of only seeing money go out with little to no expectation of revenue potential from a short makes me at least reconsider how many shorts I am willing to make, given the cost of making them, esp. if paying actors, etc. I guess I am just saying I hope actors, writers, editors, etc involved in short films also see the short filmmaker's side financially, that shorts are for learning, for art, not for proft like a feature has the potential to be.


puredrifting said:
Right, I am not saying never make shorts, they are fun. But if you have a mortgage and tuition for the kids, how many of us can afford the time to go work for free very often?

I think if you and a bunch of talented friends want to get together and create a short, have a blast and nobody needs to get paid. But when you want pros to get involved, you have to pay them and the good ones are used to making a lot. That's where I get the you get what you pay for from.

I think there are two different levels, "films student" and "pro". If you are working with pros, they want to get paid.

Or find a bunch of rich bored people who want to finance your short film. ;-)

Dan
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Actually for my first short (The Wish; I should have it ready for public viewing in a couple of weeks) I did ask the actor (just one actor for this short) for suggestions on the script, and also for post production CGI, post production music suggestions, and also asked her if she wanted to be a producer. I also paid her $100/day for two days of filming, as I did for crew. I would love to have actors or crew or ___ on board from the start, as producers, to help with pre-production, production, post. Doing it all alone, wearing many hats, is quite stressful and time consuming.

Jockomo said:
If people don't get paid, it's called a hobby.

Are you sharing the ownership of the production with all of these players? If your film somehow makes a ton of money are you just going to split it up evenly between everyone? If one of your crew doesn't like the script, you're just going to let them rewrite it correct?
Did everyone get to vote on what script to do and how to do it? What if they decide they want a new director, are you just going to give the project to them and walk away?

You pay because the film is YOUR baby. Everyone is doing what YOU want to do so YOU get to pay for it.

People have worked hard to turn this chaos into a career. You should respect that and respect the people who are working on YOUR film enough to want to pay them.

Put it this way, why don't you just do it all yourself?
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Weather permitting, I am coming to your town around Thanksgiving for 2-3 days, if you are around let's get together for a beer and talk filmmaking, I will buy the first round! :beer: I like the river bottoms of Mankato, farm country, I think it has great potential for a film. I actually have written a feature length supernatural thriller that mostly takes place at a farmhouse in that part of the country, plus a small rural town. I would love to find such a farm/house to rent or whatever to make the movie down that way-- would love to have you involved as a producer, DP, etc; my paid mentor who helped me through the screenplay said it was one of the 'fastest reads' she has ever seen, very engrossing, fast paced. Problem is my story has some funky CGI effects, which I need to figure out if they could be done on a budget, After Effects without looking cheesy, but some of the VFX is pretty cool if it could be pulled off. I am just learning After Effects now, used it for some VFX/CGI on my first short film.

Maybe we could drive around and look at the rural homes, talk while we drive?

HorseFilms said:
If you were shooting down here, I'd most likely DP for free... cause I think it'd be fun.:beer:
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I found my actress for my short film on craigslist, or rather she found me when i posted a casting call. She was actually willing to work for free, but I paid her $100/day x two days of filming ($200 total).

ugafan said:
if you want people to work for free, try to recruit friends and family. maybe you could find someone off of craigslist that is just starting out and will be willing to do it.

but if you want to hire professionals, that is going to cost money.
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