Dealing with No-Shows (or deadbeats)

Sadly there seems to be a correlation between pay scale and reliability. A key rate of 550 for 10 gets you better choices than say, 200 for ten. That being said, there seems to be this unwritten Indy/No budget notion of getting actors for free or next to nothing and paying crew. They justify it by supply and demand - a gazillion actors but none can set a light stand. But at threadbare rates the flake index increases exponentially. An actor will say yes if they're not booked. The moment they get a booking or something else that pays, they're gone. The honorable types will tell you they have a conflict and refer someone to replace themselves as where the true scumbags just don't show.

If you can't afford to pay talent, try to get referrals from people you know and trust. Otherwise, afford something. Considering talent are really the most irreplaceable people on set (even more than the director), it's a wonder why people will pay for production insurance and crew but not pay that insures that their talent will show up. Even when i was a student, I paid my talent - even though I knew I could get them agree to working gratis. The money buys commitment.

When I direct music videos, no matter what the budget, we budget for anyone in front of the camera. Anyone in that world can tell you how many times the artist (to save money) says they can get you all the extras and dancers you need for free. Don't believe it. Don't agree to it. You'll get flakes by the boatload and those that do show up are clueless or not ready for the lens if you know what I mean.

If you've a dynamite script, shoot for the stars. A friend of mine got F Murray Abraham to do his short for free because he loved the script so much. The successful can often afford gratis. Another friend of mine got Peter Boyle to work for scale on his short. I'm directing a short this summer and I plan on going for seasoned pros in front of the lens. Once you get some good talent attached to a decent script, getting good crew for less is cake. Everyone wants good players on their reel.
 
Tim Naylor said:
Sadly there seems to be a correlation between pay scale and reliability. A key rate of 550 for 10 gets you better choices than say, 200 for ten. That being said, there seems to be this unwritten Indy/No budget notion of getting actors for free or next to nothing and paying crew. They justify it by supply and demand - a gazillion actors but none can set a light stand. But at threadbare rates the flake index increases exponentially. An actor will say yes if they're not booked. The moment they get a booking or something else that pays, they're gone. The honorable types will tell you they have a conflict and refer someone to replace themselves as where the true scumbags just don't show.

If you can't afford to pay talent, try to get referrals from people you know and trust. Otherwise, afford something. Considering talent are really the most irreplaceable people on set (even more than the director), it's a wonder why people will pay for production insurance and crew but not pay that insures that their talent will show up. Even when i was a student, I paid my talent - even though I knew I could get them agree to working gratis. The money buys commitment.

When I direct music videos, no matter what the budget, we budget for anyone in front of the camera. Anyone in that world can tell you how many times the artist (to save money) says they can get you all the extras and dancers you need for free. Don't believe it. Don't agree to it. You'll get flakes by the boatload and those that do show up are clueless or not ready for the lens if you know what I mean.

If you've a dynamite script, shoot for the stars. A friend of mine got F Murray Abraham to do his short for free because he loved the script so much. The successful can often afford gratis. Another friend of mine got Peter Boyle to work for scale on his short. I'm directing a short this summer and I plan on going for seasoned pros in front of the lens. Once you get some good talent attached to a decent script, getting good crew for less is cake. Everyone wants good players on their reel.
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the original poster was referring to crew not showing up....not the actors.
 
On the subject of friends, a safe starting rule is absolutely to 'not hire friends'. There's a professional side and a personal side to the relationship, and if you aren't comfortable being a pro with your friends, or you don't know how, you're stepping into territory thats going to hurt both your film and your friendship! That's a high price to pay when you're just trying to save the trouble of finding good crew!

That said, that's one of those 'as you grow as a person' rules that can go out the window once you know when to bring friends on board or not.

Actors are a different story, slightly, but keep in mind that if you are asking someone to do a great deal of work for free for you, you need to take care of them and make sure they are getting something out of the experience. You know, leave them better than you found them.
 
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